Riordan Wants 911 Center Built Immediately

Outraged at delays in building a police dispatch center in West Hills, Mayor Richard Riordan is calling for construction to begin immediately, even though others say the city might save millions of dollars by putting the center elsewhere.

The Los Angeles Board of Public Works decided last week to delay awarding the $20-million construction contract so officials could study whether it would be cheaper to locate the center in a Department of Water and Power office building in Sun Valley.

But Riordan and Police Chief Bernard Parks have called a Parker Center news conference today to demand that the contract be awarded and the project be started on a West Hills site formerly used by Hughes Missile Systems.

“He (Riordan) is outraged that the CAO has taken it upon himself to delay a project already approved by the City Council,” said Kelly Martin, Riordan’s chief of staff, referring to City Administrative Officer Paul Caulley. “The voters approved this in 1992 and it hasn’t happened yet.”

Riordan is pointing to the delays as another reason for voters to approve a new City Charter in next month’s election, saying it will allow him to hold top city bureaucrats more accountable for delays such as those plaguing the dispatch center.

The project is urgent, LAPD officials say, because it will replace the city’s current, antiquated 911 system, which has crashed in the past and is unable to handle the call load.

The new dispatch center is seen as part of an effort to improve Valley emergency response times, which are among the worst in the city.

Martin said any potential savings from putting the center in Sun Valley would probably be offset by the additional cost of halting the project, redesigning it and retrofitting the DWP office building to make it secure and seismically safe.

Caulley said he needs a few more weeks to complete an analysis of former Councilman Richard Alarcon’s proposal to locate the 911 center and a new police station in the DWP’s Anthony Office Building.

Some preliminary estimates by city consultants indicate that the city could save $5 million to $7 million by moving the dispatch center to Sun Valley.

“There is a possibility of savings of Proposition M money,” Caulley said, referring to the 1992 ballot measure that provided $237 million in bonds to upgrade police communications systems. “We won’t really know until we complete our analysis.”

Caulley said the study is looking at whether the 911 center could be housed in the DWP building or built on adjacent surplus land.

However, Martin said an initial estimate by consultants working with Caulley said moving the dispatch center would save substantially less, perhaps only $1 million.

“That doesn’t count the cost of delay,” she said. The DWP building also is not strong enough to withstand major earthquakes, as required for any building housing emergency communications equipment, Martin added.

There was also concern that Caulley was asked by the City Council to study possible use of the DWP building last November, and the report has not been completed six months later.

Still, City Councilwoman Laura Chick asked why the city needs to act now when it might have more information to help it make a better decision in a few weeks.

“It seems to me to be a very responsible and accountable thing to do to take a breath and take a few weeks to see if there can be savings of up to $7 million,” Chick said.

Parks has been concerned that changing the site of the project after it is designed is begging for additional costs and complications.

The Valley emergency dispatch center is one of two bid out last month, drawing a combined bid of about $37.7 million for the pair. The other building is proposed to be constructed downtown next to Parker Center.

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THE MAYOR: In his radio address, Riordan urged listeners to vote for charter reform. B9