COUNCIL HOARDS SPARE LAND ONE OFFICIAL'S SURPLUS IS ANOTHER'S TREASURE AS MAYOR'S SALE BLOCKED.

Byline: BETH BARRETT

Staff Writer

An ambitious effort by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sell surplus property to help ease Los Angeles' strained budget has been stalled for nearly a year as City Council members have balked at parting with sites in their districts.

While Villaraigosa had touted the plan as a way to generate as much as $58million over the next few years, council members' reluctance means that not a single parcel has been sold out of 252 properties tagged for potential sale.

"People feel territorial about property in their district and want to be part of the process," said Gil Duran, the mayor's spokesman.

While a council member would get to keep half of the proceeds for the district in which any sale was made, most members either have objected to proposed sales or said they want to give them more consideration, including whether the land could be used for their constituents.

But economists and policy analysts said council members are being shortsighted in not embracing a program that could ease a tight budget and boost the economy.

"They're not thinking of the city overall," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a Los Angeles private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research group.

"The city could lose millions of dollars from land that's not doing anything. To have it sitting there vacant is a waste of a very valuable resource."

Still, Councilman Tom LaBonge said he is hesitant to approve the sale of 11 properties in his district, including several near Griffith Park.

"Where there is no need today, there is a need tomorrow," LaBonge said about public land. "I'm very cautious about getting rid of land just because it appears to be surplus."

Some of the identified properties also would be difficult to market, council members said, noting that the sites are on steep slopes with potential liability issues.

"My district is different ... because so much of it is in a slide area," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents Venice and Westchester as well as hillside communities to the north.

In addition, Rosendahl said he wants to use parcels with "real value" to partner with the private sector on affordable-housing projects for his constituents.

Councilman Dennis Zine said he doesn't necessarily object to the sale of surplus properties in his district -- but wants the sales coupled with a program to build affordable housing citywide for new police officers. That plan has yet to be heard by the council's Public Safety Committee.

Other ideas

Councilman Bernard Parks wrote to the mayor asking that the two identified properties in his district be removed from the list.

Parks said one of the sites was a "key driveway" connecting a city-owned parking lot to Leimert Boulevard. He urged that the other site -- next to the University of Southern California -- be sold to the city's Community Redevelopment Agency with the proceeds going to the city's general fund.

Council President Eric Garcetti said he has agreed that one property in his district could be sold, but said another should not because it's within the Los Angeles River master plan area.

But Stern said council members' reluctance illustrates a fiefdom mentality.

"Nobody is going to vote against a council member who wants to keep property," he said. "It's 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."'

Eduardo Martinez, economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said developing the properties would boost the economy.

"Instead of vacant land producing zero at this point, it could be put in entrepreneurial hands ... producing jobs for community members," he said.

The surplus property came to light nearly four years ago when City Controller Laura Chick audited the General Services Department and said the agency needed to identify extra parcels that could be sold.

Anti-deficit plan

Early last year, a city report identified 320 surplus properties appraised at about $80 million. City officials recommended that General Services begin an annual surplus-property sale that could generate at least $5 million for the general fund each year.

In a letter to council members in October, Villaraigosa cited the $5 million projection and said sales of surplus properties are part of his strategy to eliminate the city's deficit spending while maintaining services.

"As mayor, I am committed to routing out waste and inefficiencies and investigating improvements to existing city practices to ensure the financial stability and well being of the city now and in the future," Villaraigosa wrote.

But little movement has happened, and only nine properties -- none of them on the mayor's list -- were sold for $3.2 million last fiscal year.

David Paschal, General Services assistant general manager, said there currently are no authorizations to sell surplus property from the list.

And until the council and mayor sign off on properties, the department doesn't begin the 18-step process of vetting the parcels for sale.

Duran, however, said the Mayor's Office has regrouped and now is negotiating with at least one council office to sell surplus land.

Duran declined to discuss details of the deal, but said it could include dozens of parcels.

"It's now being done on a case-by-case basis," he said.

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

A vacant lot near Sherman Way and Platt Avenue in West Hills is among city-owned properties the mayor says are surplus and could be sold to help erase deficits.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer