PANEL BACKS DOWNTOWN POLICE DISPATCH CENTER.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

A proposal by Mayor Richard Riordan to relocate a new police dispatch center to downtown Los Angeles got a boost Tuesday even though critics charge such a move would add $3.2 million and possibly new delays to the $15 million project.

The City Council's Budget and Finance Committee endorsed putting the dispatch center beside Parker Center and next to a proposed Fire Department dispatch center - instead of on city land previously identified for the project in Westchester.

``In the event of any major emergency it seems to me we're better off having everybody right here than stretched out,'' said Councilwoman Rita Walters. ``Westchester is a long way from downtown.''

But Councilwoman Laura Chick, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, is refusing to endorse the proposal. In addition to greater costs, she fears the plan will further tarnish the city's already damaged credibility in handling bond money.

``My concerns and worries are all focused on delivering to the public what we promised with Proposition M on time and on budget,'' Chick told interim Police Chief Bayan Lewis during a hearing on the issue last week.

``You are asking us at a fairly late date to do something different than you previously recommended.''

The council may consider the change of location for the project in the next two weeks.

Los Angeles voters in 1992 approved $235 million in bonds for overhauling emergency communications systems when they approved Proposition M, which was billed as ``Communications 2000.'' But the city has not broken ground on any centers, including one proposed for Canoga Park.

The Riordan proposal calls for building a 50,000-square-foot 911 center on a site currently used as a parking garage and fueling depot for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Riordan, Lewis and Fire Chief William Bamattre say any additional costs posed by building downtown would be offset by improvements in the city's ability to respond to disasters.

Locating a new Fire Department dispatch center at the site would also save on land costs, backers say.

But Chick, citing a report by City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, said building the center downtown would add up to $3.2 million in construction costs - and potentially more if the city discovers soil contamination at the fueling site.

In addition, the councilwoman predicted it would cost $2 million to build another parking garage and fueling station, and $500,000 per year to provide temporary replacement parking until the new structure is complete.

``There are still some unknowns that could add to the risk,'' she said.

Some LAPD officials have similar concerns.

``We don't know what we will find when we start digging on that property,'' said one official, who added that the department would not be in control of the city engineer's project to demolish the parking structure and remove the fueling station, which could cause delays.

In contrast, Chick noted, the site in Westchester is already vacant and ready for construction. She added that the City Council was sold on purchasing the Westchester site, in part, because it could be easily used for a police dispatch center.

Supporters of the new project vow to keep it on schedule if it is built downtown, in part by creating an oversight committee to ride herd on the bureaucracy and prevent delays.

Riordan says it makes sense to centralize emergency communications. If a major earthquake disrupts communications, LAPD dispatch supervisors would be able to walk across a courtyard to confer with officials of the Fire Department and Emergency Operations Center, he reasoned in a letter to the council.

``This action will reaffirm the Civic Center as the hub of operation in the event of a major emergency . . .,'' Riordan wrote.

Lewis concurs.

``It is centrally located, for police management,'' Lewis said. ``Downtown is more convenient to us. Co-location enables both departments and the Emergency Operations Center to be close enough that the technological links are not so long.''

Councilman Mike Feuer, a member of both the Public Safety and Budget committees, said he is inclined to trust the LAPD's support for the project.

``What we are getting for the $2.5 (million) to $4 million (additional cost) is a center that in the view of our experts is the most efficient center in the event of any number of emergencies over a course of time,'' Feuer said.

``There's no way really to quantify what that efficiency brings. Except in the event of an emergency three or four million dollars either way will be a pittance if we actually receive significant (effectiveness) benefits.''

However Chick warned that the stakes could be higher, especially if the mayor wants to go back to voters next year for more than $400 million in additional bond funds for police facilities.

``If we want to ask the public with their dollars for help to fulfill the very dream that you are putting to us, we put that at great risk if we don't deliver (the 911 center) on time, on budget, exactly as we promised in Proposition M,'' Chick warned Lewis.