Areas Hoping to Split May Also Escape Rampart Liability

Talk about saving money.

New cities that split from Los Angeles may escape liability for the Rampart Division LAPD scandal, which could cost taxpayers $125 million, a consultant reported Wednesday.

The analysis, which was immediately challenged by city lawyers, was cited by consultant Craig Hoshijima in a meeting hashing out issues that might emerge if voters approve secession proposals in the San Fernando Valley and Harbor area.

Hoshijima, whose firm is under contract to study the impact of secession, a requirement before the issue could be placed on the ballot, said lawyers have studied the question of who would be responsible for claims stemming from allegations that Rampart Division officers engaged in widespread abuse that included beating, framing or shooting scores of people.

“One of their analyses is that the new cities may not be liable for the Rampart litigation,” said Hoshijima, an executive with the consulting firm Public Financial Management.

But Pete Echeverria, the chief assistant city attorney in charge of civil liability for the city, quickly criticized the conclusion.

“The impression that I’ve formed is the assets and liabilities are pretty much split, so I would think there would be a split of the Rampart liability as well,” Echeverria said in an interview after the City Hall meeting.

State law gives the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) overseeing a breakup the discretion to decide that Rampart liabilities were incurred outside areas that could secede, such as the Valley and Harbor, and therefore need not be shared by the new cities, according to the tentative opinion.

Before a vote on the breakup can occur, LAFCO must conclude secession would not financially harm either the new cities or the remainder of Los Angeles.

If the legal opinion stands up, escaping liability for Rampart--estimated at more than $125 million--could be a huge financial benefit for any new municipalities as they struggle to establish themselves, secessionists said Wednesday.

“Assuming it is correct, it would be extremely beneficial to the San Fernando Valley,” said Richard Close, chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE.

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SUMMER BREAK: The cacophony you didn’t hear from the usually boisterous chambers of the Los Angeles City Council was because council was on recess Aug. 21-Sept. 5.

So how did Valley council members spend their summer vacations? Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski escaped to her place in Santa Fe, N.M.

Councilman Alex Padilla enjoyed the local sights of San Antonio, but also met with several politicians. Padilla visited former San Antonio mayor and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros and met with current San Antonio Councilman Ed Garza and former Councilman Roger Perez.

Councilman Mike Feuer packed up his family to Mexico--visiting Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Mazatlan and other cities. Feuer said they had to rely on his Spanish for much of the trip.

Also brushing up her foreign language skills, Councilwoman Laura Chick, who spent one college year in France, again immersed herself in lingua franca while staying at a friend’s house near Avignon. She’s now convinced that L.A. is missing out on a French tradition: sidewalk cafes.

Others stuck close to home.

Councilman Joel Wachs kept busy on his campaign for mayor, a race that is heating up daily.

And while council was on its break, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority went on red alert with the possibility of a strike. That kept Councilman Hal Bernson, who sits on the MTA board, busy.

Bernson did escape briefly to his Encinitas condo. But earlier in the month, the staunch Republican boycotted the Democratic National Convention (unlike most of his colleagues) and enjoyed a trip to the East Coast.

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LEGISLATIVE FRENZY: No summer doldrums for legislators, who pushed through hundreds of bills in the waning days of the session. In the Assembly, Valley clout was at a zenith, and Valley representatives had a banner year. A partial list of some of their accomplishments:

* Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), aside from his key duties as chairman of the Budget Committee, pushed juvenile justice reform, including more officers to address juvenile crime and more resources for prevention and intervention programs.

Making sure that community colleges get their adequate local representation, Cardenas pushed through a bill assuring that representatives should be from the college district. It forces the Los Angeles County Community College District to establish regional seats rather than electing its members at large. Many of Los Angeles’ poorer areas have for years complained that at-large elections leave them with poor representation on the board.

* Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge), running for the Senate, wrote a measure creating a criminal justice task force to coordinate information sharing between law enforcement agencies.

* Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), also running for the Senate and part of the leadership in the Assembly, helped the disabled with a bill strengthening disability protections. Individuals who suffer disabling effects from diabetes, severe asthma and cancer are afforded more protection.

Kuehl also wrote a bill giving the state Film Commission authority to reimburse costs incurred by local governments when production companies use their jurisdictions in television and movie shoots.

* Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena), who is seeking a Senate seat, was busy with 11 bills under his belt. One is designed to make sure policyholders are the first to receive compensation when they are victims of unfair claims practices.

Scott also had time to write legislation that forces HMOs and other health insurers to make prompt payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.

* Busiest of all was Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), who sponsored 18 bills that passed.

One measure gives LAFCO bodies more powers to control urban sprawl. It also grants LAFCOs power to require financial disclosure of groups seeking to influence questions of municipal secession.

Can’t get through to 911? A Hertzberg bill provides state assistance to help local agencies establish “311” systems for nonemergency calls.

* Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles), among many legislative accomplishments, sponsored a bill that allows retired teachers to return to work for pay and continue to collect their pension as well, without penalty.

* Assemblyman George Runner Jr. (R-Lancaster) succeeded with a bill that requires the state Lottery Commission to advertise the odds of winning. Currently, the lottery prints odds only on the game play slips. Several other states already require the odds to be displayed prominently. Meanwhile, senators were also churning out bills:

* Making good on a long-held dream of providing for veterans in the Antelope Valley, Sen. William “Pete” Knight (R-Palmdale) saw his bill on a proposed Lancaster veterans home approved. The bill secured $12 million, which now enables officials to seek federal funding to make up the rest of the $36-million total.

* Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), who is seeking election to Congress, helped give domestic violence victims a bit more peace of mind with his bill that increased the time police officers have in determining whether to retain a weapon from an individual involved in a violent incident, such as domestic violence. The current period is 10 days. Schiff’s bill increases it to 30 days.

Schiff was also busy with a bill ensuring that updated psychological evaluations are provided to local district attorneys wanting to commit convicted sex offenders to state mental institutions.

* Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) addressed college sports programs that disappear without warning. Her bill provides for notice from UC, Cal State and community colleges prior to discontinuing an athletics program. It also requires that colleges continue athletic scholarships until the end of that academic year.

* Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) churned out 13 bills addressing topics from racial profiling to justice for janitors. Also concerned about teacher shortages, one of Alarcon’s bills allows potential teachers to get emergency credentials via a satellite feed, the Internet, video conferencing or other options that don’t require driving to a classroom.

* Counting all bills? Perhaps Sen. Tom Hayden should win that award. He got 22 bills through the Legislature, including protection for vehicle impoundment for low-income drivers with traffic tickets and health and consumer guidelines for fertility treatments.

One measure asks that UC Berkeley hold a research conference to identify lingering economic effects of slavery in America. The other calls on the state insurance commissioner to determine whether insurers have historical records of policies on slaves. At least five insurance companies apparently issued policies for slave owners against illness or death of their slaves.

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BEER BASH: Anheuser-Busch Inc., which operates a brewery in Van Nuys, opened the tap on campaign contributions to lawmakers in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere while seeking a relaxation of laws on distributing items promoting its beer. The St. Louis-based beer-maker delivered political contributions by the keg load totaling $132,700 in the months leading to last week’s state legislative passage of a bill boosting the value--from 25 cents to $1.35--of promotional items taverns can give to beer drinkers.

Campaigns of state lawmakers that benefited from Anheuser-Busch included Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), who received checks totaling $5,000.

Other campaigns that received donations from the company and the amount given include: $1,000 to the campaign of state Sen. William “Pete” Knight (R-Palmdale), $750 to Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster), $1,000 to Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) and $1,750 to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

Cheers.

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CAREER ASCENDING: Dee Dee Myers went from being the top spokesman for Mayor Tom Bradley to serving as press secretary to President Bill Clinton, while John Emerson went from serving as a top aide to City Atty. James Hahn to serving as an advisor to the nation’s chief executive.

Now, an aide to Councilman Mike Feuer moves from issues involving Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys to economic issues at the national level.

Peter Wong, who was Feuer’s advisor on local tax and budget issues, began work this week at the White House as an advisor on national budget issues.

Wong, who lived in Pasadena, said the transition has not been that difficult. “I think Los Angeles city is like a mini-country. It has a multibillion-dollar budget,” Wong said. “The scope is just different.”