Competing Copter Audit Upsets Council

Competing audits of Los Angeles’ troubled police and fire helicopter fleet sparked a sharp public exchange Tuesday between City Council members and former colleague Richard Alarcon, who is now a state senator.

With the city facing multimillion-dollar lawsuits over the fatal crash of a Fire Department helicopter in Griffith Park last year, the council’s budget committee Tuesday approved $40,000 to conduct a confidential safety audit of the city’s helicopter operations.

But council members blasted Alarcon, a Democrat from Sylmar, for pushing a state audit of the program.

“What makes this more complicated is our friend Alarcon’s actions in Sacramento, which are not productive here at all,” Councilman Mike Feuer said during what was supposed to be a closed-session meeting but which was accidentally broadcast throughout City Hall.

Feuer said it was “dumb” for Alarcon to seek a state audit because it duplicates the city study, costs more and, unlike the city audit, could be used against the city in civil lawsuits stemming from the crash in Griffith Park that killed four people.

Feuer said a request has been made to Alarcon to delay the state audit until after litigation is settled.

Councilwoman Rita Walters asked why Alarcon would push such an audit, saying, “He just got elected. He doesn’t have to run for office for four years.”

“Yeah, but there are ways to pay back varieties of folks,” Feuer responded. “This is just a dumb thing to do.”

Feuer said in an interview afterward that he was talking about politics, not improprieties, when he used the words “pay back.”

The firefighters union, which has criticized the city’s handling of helicopter operations, supported Alarcon in November’s election.

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Reached on the floor of the Senate, Alarcon said he wants a public airing of the issues involved with the park crash and numerous forced landings of city helicopters in the past year.

He questioned whether city officials want to keep the public in the dark.

“What do they have to hide?” Alarcon said.

Alarcon said his motivation is to make sure the city’s helicopters are safe. He said he will not back down until the city replaces its aging fleet of aircraft.