COUNCIL LAGS ON CREATION OF GOALS LIST.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Beset by critics who say the Los Angeles City Council lacks a unified vision and goals, Council President John Ferraro asked his colleagues in August to submit their priorities for the city.

He hoped to come up with a legislative agenda by Sept. 15 and to adopt a unified City Council vision plan by Wednesday.

Deadlines come and deadlines go, and in the council's case only six of the 15 members had conveyed a vision by Wednesday. Prodded by the Daily News, three more council members produced their goals Thursday. Most focused on public safety, housing and tax reform.

Council members who have not submitted a list insisted they do have goals but are too busy to write them down. Councilman Nate Holden prefers to keep his agenda secret.

Critics were unimpressed.

``I'm not surprised,'' said Gordon Murley, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization. ``It's business as usual.''

Added Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association: ``I think it indicates there is no leadership in the city. The City Council tends to react and react poorly to issues, rather than aggressively anticipating problems before they manifest themselves.''

Ferraro, who started the process Aug. 7, sent out a reminder letter Oct. 10, saying he still needs goals to be submitted to Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton by the end of the month so they can be incorporated into a legislative agenda ``which would serve as a blueprint for what we would like to see accomplished.''

Seven of the 15 council members have submitted goals in writing to Deaton, including two who submitted their vision statements Thursday.

Deaton, who is putting together the unified agenda, said he has received written statements from Laura Chick, Mike Feuer, Rudy Svorinich Jr., Richard Alatorre, Cindy Miscikowski, Mike Hernandez and Ruth Galanter. Alatorre and Hernandez submitted their goals Thursday.

Deaton said Ferraro has verbally conveyed his goals to him.

Councilwoman Rita Walters indicated in a phone call that generally her priorities are better parks and libraries, Deaton said. She said she would provide a detailed written statement to Deaton but has not done so yet.

Deaton said he has had brief conversations with council members Hal Bernson, Jackie Goldberg and Richard Alarcon, focused on what format should be used. They told him they would be submitting written goals in the near future.

``I think it will provide a little focus,'' Deaton said.

In his original letter, Ferraro said the idea of setting goals and objectives for the council had been suggested by some of his colleagues.

``I have to agree that while we require department heads to develop annual goals and objectives, in the interests of fostering efficiency, effectiveness and productivity, we do not apply these modern management principles to ourselves,'' Ferraro wrote.

Council members who have not yet submitted goals say it is not for a lack of ideas about what direction they would like to see he city headed.

Councilman Joel Wachs has been ``distracted'' by his battle over public financing of a downtown sports arena, said Greg Nelson, his chief of staff.

``This (goals statement) is one of 800 things we haven't gotten to because of the arena,'' Nelson said.

Alarcon said he just became head of the city Transportation Committee on Aug. 25 and is still reviewing policies and practices that might have to be made a priority as part of any goals list.

Alarcon said his priorities include creating a new agency to regulate the taxi industry, increasing shuttle bus service in the city and building a sixth police station in the San Fernando Valley.

``I think it's commendable,'' Alarcon said. ``But quite often we are compelled by things that are unforeseen to act. Some of the most important work we do is spontaneous.''

Holden said he doesn't think much of the whole idea.

``You develop a legislative package not on the front end but after you listen to your constituents' complaints,'' he said. ``They know what the problems are. Then you come back with the solutions.''

Holden said he is content to pursue his goals by announcing initiatives and then pushing them through the council.

Too often, his colleagues have co-opted his good ideas and taken credit for them, Holden said.

``Everybody is going to know what you're going to do. This is a competitive business,'' he added.

Holden said he would like to see a tax on fast-food businesses with the money used to hire disadvantaged youths to clean trash generated by fast-food restaurants out of the streets and gutters.

``I've got some goals in mind but it's going to require a little money,'' he said.

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas plans to submit a written list of goals soon, which probably will include securing a National Football League team for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Developing a unified set of goals is of value, Ridley-Thomas said, ``so you can shape the legislative agenda and bring some cohesion to what we are doing.''

``I think it's less than well-coordinated now,'' he said.

