Galanter Questions Plans for School Site

Citing cost and safety concerns, City Council President Ruth Galanter has tied up consideration of a San Fernando Valley site for a new high school that could yield sorely needed classrooms for 900 by next year.

Galanter said she will not allow the $50-million sale of the city’s Anthony Office Building in Sun Valley to the Los Angeles Unified School District until her questions are answered. The building is currently owned by the Department of Water and Power.

“The basic premise of turning it into a high school sounds fine,” Galanter said. “But I don’t want to find out six months later that it’s costing . . . more money than we thought it was going to.”

Galanter has asked for assurance that work planned by the DWP, which intends to lease back space in the building, would not pose a hazard to students. She also expressed concern about the safety of mixing DWP workers with students, and questioned whether the cost for the building and the expense of relocating some workers is reasonable.

The DWP board approved the sale to the school district on April 3, but Galanter has prevented a council committee from considering the matter.

“It’s very frustrating,” said LAUSD board member Caprice Young. She said the sale must be approved in the next 60 days to allow enough time to convert the building into a school by a planned July 2002 opening.

The district had hoped for council approval of the sale this week, said Kathy Littmann, director of LAUSD construction.

“We were told by the DWP this would go through pretty quickly,” Young said. “But there are a whole bunch of questions that have been asked. This is one that should be a slam dunk.”

The DWP plans to rent space for $3.1 million a year in the four-story building, at 8501 Arleta Ave., for water testing and other operations.

Galanter, who heads the council’s Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has cited to the DWP concerns over safety, including how to keep DWP workers separate from students.

“I just wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing,” Galanter said. “Everybody gets in trouble if they act impulsively without making sure they have evaluated what it’s going to mean for them.”

The district has made mistakes in the past rushing into projects, including the Belmont Learning Center, which sits nearly completed but unused because of belated fears of toxic contamination. There have been false starts on other projects as well, as the district tries to identify more than 180 sites for new schools to relieve crowding.

School officials need five new Valley high schools and 10 elsewhere to accommodate 23,000 more students by 2006.

For that reason, Councilman Alex Padilla said the sale of the Anthony Office Building is key.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Padilla said. “We know the school district needs the space and the students in the Valley need the classrooms.”

Under the proposal approved by the DWP board, the district would buy the building and convert its second, third and fourth floors into classrooms and offices. The building is on 33.5 acres, which would provide ample space for sports fields.

Initially, the school would accommodate 900 students, but enrollment would increase to 1,500 after a few years, Littmann said.

The DWP would lease part of the building for operation of its water-quality lab, telephone call center and computer center, for up to 10 years. The DWP would pay $3.1 million each year in rent, according to the contract.

The DWP will show that the lab does not pose a health risk to people in other parts of the building, said Winifred Yancy, the DWP’s council liaison.

Regarding the mixing of DWP workers and students, DWP officials may speed the planned relocation of workers from the building to five years instead of 10.

Galanter also said she does not want to find out later that other city agencies need office space but are having to search and pay premium prices for it.