Feuer

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer recommended Wednesday establishing a nonemergency phone number for the police and fire departments to reduce the number of 911 calls. Under his proposal, residents throughout the city would be able to dial 311 to report incidents that are not life threatening, such as barking dogs, graffiti, illegal dumping and car burglaries. The calls would be answered by an existing bank of operators who would decide the appropriate police response.

Former lawmaker Mike Feuer and City Councilman Dennis Zine continue to hold leads in their races for citywide Los Angeles offices, new polling released Monday showed. In polling conducted April 29 through May 7 by the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., Feuer, a former member of the state Assembly and L.A. City Council, led City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, who is seeking reelection in next week's balloting, 35 to 24%, with 41% of voters still undecided.

Re "Valley Glen Name-Change Proposal," Jan. 18. A letter from Abigail Spiegel appeared in reference to the issue of the Valley Glen name change, and noted Councilman [Mike] Feuer's supposed lack of effort in our area of the Valley. I am a member of the Livable Neighborhoods Council (LNC). However, I am writing as a resident of the area defined as Valley Glen. I have lived in the Valley since 1965, and I can tell you that this councilman is one of the most active I have ever seen.

In his campaign to become Los Angeles city attorney, Mike Feuer has touted himself as someone who will work cooperatively with the mayor and City Council and avoid the squabbles that have marked the incumbent's tenure. During previous stints on the council and in the Legislature, Feuer repeatedly won over colleagues to approve pioneering laws on contentious issues, including gun control. But even some supporters say Feuer's stubborn, driven approach can also be antagonizing. Former colleagues describe the 54-year-old politician as a sometimes overly zealous - albeit intelligent - advocate for liberal causes.

Re "Measure to Fingerprint Gun Buyers Advances," Jan. 23: How typical of the National Rifle Assn. to oppose a common-sense measure such as L.A. Councilman Mike Feuer's proposal to fingerprint gun buyers! This law would enable prosecutors to go after convicted felons who try to buy guns. But Steve Helsley of the NRA says that "there has never been any inclination to prosecute violators" who try to obtain firearms despite being prohibited persons. Enforcement of existing laws requires the means to enforce the existing laws--and by fingerprinting gun buyers, prosecutors are given the means to prove a prohibited person attempted to buy a gun. They can then file cases against these criminals to put them behind bars, where they belong.

"Apartments Given a Reprieve," April 27. Councilman [Mike] Feuer's punitive effort to block redevelopment of the Chase Knolls apartments seems typical of his leadership style. Having ascended his soapbox, Feuer informs us that because this post-war, tract-style apartment cluster has endured past its 50th anniversary, it qualifies as an [historic] site. If the site was worth preserving, the councilman should have acted sooner to revoke the current zoning that permits the property to accommodate more than 300 units.

Once again, some of our politicians have opted for the 30-second sound bite solution to a greater problem they have no clue how to solve. I'm referring to the proposal to make ammunition buyers fill out a form and leave a fingerprint at the time of purchase ("Gun Control Backers Set Sights on Bullets," May 27). I have tried but I can find no way this will reduce the gun violence on our streets. It won't reduce the purchases of bullets. Anyone with a criminal record can just have a friend without a record buy the bullets.

Government bureaucrats want your water softener. The Culligan Man is fighting back. The company behind the renowned "Hey Culligan Man!" advertising campaign of the 1950s has launched a political and public relations offensive to kill a bill targeting its signature product. That proposal would allow regulators to ban conventional water softeners that discharge salt into municipal sewer lines.

UCLA professor Laura Lake is undertaking a wholesale rewriting of Westwood's community plan in an attempt to scale down what she sees as "helter-skelter" growth in the congested district. Planning consultant Ruth Galanter, who lives in Venice, is trying to unseat City Councilwoman Pat Russell in the 6th District and dreams of slowing development in that populous Westside area.

Mayor Richard Riordan and City Councilman Mike Feuer will write the ballot argument in favor of a proposed $532-million bond measure for new Los Angeles fire stations and animal shelters. The argument against the bonds will be written by secessionist leader Richard Close, a council panel decided Friday.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich has a steep hill to climb to keep his job in next month's election, a new USC Price/L.A. Times poll has found. Challenger Mike Feuer, a former city and state lawmaker, held a lead of more than 11 percentage points over Trutanich, drawing support from 36.8% of voters, compared with 25.5% favoring the incumbent. With about a month to go before election day, nearly 38% of the voters surveyed had not made up their minds. The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy/L.A.