Chick, who is chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee, submitted a two-page statement that says her goals include increasing crime prevention and technological modernization of the police and fire departments. She also wants a strategy for eliminating substandard housing, tax code revision and streamlining the program for spending city bond funds on construction projects.

Galanter said her goals include a high-speed rail system linking Los Angeles with Palmdale Airport, an aggressive program of sidewalk repair, fluoridating the city water supply, re-examining the tax system, and promoting downtown cultural and sports facilities.

Miscikowski led her list with a call to fix the city's crumbling infrastructure.

``Our streets, sidewalks, trees and our vast network of pipes and power lines that keep this city going . . . have long been overlooked,'' Miscikowski wrote, calling the current state of the infrastructure ``frightening.''

Feuer submitted a four-page list of 22 goals, including improved public safety, getting guns out of juveniles' hands, fixing the 911 emergency telephone system, and developing ballot measures to pay for police and fire facilities.

Feuer believes the development of common goals is critical to the council being effective in improving the quality of life in Los Angeles.

``I believe that we in the council have a great opportunity to forge common cause by agreeing upon goals to guide our legislative agenda,'' Feuer said.

COUNCIL MEMBERS' GOALS

Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro thought the City Council needed better focus, so he asked his colleagues Aug. 7 to submit a list of goals and objectives to the chief legislative analyst. Here is what was submitted:

Councilman Mike Hernandez:

Written goals including the development of better programs to reduce gang violence; improve cooperation with the schools to provide libraries and parks; and put together an ``effective'' approach to meet housing needs of poor residents.

Councilman Joel Wachs

No goals submitted. Wachs has been ``distracted'' by his battle over public funding of the downtown sports arena, an aide said.

Laura Chick

Two-page written goals. Her priorities include improving public safety by increasing crime prevention and modernizing the police and fire departments. She also wants the city to create a comprehensive strategy for eliminating substandard housing.

John Ferraro

Verbally submitted goals. They include improving public safety, handling city finances better and helping the Department of Water and Power plan for competition during the deregulation of the electric utility.

Mike Feuer

Four-page written goals. They include improving public safety by restricting the access that juveniles have to guns; helping unburden the 911 telephone system by creating a non-emergency 311 line for reaching the police; and developing ballot measures to pay for police and fire facilities.

Ruth Galanter

Written goals. They include improving public transportation by establishing a high-speed rail system linking Los Angeles with Palmdale Airport, adopting an aggressive program of sidewalk repair, fluoridating the city water supply, re-examining the city's tax system, and promoting downtown cultural and sports facilities.

Richard Alarcon

No goals submitted. But Alarcon said his goals include improving public transportation and building a sixth police station in the San Fernando Valley.

Mark Ridley-Thomas

No goals submitted. But Ridley-Thomas said that he is a step closer to one of his goals, with the introduction recently of a motion that seeks to improve and better regulate the telecommunications industry in Los Angeles.

Rita Walters

Verbally submitted goals. Walters said she intends to draft a plan that will emphasize the need for better parks and libraries.

Nate Holden

No goals submitted.

Cindy Miscikowski

Written goals. They include 45 goals, leading with a call for a better program to maintain the city's streets, sewers and other parts of the infrastructure. She also called for creating a community-based government agency that would handle lawsuits filed against the police.

Hal Bernson.

No goals submitted.

Jackie Goldberg

No goals submitted.

Richard Alatorre

Written goals. They include setting as a priority the improvement of public safety and protection of youngsters.

Rudy Svorinich Jr.

Written goals. Among 15 priorities is abandoning the city policy of transferring revenue from the Harbor Department to the general fund, creating a single housing agency, and reviewing the city's tax structure.

CAPTION(S):

15 photos, box

Photo (all in color): (1) Rudy Svorinich Jr.

(2)Richard Alatorre

(3)Jackie Goldberg

(4)Hal Bernson.

(5)Cindy Miscikowski

(6)Nate Holden

(7)Rita Walters

(8)Mark Ridley-Thomas

(9)Richard Alarcon

(10)Ruth Galanter

(11)Mike Feuer

(12)John Ferraro

(13)Laura Chick

(14)Councilman Joel Wachs

(15)Councilman Mike Hernandez:

(16) City Hall

BOX: (ran on page 11) COUNCIL MEMBERS' GOALS (see text)