Los Angeles Government Agencies

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has appointed more than 200 people to citizen commissions overseeing everything from the city's Police Department to its libraries. All the appointees, with the exception of those on the Board of Public Works, have agreed to forgo the per-meeting stipends paid to commissioners. AFFORDABLE HOUSING Tod A. Burnett Dina A. Gonzalez Aaron E. Michaelsen Brenda Y. Shockley AIRPORT COMMISSION Martha Brown Hicks Daniel P. Garcia Patricia Schnegg Theodore O. Stein, Jr.

Bob Brostoff proved Tuesday that sometimes you can fight City Hall and win. The West Hills resident complained last month about having to pay a 7% fee for a street-use permit that is only charged by city field offices in the San Fernando Valley and other outlying areas of the city. Residents who obtain permits at City Hall are not assessed the surcharge.

What parent wouldn't want a teen like Wendy Welt? Responsible, loving, happy in her own skin--nothing like those overwrought kids on "Dawson's Creek." At 19, she has doting pals and a boyfriend, a job she likes, a cool mom and dad who trust her, good looks. What she does lack are arms and legs--which she was born without--but that's barely braked her full-throttle charge at life. Picture Wendy at the helm of a power boat, dark hair whipping her face.

A two-term California governor, a former New York City police commissioner and a number of well-known attorneys, prosecutors and police experts have applied to serve as the independent monitor overseeing reforms in the Los Angeles Police Department, according to a list of candidates obtained by The Times. George Deukmejian, who served as California's governor from 1983 to 1991, applied as part of a team of consultants from a Los Angeles auditing firm.

As Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials unveiled a controversial proposed reorganization Wednesday, key city leaders said they were reluctantly prepared to back the plan despite its call to lay off 2,000 public employees, the largest such cutback in the history of the city government. That prospect has rocked the DWP, a legendary Los Angeles institution whose employees nervously gathered in small groups Wednesday to await word of the anticipated cutbacks.

Ursula Mitchell is a coffee shop waitress. Her husband Bill drives a truck. One day in 1988 they spotted a for-sale sign in front of a cozy tract home on a pleasant street in Mission Hills. Now, cozy is often a synonym for small. But when the Mitchells stepped inside, they were taken with its spaciousness. "This was probably the room," Ursula says, settling into a sofa, "that sold us the house." The family room was an add-on.

In a bold effort to consolidate mass transit development, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission moved Wednesday to unilaterally take future phases of the huge Metro Rail subway project away from the Southern California Rapid Transit District. The commission voted 9 to 2 to approve setting up a new, commission-controlled rail construction subsidiary to take over the next phase of the RTD's $3.

An Echo Park child care center, closed last year after two of its employees were accused of child molestation, will reopen this month on a probationary basis, city officials announced Wednesday. Under an agreement that will be finalized today between the city of Los Angeles and the state Department of Social Services, the Echo Park Recreation Center will resume its after-school program for elementary schoolchildren on Jan.

Call it the kinder, gentler Animal Regulations Department. In an effort to expand its services and improve its image, the department is adopting a new long-term plan, a new logo and a new name--L.A. Animal Services. "The new plan, name and logo represent the broadening of the department," said Animal Services Commissioner Gini Barrett, who has taken a lead role in the department's face-lift.

Overturning a vote of the Planning Commission, a Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Tuesday that seven area planning commissions be created throughout Los Angeles. The Planning Commission had recommended that six local planning commissions be created, including two in the San Fernando Valley, based on the caseload of each area.

A two-term California governor, a former New York City police commissioner and a number of well-known attorneys, prosecutors and police experts have applied to serve as the independent monitor overseeing reforms in the Los Angeles Police Department, according to a list of candidates obtained by The Times. George Deukmejian, who served as California's governor from 1983 to 1991, applied as part of a team of consultants from a Los Angeles auditing firm.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday expanded its inquiry into the Community Redevelopment Agency to include the payment of $1.57 million more for properties than the agency's own appraisals showed they were worth. The council scheduled a Dec. 15 meeting with CRA head Jerry Scharlin to discuss the issue. City Controller Rick Tuttle's office was highly critical of the apparent overpayment in an audit and turned the matter over to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to instruct all city departments to review their relationships with the Boy Scouts of America because of the group's legally sanctioned discrimination based on religion and homosexuality.

Alarmed by allegations of wrongdoing, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday expanded its inquiry into the troubled Community Redevelopment Agency to include the payment of $1.57 million more for properties than the agency's own appraisals showed they were worth. The council set Dec. 15 as the date for a meeting with CRA administrator Jerry Scharlin, at which they also will discuss concerns that he hired a private investigator to look into his own agency.

Alarmed by allegations of financial improprieties in the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, interim administrator Jerry Scharlin said Wednesday he had hired a private detective firm to investigate agency operations. The private investigators' work has been turned over to the city controller's office, and helped spark a more detailed audit of agency land transactions now underway, Scharlin said.

Two San Fernando Valley residents have been nominated by Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to city commissions. David Iwata, president of the San Fernando Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau since 1998, was nominated to the Linked Banking Program Community Oversight Board Commission. Created last year, the commission is developing criteria to determine whether banks are providing services to all members of the community, especially those of low and moderate incomes.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) called Thursday night for the breakup of the city's Department of Water and Power, saying a single agency should not be responsible for monitoring the safety of drinking water while also selling it to consumers. "There is no one in charge of monitoring the water in Los Angeles," he said. "That leaves it to the water agencies to tell us about [the quality of] the water they want to sell us."

Breaking up the Los Angeles Fire Department would reduce its flexibility and effectiveness in dealing with major brush fires and high-rise blazes, a top fire official warned at a City Hall hearing on secession Tuesday. Deputy Chief John Callahan said the most logical arrangement to maintain quality would be for any new cities, such as in the San Fernando Valley or the Harbor area, to contract with the Los Angeles city department.

The new City Charter that was approved by voters takes effect today and government leaders said Friday that residents need not fear any disruption in basic city services. The new charter was approved by voters in June 1999 to make city government more effective and responsive, and city officials have spent the last year drafting and approving the ordinances required to carry out the constitutional overhaul.

Los Angeles is on the verge of a major change in the way development projects are evaluated, and despite assurances from city officials, some fear the transition won't be smooth. Starting July 1, the Board of Zoning Appeals will be abolished and seven new planning commissions are to begin operating throughout Los Angeles, making decisions on local planning issues. A citywide commission, expanded from five to nine members, will take up projects with broader impact.