PANEL YET TO BEGIN OVERSIGHT OF LANDFILL.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Months after outgoing City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter appointed a watchdog community committee to monitor plans for the Bradley Landfill expansion, the panel has yet to define its mission or take any action.

Formed in the wake of a raucous public meeting in February in which Sun Valley residents complained of air pollution, blowing trash and health concerns at the landfill, the advisory committee was billed as a way for residents to monitor current dump operations and a proposed 43-foot height expansion.

However, Councilman Tony Cardenas, who succeeded Galanter, said he still doesn't know what the role of the advisory committee will be.

``We were handed this with absolutely no details, no background, no anything,'' said Jose Cornejo, Cardenas' chief of staff. ``We're in the stages of defining what this thing is and what its role is supposed to be.''

The committee has met three times but members couldn't do any real work because the meetings didn't comply with the Brown Act, the state's open-meeting law. The act requires that there be public notice and agenda prior to a meeting as well as time for public comments.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Thursday, and that meeting will follow provisions of the Brown Act.

``We're working with the council office to ensure a process that is transparent and to make sure the advisory committee is effective in its work,'' said Eric Moses, spokesman for City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

Outspoken Bradley critic Ellen Mackey said the advisory committee's shaky start is just one problem.

``I think it's heavily weighted toward Waste Management and the Chamber of Commerce, which has already said it supports the (landfill) expansion,'' Mackey said.

Mackey was one of the community activists who called for the formation of a neighborhood panel, similar to the one established for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills, to ensure community input and oversight at the Sun Valley dump.

Then-Councilwoman Galanter introduced a motion in April to create the advisory committee, appoint its 11 members and establish a $500,000 fund for the panel for health studies and neighborhood improvements.

Cornejo said the committee is not stacked in favor of the dump.

``The councilman believes that the advisory committee should be one where stakeholders are all involved with coming up with solutions,'' Cornejo said. ``We mean all stakeholders, not just the ones who scream loudest.''

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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