RISING COSTS THREATENING CITY RENOVATIONS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

A sweeping effort to build and renovate Los Angeles police and fire stations could cost $40 million more than planned because of rising materials costs.

Officials are considering scaling back designs and shifting funds to try to keep the slate of projects within budget, members of the Proposition Q Citizen Oversight Committee said Monday.

The committee monitors how the city spends the $600 million in bond funds approved by voters in 2002 in order to upgrade emergency-services facilities.

``We're here today to raise a warning flag,'' said Rick Tuttle, a member of the citizens committee and a former city controller.

The money is set to be spread among 13 projects, including several police stations and jails, bomb squad and dispatch facilities, and a new Valley Traffic Division and Valley Bureau headquarters.

The city Bureau of Engineering says the projects are making good progress and, with most of them in the design phase, are on or ahead of the seven-year schedule.

They have hit a bump, though, as construction bids are coming in 20 percent to 30 percent higher than originally planned. John Greenwood, chairman of the committee, blames this on global construction trends.

``Everybody's pulling on construction materials at the same time, so the cost of steel has gone way up, the cost of concrete has gone way up, all these materials have gone way up,'' he said.

Sam Tanaka, program manager for the Bureau of Engineering, said he is trying to cut costs by making some design changes and using less expensive materials, among other things.

That drew some concern from Councilman Bernard Parks, a former police chief, who cited the example of the 77th Street police station, which has drawn criticism for poor construction.

``If we go into lesser materials, are we just buying problems years from now?'' Parks said.

Oversight committee members are particularly sensitive to how residents will react to any changes in the project because the city drew criticism after some promised projects never materialized under 1989's Proposition 2 bond measure.

Given the possibility that the projects may have to change, the chief of police should be taking a more active role, said Tuttle. While other high- ranking city officials have attended most meetings of the Proposition Q Administrative Oversight Committee, Police Chief William Bratton has not.

``Some very tough decisions are going to have to be made where the full weight of the department may have to be brought to bear,'' Tuttle said. ``We need the chief at the table.''

Sharon Papa, an assistant police chief in the office of support services who goes to the meetings, said she regularly briefs Bratton on Proposition Q developments, but his busy travel schedule does not allow him to attend.

``If he thought he had to step in he would do that,'' she said.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com