Tower Repair Is a Blow to City’s Can’t-Do Spirit

On Friday, something finally got done in the city where nothing gets done.

Believe it or not, the event occurred at Los Angeles City Hall, symbol of municipal inertia--and the cause of much of it.

A black shroud was removed from the south side of the top of the City Hall tower, signaling completion of the first phase of repair from the 1993 earthquake. It’s actually not a shroud, but a net to catch construction debris.

This may not have rated a mention in other cities that regularly celebrate new symphony halls, sports arenas and stadiums.

But in Los Angeles, the removal of the shroud was such a big deal that four television stations, which usually ignore anything connected with local government, sent crews.

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Reminders of aborted city projects were on either side of me as I walked from the paper to City Hall on Friday morning.

Across the street was a huge vacant lot, once the site of a state office building. It was destined to be occupied by an ultramodern office building designed by noted architect Helmut Jahn. Never happened. Probably never will.

As I stood on the corner of 1st and Spring streets, waiting for the light, I was approached by a member of the morning panhandling shift. He, too, was a reminder of a failed municipal promise, the revitalization of Spring and Main streets into a sparkling, inviting “historic zone.” I crossed 1st, looking sharply for trucks. Remember Mayor Tom Bradley’s plan to ban daytime truck traffic from downtown streets? Killed in the City Council, then forgotten.

At the City Hall lawn, site of the ceremony, top bureaucrats stood around, looking happy and content. As well they should. A couple of years ago, we voters approved a merit pay plan for top city officials--linking raises to job performance--hoping they would become as insecure about their posts as everyone else. Implementation remains mired in the City Council, a victim of inertia.

I thought of other failures: The multimillion-dollar earthquake repair of the Memorial Coliseum will have to be ripped out if the place hopes to get a National Football League tenant. The years-old failure to build a high school for the crowded residential neighborhoods west of downtown--a school board failure, true, but the city has done nothing to get things rolling. There is the unbuilt concert hall up the hill. And the Twin Towers jail.

These gloomy thoughts were dispelled by the sound of the theme from the movie “Superman” blaring across the lawn. The music was a reminder of better days when City Hall was featured in the old Superman television series. Today’s politicians figured that the reporter/miracle worker would provide an inspiring theme for the celebration.

Mayor Richard Riordan walked to the podium, accompanied by his friends for the day, Los Angeles City Council members who have feuded with him through most of his term. He introduced each member of the council. “The mayor has improved. He knew all the names of the council members,” said Council President John Ferraro when it was his turn to speak. “Dick, you’ve come a long way.”

It was time for the finale. “Take it down,” shouted Riordan and the council members. Nothing happened. A man with a hand-held radio anxiously gave the order again: “Mike, start lowering it.” Confetti was fired into the air, and the black shroud slowly dropped, exposing the rebuilt face of the City Hall tower.

Afterward, I took the elevator up to the top floor of the tower. Construction superintendent Michael Klocki of the firm of Lehrer, McGovern & Bovis showed a group of reporters the work his crew had done--including new terra-cotta facing on the walls and steel beams for reinforcement.

I’m not an engineer, but it looked impressive, especially when we were told that the job was completed on time and that the $5-million cost was under budget.

But there are more than 20 other floors to repair, and the city still hasn’t figured out how to go about completing the work. Monday, a committee will discuss emptying City Hall, with the mayor and the council moving to nearby City Hall East while the work is completed.

Don’t count on quick action. The proposal will probably become bogged down in a nasty fight among council members for office space.

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The party over, I headed toward the mall adjacent to City Hall East to check on another failure.

It’s the escalator that leads from the street level down to the mall stores. It was removed for repairs years ago and never put back, leaving a steep flight of stairs and slow City Hall East elevators as the only access to the mall.

The escalator has become a legend, a symbol of City Hall’s can’t-do spirit. But that will change if the council and the mayor move to City Hall East during the City Hall renovation. I bet the escalator is repaired immediately--or at least as soon as one of the politicians has to climb those stairs.