Council Members Staunchly Support Staunch Supporter

In agreeing Wednesday to exclusive negotiations over rebuilding the Valley Plaza shopping center in North Hollywood, Los Angeles City Council members were effusive in their praise for developer Jerry Snyder.

It should be no surprise that Snyder is so popular. The developer has emerged as a major political contributor to sitting council members, pouring thousands of dollars into their campaigns.

Over the past three years, Snyder, his wife and employees have given more than two dozen contributions totaling $14,000 to a select group of mostly Valley-area council members, including Joel Wachs, Laura Chick, Hal Bernson and John Ferraro.

The contributions included $2,000 to Wachs’ mayoral campaign, and another $2,000 to Wachs’ council committees.

Wachs led the love-fest Wednesday for Snyder before the council voted unanimously to enter negotiations to allow him to launch a $140-million overhaul of the downtrodden mall.

“There is no opposition, and for good reason,” declared Wachs, whose district includes Valley Plaza. “It’s a great project.”

Snyder was picked by the Community Redevelopment Agency based on a competition in which he beat out another company.

The developer thanked the council Wednesday for its unanimous support.

“We are prepared to go forward,” Snyder said. “So far this has been very smooth and we haven’t had any opposition.”

Observing the lengthy pro-Snyder council discussion, Councilman Mike Hernandez told his colleagues he was amazed by what appeared to be a decision involving “this circle of friends.”

HOBNOBBING WITH THE STARS: Members of the Studio City Residents Assn. are angry that their neighborhoods have been included in the boundaries of a proposed new city of Hollywood.

Association President Tony Lucente said he has scheduled a meeting for tonight with leaders of the secession group Hollywood VOTE to discuss dropping parts of Studio City from the new city boundaries.

“We have members who are very upset,” Lucente said. “Studio City is part of the San Fernando Valley.”

But wouldn’t Lucente rather be part of Hollywood, where he could rub elbows with movie stars?

Those are fighting words.

“We in Studio City have plenty of our own stars,” Lucente said, noting that neighbors include William Shatner, Shelley Fabares and Wayne Knight, who played Seinfeld’s neighbor Newman.

“Just call us the Homeowners Assn. of the Stars,” Lucente said.

ENTERING THE FRAY: The Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. has decided to weigh in on the contentious issue of implementing voter-approved charter reform in Los Angeles.

As the City Council and Mayor Richard Riordan squabble over who should be in charge of city finances, VICA is aiming its sights at the equally important issues of how best to create a network of advisory neighborhood councils and area planning commissions.

The concern, according to some VICA officials, is that membership of the neighborhood councils and planning commissions be balanced, and not tilted toward development foes who might shut down growth of the city’s economy.

“VICA is committed to enhancing the economic viability of the San Fernando Valley and the entire Southern California region,” VICA Chairwoman Cathy Maguire said.

Doug Dowie, a senior vice president of the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, will chair VICA’s new Charter Reform Implementation Committee.

ROUGH LIFE: While many failed political candidates are left to pick up the pieces of their careers after losing an election, S. David Freeman will actually be better off financially since he lost a bid for an Assembly seat.

Freeman lost the primary race in the 41st District to Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills.

Instead of potentially heading to Sacramento for a legislative job paying just over $100,000 a year, Freeman returned to his old job as head of one of the nation’s largest utilities, where he makes more than $200,000 annually.

Freeman, general manager of the city’s Department of Water and Power, said he isn’t in government for the money. But, he added, “I was kind of glad I had an important job to come back to.

“It would have been a bigger deal to lose if I didn’t have anything to come back to,” he said.

Within two days of the election, Freeman was back from his leave of absence and on the top floor of the DWP’s downtown headquarters.

He said he believed he ran a good, clean campaign. Asked what happened to him and the other candidates, Freeman said, “she [Pavley] just beat the hell out of us.”

The election was not the most upsetting thing to happen to Freeman this month. “Losing the election was nothing,” he said. “I lost my secretary.”

The utility manager said he got some cheering up from none other than the top politician in the country.

Freeman said his ex-wife told President Clinton about the loss during a meeting at the White House.

“He told me, ‘Cheer up.’ He lost his first election too,” Freeman recalled.

Does that mean we can expect another candidacy by the 74-year-old Freeman?

“It’s kind of like asking someone who just gave birth if they are going to have another child,” he said.