Officials Divide Funds From Tobacco Settlement

At least $10 million from a settlement with tobacco companies would be used to repair city sidewalks and make them accessible to the disabled under an agreement reached Tuesday between Mayor Richard Riordan and City Atty. James Hahn.

The remaining $2 million received annually would go to programs aimed at preventing the sale of tobacco products to minors.

Hahn had wanted all the money used for anti-smoking programs, while Riordan had originally proposed that all the money be used to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires curb cuts in city sidewalks.

The city of Los Angeles will receive $312 million over the next 25 years as its part of a national $206-billion settlement between 45 states and tobacco companies.

Hahn and Riordan have agreed that at least $10 million annually will be used to complete the 50,000, highest-priority curb cuts during the next eight years to avoid a lawsuit by the Justice Department.

In the ninth through 25th years, the bulk of the funds will be used to make other sidewalks accessible to the disabled and to repair the worst sidewalks in the city.

The remaining $2 million in annual funds will go to smoking prevention programs, including a Hahn proposal called the Tobacco Enforcement Project, which will require tobacco vendors to get licenses.