The Footage Follies

A few current and former members of the Los Angeles City Council have complained that it is inexcusable that the city is leasing office space when there is 75,000 square feet of it sitting vacant at a Department of Water and Power building in the San Fernando Valley.

But whose fault is that? It was the council that begged the DWP to keep the space off the private real estate market, ensuring it would remain vacant, until the city could decide how to use the DWP building. Meanwhile the council was voting for a $464,000 lease for office space in, of course, a privately owned building in the San Fernando Valley.

What’s needed here is a public disclosure of all of the property and buildings that the city owns and an assessment of the 12 million or so square feet of office space that the city owns and leases. The city’s Assets Management Division said in 1996 that it would produce that information for Mayor Richard Riordan and the council. To be included was an assessment of what properties the city could sell or consolidate and how it could save money on leases. That comprehensive study, which would help the city increase its efficiency and reduce costs, is still months from completion.

The city says it has a database of its properties, but how well is it used? How much effort is city government making to reduce reliance on privately owned office space? The council should ask these questions and also consider its own responsibility in the latest property brouhaha.