PUC Won’t Always Answer Call

The Public Utilities Commission got the call last week and didn’t hang up on Burbank and Glendale. The two cities spent the past year fighting the proposed boundaries of an area code change from 818 to 626--a switch that would have cost business owners in the two cities thousands of dollars as they changed everything from business cards and delivery trucks to computer software. In a last-minute surprise, the cities won.

After intensive personal lobbying from Burbank Mayor Bill Wiggins and Glendale City Councilwoman Mary Anne Plumley, the commission redrew the boundaries to allow the two cities to stay in the 818 area code. The cities argued, appropriately, that they identify more closely with the San Fernando than the San Gabriel Valley, which will switch to 626 next June. The commission shifted the boundary east to Pasadena. In addition, La Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge will remain in the 818 area.

Wiggins and Plumley stood up for their cities and won a fight no one thought they could. An administrative law judge last month rejected the cities’ claims, setting the stage for what was thought to be certain approval of the original plan. But in a weeklong series of trips, the two officials personally called on commission members to plead their case--evidence of how effective local government can be when it puts its mind to something.

Already, though, new area codes are in the works. Because the new split is more lopsided than the original, the 818 area code will be in danger of running out of new numbers again in three to five years. Statewide, the number of area codes is expected to double to 26 in the next five years. But the same sort of technology that is gobbling numbers at exponential rates also holds the promise of reducing the sort of cost and confusion that accompany geographic area code splits. New area codes may instead be applied as “overlay zones,” which affect only new numbers within a geographic area. In addition, a new technology set to be in place by 1998 would allow customers to keep their phone numbers even after they switched phone companies.

Whatever the form, it’s clear a solution is needed. Burbank and Glendale’s reprieve was no solace to shopkeepers in Monterey Park or other San Gabriel Valley communities whose numbers are still due to change. Unless new solutions are found, the fight waged by Burbank and Glendale will be repeated over and over. And it’s doubtful the PUC will be able to be as flexible next time.