EDITORIAL : BOTTLE IT UP.

Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly wants to stuff a cork in a grant by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $436,499 to refurbish Simi Valley's earthquake-damaged Bottle Village. Good for him.

FEMA officials said that the grant for Bottle Village, which includes a wall built with blue Milk of Magnesia bottles, meets federal requirements for aid to repair museum objects damaged in disasters. But Gallegly, a former mayor of Simi Valley, agrees with a substantial number of local residents and officials that Bottle Village is an eyesore and the grant is a waste of money.

We don't care to get into the debate over whether Bottle Village is a work of art. The real issue is whether the federal government, which was less generous with many hard-hit residential victims of the 1994 quake, should be lavishing money on something that apparently has little community support. We think not.

If art lovers think Bottle Village is worth saving, let them, not the taxpayers, pick up the tab.