Galanter’s City-Issued Car Stolen From Home in Venice

People have their cars stolen every day in Los Angeles, and on Wednesday City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter was among them.

But in this case, the stolen vehicle was city property.

Galanter stepped outside her house about 7 a.m. Wednesday to get the newspaper when she discovered that her dark blue city-issued 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass was not where it was supposed to be--parked on the street in front of her home in the Penmar neighborhood of Venice.

The car had been there when Galanter was going to bed about 11 the night before, said Jeff Prang, spokesman for the councilwoman.

The Cutlass has about 96,000 miles on it, and Galanter has had the car since she was elected in 1987. The license plate number is E077280 and on the back is a bumper sticker that reads “There is no excuse for domestic violence.”

The city-issued car has been sitting idle for much of the past couple of weeks while Galanter test-drives an electric car--a Toyota--provided by the Department of Water and Power. Several council members have taken turns driving electric vehicles to see how they like them, Prang said.

The electric car was parked in the garage the night the Cutlass was stolen, he said.

“Overall, we’re somewhat embarrassed by the attention we’re getting over the stolen car, “ Prang said. “Unfortunately, there are cars stolen every day across the city.”

An LAPD spokesman noted that 3,341 cars were stolen in 1995 from streets patrolled by officers from the department’s Pacific Division. The Pacific Division includes Galanter’s Venice neighborhood.

While auto thefts may be common citywide, they are uncommon among the city’s fleet of automobiles, said Randall Bacon, general manager of the city General Services Department.

“It’s definitely unusual,” he said. “I can’t even recall ever getting a report of a city car being stolen. We’ve had some of them vandalized when they’re sitting on the street, but not stolen.”

Galanter plans to turn in her electric car Friday, but she probably will be provided another city car temporarily, Bacon said.

If her car is not recovered intact, Galanter will decide what kind of car she wants to replace it. Elected officials can choose any car they want and the city will pay for it as long as the vehicle is made in the United States, Bacon said.