Feuding Dampens Council Harmony

A month ago, members of the Los Angeles City Council were talking about what a tight-knit group they were and how great things were ahead for the city.

But the panel has recently feuded over two big issues: hiring the next chief legislative analyst and whether the city should continue hauling trash to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

The arguing was especially intense on Wednesday, when the council met for more than three hours in closed session to discuss the next chief legislative analyst, before deciding not to hire either of the two finalists.

Council President Alex Padilla, who has been in charge of the search, became emotional and was near tears at one point, according to two city employees who spoke on condition of anonymity because closed sessions are not supposed to be discussed with the public.

Padilla said he could speak of the meeting only in generalities and that the two finalists would remain contenders for the job but that the council wanted to consider other people. Two weeks earlier, a third, popular candidate, Phyllis Currie, chief of the Pasadena Water and Power department and longtime Los Angeles city employee, withdrew her candidacy.

Padilla acknowledged becoming emotional at the meeting, but did not explain why. “I don’t know what to tell you, but I can tell you that it wasn’t about anybody in particular,” he said.

“There are 13 of us around the horseshoe, and sometimes it’s easy to reach consensus, sometimes there are 13 different opinions,” he said. “All that has happened in council recently is a perfect storm of issues where consensus isn’t quickly reached but will be reached.”

Councilman Bill Rosendahl seemed energized by the Wednesday meeting.

“As a dynamic, it doesn’t get any better than what happened,” he said. “I’m telling you it was a beautiful expression of democracy. It was very enlightening and allowed me to bond with my colleagues. I feel I have a better relationship with each of them than before I went in there.”

The council also was involved in a fierce debate over whether to extend its contract to haul trash to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill above Granada Hills after July 1, 2006.

Greig Smith and Ed Reyes argued over whose district is dumping on whose; Janice Hahn denied allegations she was trying to create a garbage crisis to embarrass the new mayor; and Rosendahl found himself in hot water with Smith over his vote.

Reyes, who represents northeast Los Angeles, including Highland Park and parts of downtown, said poorer areas of the city often get treated worse than wealthier neighborhoods.

“I think the ugliness of differences based on class is rearing its ugly head,” he said. “We’re at an interesting place because the strain of term limits is affecting everybody’s priorities about what’s important politically versus what’s good for the city and future generations.”

Rosendahl, at a meeting a week ago, asked city staff about a plan to reduce the trash taken to Sunshine Canyon by 2009 -- pointedly asking whether the plan would be binding on the council that would be in office in 2009. He was told that it wasn’t.

Rosendahl voted to extend the contract.

Later, Rosendahl found himself in Padilla’s office with Smith and Tony Cardenas for a meeting that by Monday was part of the City Hall rumor mill.

Rosendahl defended his questions. “Before I vote on an issue, I want to know what the issue is. I simply asked what does this mean -- is this going to be binding?”

Smith defended calling for a meeting with Rosendahl. The landfill sits above Smith’s district, in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

Smith said the purpose of the meeting was to clarify Rosendahl’s position on the landfill, because he had expressed opposition to it in July.

Also, Smith wanted to see if Rosendahl was committed to serving on Smith’s committee that is charged with finding alternative ways to deal with the city’s trash.

“I asked him whether he’s flip-flopping on this and what the problem is,” Smith said.

There were varying degrees of opinion among council members Thursday as to how the council was getting along. Cardenas, for example, noted that none of his colleagues had thrown furniture and that he had seen far more intense battles while in the state Assembly.

“The council needs to come together for the good of the city,” said Jack Weiss, a council member from the Westside. “Sixty percent of the city united behind Mayor Villaraigosa, and he recently took a tough position on Sunshine Canyon for the good of the city. Council members can learn a thing or two from that.”

“One criticism I have of the council is that we don’t deal with the city like a farmer,” Councilman Tom LaBonge said. “He takes care and maintains his fields so they’re healthy for many years. Sometimes we have such a reaction” to the moment that “we don’t look at the long-range.”