Wachs

City Councilman Joel Wachs, whose campaign for mayor is built largely around his image as a protector of the public purse, has spent more than $300,000 of taxpayer money on a pair of city service guides that critics believe are intended to expand his name recognition outside his district. Wachs defended the guides as a valuable resource for city residents and said he is able to pay for them in part by holding down his other staff costs. "I'm very proud of these books," he said.

A $55-million plan to convert sewage to drinking water came under fire Monday as critics accused the Department of Water and Power of failing to adequately disclose and explain its impact on Los Angeles' water supply. But most speakers at the council committee hearing said the project itself is safe and necessary.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to pay $427,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the firm that rebuilt the Sun Valley public swimming pool, alleging that the city and its architect were responsible for design problems and cost overruns. Councilman Joel Wachs voted against the settlement, criticizing City Atty. James Hahn and Recreation and Parks Commission President Steve Soboroff, both rival mayoral candidates, for releasing the architect from liability.

Saying public confidence has been shaken by the Rampart scandal, two dozen Neighborhood Watch leaders from across Los Angeles on Thursday called for LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks to restore full-time liaison officers for local communities. Activists from the San Fernando Valley, Pico-Union, South-Central and Hollywood rallied at City Hall behind a proposal by Councilman Joel Wachs to direct the chief to restore the popular senior lead officer program to help repair police-community relations.

City Councilman Joel Wachs urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to proceed in good faith as it began negotiations Friday to provide land for the Los Angeles Children's Museum to relocate next to the North Hollywood subway station. MTA officials have raised questions about whether the museum's demand for a $1-a-year lease would be the best return on the agency's investment in valuable real estate around the Red Line station, due to open in June.

With the next mayoral election one year away, a Times poll has found that Los Angeles voters have formed few opinions about the candidates, though they are eager for change and hopeful that the next mayor will set new priorities. The early look at the campaign horse race shows that none of the candidates has made much of an impression and most registered voters confess they have no opinions about the bulk of the field. City Atty. James K.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs said Friday his office had received more than 600 postcards from local residents demanding that a provision banning easterly takeoffs be stripped from the framework deal for a new Burbank Airport terminal. Wachs said the cards, which were collected by the Studio City Residents Assn., would be sent to Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey to express dissatisfaction with the existing deal that includes a ban on easterly takeoffs.

Sharing the same stage for the first time in the 2001 Los Angeles mayoral campaign, four influential politicians and one well-connected outsider maneuvered Thursday to establish their own credentials, platforms and identities while subtly challenging each other in a debate dominated by the Rampart police scandal.

Basketball players are itching to use the gym at Victory-Vineland Recreation Center, but the day-care kids have first dibs. The restrooms are off limits too, for security reasons, because they also are used by the children. Students in karate, ballet and other classes are also clamoring for space. And then there are Wednesdays, when more than 200 senior citizens take over the North Hollywood gym for a full day of bingo, and the day-care program is shunted into a tiny side room.

City Councilman Joel Wachs on Tuesday called for a report from city fire officials on the status of Staples Center's fire alarm system, which is still not working, even though the arena opened to the public more than three months ago. Staples Center has been operating on a temporary occupancy permit pending completion of its alarm system. To ensure safety, the center has been paying six city fire inspectors to look out for danger at all public events.