CITY HALL ROUNDUP : While stumping in Wilmington, Boxer tries to set off a fire alarm.

BOXER BLAST: Taking advantage of this month’s explosion and fire at Texaco’s Wilmington refinery, U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Boxer swept into town Friday to tout her endorsement by the International Firefighters’ Union.

Flanked by Dallas Jones, president of the Los Angeles County Firefighters’ union, and Democratic supporters and community leaders, Boxer blasted her opponent, Republican Bruce Herschensohn, for allegedly advocating the repeal of environmental regulations.

Boxer stood in the front yard of a house evacuated during the Oct. 8 explosion and outlined the environmental sabotage she said Herschensohn would cause.

If Herschensohn had his way, Boxer said, regulations would be so lax that companies would not be forced to reveal what chemicals they store on site.

“Imagine what it would’ve been like (for firefighters) arriving at the refinery fire with no idea of what lay behind those gates,� she said.

But think beyond refinery fires, she warned. Without regulations, the country would regress to a time when the military exposed people to chemical experiments without their knowledge, she said.

Remember radiation experiments. Remember Agent Orange. Remember the Alamo.

Oops, wrong campaign.

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HANDING OUT THE GREEN: Richard Greene, the Green Party candidate for the 36th Congressional District, is walking and roller-skating a 36-mile route through the district this weekend to hand out $40,000 in bills.

Although the money is fake--it contains Greene’s platform, biography and endorsements--the promise is not, he says. If elected, Greene plans to return the most recent $40,000 congressional pay raise to charities throughout the district.

Greene’s route will take him from Venice in the northern part of the district, south past the Hyperion sewage treatment plant--�I’m roller-skating that stretch. There aren’t really many people there�--and to all three beach cities piers. He will walk the length of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, through Torrance to the Del Amo Fashion Center and then north into Manhattan Beach.

“People think all I’m concerned about is blocking whaling ships . . . and hugging trees and wearing Birkenstocks,� Greene said. “I’m going to get out there and tell them that the Green Party is a viable, serious organization concerned with the issues.�

Later this week, Greene plans to stand on freeway on-ramps to pass out campaign literature and display a sign: “Honest Politician: Will Work For Votes.�

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DEAD HEAT: Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of grave may keep David Duff from casting his vote on Hawthorne’s card club proposition next month.

His wife, Shirley, received confirmation that he registered to vote Sept. 23. But Duff has been dead for more than a year.

Shirley Duff, chairwoman of People Against Poker, a group of citizens adamantly opposed to a card club in Hawthorne, said she was appalled when she received her late husband’s voter registration card in the mail.

“I was shocked,� she said. “I thought, ‘How dare they?’ and ‘Who do I call about this mockery?’ �

Since learning of the illegal registration, Duff said she has found names of at least four other deceased Hawthorne residents on voter rolls, as well as a growing list of non-residents and children who were recently registered.

Mark Young, co-chairman of Hawthorne Economic Improvement Committee, which is backing the initiative, blames a contractor hired by the committee to conduct a registration drive. He said those responsible for the false registration have been fired.

“I’m outraged,� Young said. “I regret that it happened and I think the people responsible should go to jail. But it’s registration fraud, not voter fraud, until someone tries to vote more than once.�

The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case.

One Hawthorne resident summed up the situation at the last council meeting.

“Dead men don’t lie,� he said, “but they can vote in Hawthorne.�

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GOODBY MR. GOODWRENCH?: The saga of the endangered Rancho Palos Verdes service station took a new turn last week as City Council members initiated zoning changes to preserve the facilities.

Alarmed that oil companies are closing down the peninsula’s few remaining stations to make way for mini-malls and condominiums, city officials at first intended to pass an ordinance banning such closures unless a company could prove that its station was unprofitable.

Now, however, the city hopes to change zoning rules to outlaw construction of anything other than a service station on the remaining sites.

“On the peninsula the service stations have become an endangered species, so they qualify for a special accommodation, sort of like the gnatcatcher,� Councilwoman Susan Brooks said.

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UNITED THEY STAND: Despite a nagging budget crunch, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council dug into taxpayers’ pockets last week to bring the city’s Eastview stepchildren back into the local school fold.

Council members voted to give $5,000 to Residents for Unified Local Education, or RULE. The group has been trying for years to get Eastview-area students admitted to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. The children attend Los Angeles Unified School District campuses.

RULE is backing a proposition on the Nov. 3 ballot that would allow Eastview parents to secede from the Los Angeles district and transfer two schools--Crestwood Street Elementary and Dodson Junior High--to the peninsula district. But their efforts may be in vain: A judge recently ruled that the election results will not be valid.

That development, however, did not deter city officials from handing over any cash. The $5,000 contribution can be used used for future legal fees.

“We think it’s so incredibly important to have Eastview in our school district,� Councilman Robert Ryan explained.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: Hollywood Park celebrated the opening of its Golf and Sports Center with a celebrity putting tournament on the 18-hole grass putting greens. The golf center is part of Hollywood Park’s $100-million expansion plans, which include a music dome for concerts and a card club, if voters approve it on Election Day.

Manhattan Beach: The City Council has narrowly approved the tentative purchase of 1.3 acres of prime downtown real estate. The council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to pay Santa Fe Railway Co. $3.1 million for the land, located on the former Metlox property at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Valley/Ardmore Drive. Potential uses of the property include expanding the civic center, building a cultural arts or community center, and developing a park.

Redondo Beach: The City Council gave preliminary approval to a 25-year franchise agreement that allows Southern California Gas Co. to use city streets to sell and carry gas. Under the agreement, which will come up for a final vote next month, the city will earn about $1.5 million a year, about five times more than it had been earning under the former franchise.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: Mayor Edward Vincent is going hunting for dollars in Beverly Hills on Thursday night. His $500-a-plate campaign fund-raiser will be held at the Bistro, a chi-chi Beverly Hills cafe. Vincent is not up for election again until 1994 but he lives by the old politician’s axiom: You can never be too thin or have too big a war chest.

Torrance: The City Council will consider a plan to slash $1.27 million from the city’s operating budget. Officials hope that the cuts, combined with an array of fee increases to be considered next month, will erase a $1.74-million revenue shortfall. Sharp reductions in state allocations derailed Torrance’s $148-million budget for 1992-1993.

Hermosa Beach: A group of architects and urban designers that has been studying ways to revitalize the city’s downtown area will present its findings to the public from 7 to 11 p.m. Monday in the Civic Center Theater Auditorium at Pier Avenue and the Pacific Coast Highway.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St., Gardena. (310) 217-9565. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated 7 p.m. on the next two Sundays.

Hawthorne: 7 p.m. Monday, 4455 W. 126th St., Hawthorne. (310) 970-7902. Televised on Channel 22 (Paragon) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Hermosa Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. (310) 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

Inglewood: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. (310) 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, (310) 548-7637; in Wilmington, (310) 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, (310) 548-7664; in Westchester, (310) 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates. (310) 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills. (310) 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates. (310) 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).

Torrance: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. (310) 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.