Yaroslavsky Aims to Halt Breakup of Breakaway Panel

If you blinked, you might have missed county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s skillful maneuver that may have blocked a bid to kill a key oversight committee on San Fernando Valley secession.

Yaroslavsky discovered that Thomas Jackson, president of the Local Agency Formation Commission, had ordered the dissolution of Yaroslavsky’s LAFCO subcommittee on secession.

Some supporters of secession feared that an anti-secession bloc was trying to take control of the LAFCO secession study, the next step toward municipal dissolution.

Yaroslavsky said the nine-member commission cannot devote nearly the time and energy to overseeing the study as the four-person subcommittee can, so he objected strenuously Wednesday to Jackson’s action.

“I sure hope this does not reflect a lack of commitment to a fair and open process, which was what the subcommittee was providing,” Yaroslavsky said.

Secessionists were also suspicious of Jackson’s action.

“The subcommittee has spent a lot of time and effort focused on the issue, and it doesn’t seem appropriate to disband it,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE, the main group behind the breakaway movement. Subcommittee members “have been fair,” he added. “I don’t understand why the subcommittee is being disbanded.”

Added another secessionist leader, “There is concern that there’s an attempt to hijack the process by anti-secession people.”

The subcommittee is made up of members who do not oppose the study, including City Councilman Hal Bernson of Granada Hills and Henry Pellissier.

Yaroslavsky knows how these battles are fought. He called in reinforcements, in the form of County Counsel Lloyd W. Pellman. Pellman advised Wednesday that Jackson had overstepped his authority.

“The subcommittee was formed by an action of the full commission, and, as a result, in our opinion, the commission would need to take action to terminate the subcommittee,” Pellman wrote.

Jackson, a Huntington Park city councilman, could not be reached for comment, but he said in a letter that the subcommittee completed its work in drafting guidelines for the study.

“Now that the process has begun, it is believed that the subcommittee’s valuable guidelines can be carried forward by LAFCO staff with the full commission’s oversight,” Jackson wrote.

With the county attorney’s opinion, Yaroslavsky and Close say they will now attempt to convince the full commission to leave the subcommittee in place to take in study data and oversee the work of consultants.

Yaroslavsky wondered whether the disbanding of the subcommittee has anything to do with the state decision to provide $1.8 million for the study. He said he wondered if some members of the commission who are not on the subcommittee already have in mind who they want to give lucrative consultant contracts to.

“It’s very strange. Very bizarre,” Yaroslavsky said.

IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY: One of the perks of getting elected to the Los Angeles City Council is your choice of a new car, at city expense.

Bernson, who is newly reelected, will trade his 1996 Chrysler for a 1999 Chrysler 300M costing $29,910.

“A car goes with the territory,” said Bernson spokesman Ali Sar. “His old car was having mechanical problems. It had to be towed a couple of times.”

First District Councilman Mike Hernandez is trading in his old car--made infamous when LAPD detectives videotaped him sitting inside it, allegedly snorting cocaine--for a Chrysler Concord.

Nick Pacheco, the newly elected councilman from the 14th District, has put in an order for the same kind of car Bernson received, but a year 2000 model that will be available in October.

The models chosen by Bernson and Pacheco were not even close to being the most expensive city cars driven by council members. That record is held by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has a $37,000 Oldsmobile Aurora, a top-of-the-line luxury model.

Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said it is important that elected officials have a reliable automobile to conduct the public’s business.

“But it’s a shame that they can’t show the public how economical they can be and try to milk another two or three years out of their car,” said Vosburgh, who drives an 11-year-old car.

Well, there might be someone who breaks the trend.

Newly elected 7th District Councilman Alex Padilla has not yet made up his mind about transportation. But he found fault with one luxury model.

“He said, ‘That’s too big. I don’t want a car that big,’ ” recalled Juliette Martinez, his chief of staff.

Martinez also passed on a luxury model offered to her. All chiefs-of-staff also get city cars.

At this stage, Padilla is still mulling over what kind of car to ask for, Martinez said. “It’s not a top priority,” she said.

MEETING OF THE CHICKS: Councilwoman Laura Chick of Tarzana has often been teased about her last name.

So she welcomed the company last week when the City Council held a ceremony to honor the 39-year broadcasting career of Lakers play-by-play legend Chick Hearn.

The councilwoman had some fun speculating about what it would be like if Hearn joined her family.

“You would be known as Chick Chick,” she warned Hearn.

NEVER TOO LATE: It’s been a long, long time coming.

So now that the restoration of the Hansen Dam Recreation Area is nearly complete after more than a decade of politicking, Rep. Howard Berman wants to make sure the northeast Valley appropriately celebrates the historic return of what was once one of its most popular attractions.

With help from fellow lawmakers in the area, Berman (D-Mission Hills) has organized a committee of about 25 northeast Valley community leaders to plan a big shindig Aug. 28 to formally mark the reopening of the lake.

Opening as a city-run recreation area in 1949, the park and lake became a favorite destination of many Angelenos during the postwar years, especially during the summer. But it succumbed to neglect by the early 1980s, becoming a refuge for local drug peddlers and hoods.

It is now set to reopen in early August with not one but two lakes. One is designed for swimming, the other for boating and fishing. The lakes are expected to cost roughly $16 million, with the money coming from the city, county and federal governments.

The Hansen Dam Celebration Committee is still meeting twice a month to iron out the details of the grand kickoff. But it will include paddle boats, food vendors and entertainment in addition to the political speech-making and photo ops, according to Berman’s office.

“The opening of Hansen Dam is one of the biggest things to happen in the northeast Valley in years,” said Berman spokesman Tom Waldman. “Howard has been working on this since he first got elected in 1982, and is very happy to see this coming to fruition. This will live on, long past his time.”

THE EARLY BIRD: Councilman Mike Feuer, whose district extends into Sherman Oaks, wants to be city attorney in 2001 and is hoping to scare away competition. That was made clear in a fund-raising letter from Bruce Corwin, the chief executive of Metropolitan Theatres Corp., and Lee Smalley Edmon, president of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., to many of Feuer’s other supporters.

“Your contribution to Mike’s campaign before the end of June will be reported in his midyear campaign finance report,” the two wrote. “That report will become the basis of political judgments to be made over the next year, and in electoral politics, success often begets success.”