Benjamin Kadish was just 5 and attending a summer day camp at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in 1999 when an self-professed white supremacist walked through the door and shot him and several others. On Thursday, the now 19-year-old joined his parents, Chuck and Eleanor Kadish, and several others working to combat gun violence and endorsed former lawmaker Mike Feuer for Los Angeles city attorney. Feuer, who is challenging City Atty. Carmen Trutanich in the May 21 runoff, has often talked about his efforts to stem shootings, both as a city councilman in the 1990s and more recently as a member of the state Assembly.

Accusations about ethics continue to fly in the bitter runoff for Los Angeles city attorney. On Wednesday, the campaign of former lawmaker Mike Feuer claimed a man with a part-time city contract is doing campaign work - on the taxpayers' dime - for City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, Feuer's opponent in the May 21 runoff. Through his company, Santa Monica-based Intelligent Content Inc, Daniel Raskov has a $4,175 a month contract to work up to 20 hours a week to write newsletters, apply for grants  and perform community outreach and other duties for the city attorney's office and Trutanich.

Former lawmaker Mike Feuer, a candidate for Los Angeles city attorney in the May 21 runoff, had raised $308,000 by April 6, the first campaign reporting deadline, and had collected an additional $350,000 in taxpayer matching funds, according to a document filed Wednesday with the City Ethics Commission. Feuer turned in his campaign finance report a day ahead of Thursday's filing deadline. He showed more than $540,000 in cash on hand. The report indicated Feuer made a $15,000 payment to Shallman Communications, his consulting firm.

Citing pending litigation, Los Angeles city attorney candidate Mike Feuer on Tuesday said he won't release a copy of his unusual “win-bonus” contract with campaign consultant John Shallman. The Times had requested copies of both the original contract and modifications Feuer said he made after coming in first in the four-way primary last month. He has since been sued by a supporter of incumbent City Atty. Carmen Trutanich over the contract. “Following discussions with our counsel, given the pending litigation, we aren't releasing the contracts at this time,” Dave Jacobson, Feuer campaign spokesman, said in an email.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich offers an explanation for why his reelection challenger has racked up the lion's share of endorsements as the May 21 runoff approaches: "He's part of the old-boys club; he's a career politician and I'm independent. " But former lawmaker Mike Feuer points to the backing he's received from hundreds of elected officials - including both of California's U.S. senators - civic and other groups, environmental organizations, labor, law and community leaders as evidence of "a clear desire for change" in the city's top legal post.

Each of the four candidates for the post of Los Angeles city attorney offers unique experience and a vision for the office, but The Times endorses Mike Feuer in the April 10 primary. A City Council member since 1995 and formerly the director of a public interest law firm, Feuer would bring to the city attorney's office a track record of problem-solving, solid leadership and management experience, as well as creative ideas to improve the quality of urban life.

City Councilman Michael Feuer will continue to promote the recreational potential of the Los Angeles River at a presentation Monday to the Sherman Oaks Town Council. "The banks of the Los Angeles River have tremendous potential for pedestrians, cyclists and others who wish to enjoy an outdoor experience," Feuer said in a statement. "River enthusiasts have been alerting us to this untapped resource. Now is the time to begin to listen."

The candidates vying in the May 21 election to be Los Angeles' top lawyer are questioning each other's ethics in increasingly harsh ways, dueling complaints made to authorities last week showed. Supporters of City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, widely considered the underdog in the runoff contest, filed a lawsuit against former lawmaker Mike Feuer, accusing him of improperly obtaining $300,000 in taxpayer funds by hiding the true cost of the campaign. Feuer responded by lodging a pair of complaints with the city Ethics Commission, including one that alleged that Trutanich violated rules by sending an e-mail newsletter during a special campaign blackout period for incumbents.

Longtime Westside leader Barbara Broide said she quickly grew suspicious of a telephone call she received a few days ago. After giving his first name and that of an independent group supporting Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich's reelection, the caller dropped a political bombshell: Broide said he told her that former lawmaker Mike Feuer, Trutanich's opponent in the May 21 runoff, had promised to hire former City Councilman Jack Weiss - a hot-button figure to some Westside voters - as his chief of staff if Feuer won. That seemed preposterous to Broide and some others who heard similar rumors from the independent campaign group or in emails or phone calls from individuals backing Trutanich.