TAJ MAHAL MOTOR POOL L.A. SPENDS MILLIONS ON POLITICIANS' FLEET OF CARS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Los Angeles spends millions each year on a fleet of late-model cars, gas and maintenance for city elected officials and more than 100 of their staff members, according to a Daily News review of city records.

Top bureaucrats also get city cars at taxpayer expense, bringing the total to about 170. Elected officials have complete use of the vehicles and can buy them when they get a new city car. Staff members assigned cars can take them home but are not supposed to use them on personal business.

With L.A.'s officeholders the nation's highest-paid municipal officials and the city facing a worsening financial squeeze, the high cost of City Hall operations, perks like cars and lucrative benefit packages have become targets of critics. The city's shortfall for the current fiscal year is about $90 million and rising, and a broad range of fees has been increased.

Tax increases also are under consideration, including a 3-cent-a-gallon local gas tax as well as spending cuts in programs for the elderly, libraries and street paving.

``The dollar amounts, in terms of the overall city budget, are a drop in the bucket,'' said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. ``But it is the image the city brings upon itself that it is a profligate spender. That's the image problem this city has.

``The working class of the city of Los Angeles is who it will hit hardest,'' Coupal added. ``It won't hit the city councilmen who get free gas at taxpayer expense. It'll hit everybody else.''

Six of the city's 18 elected officials got brand new 2002 models this year at their request and six got new cars last year although they could take a $500 stipend instead of a car. Their cars range from a Ford Taurus to a Lincoln Navigator although under city policy they can have any car they ask for.

Mayor James Hahn has a used car, a Chevy Tahoe first leased by his mayoral campaign and bought by the city afterward.

Each council member also gets six vehicles from the city's fleet to assign to staff members, while the Mayor's Office has 19 vehicles for staff members, the city attorney eight and the controller three.

Rules for staff members are stricter than for elected officials - they must choose pool vehicles the city already has on hand, with the city now buying hybrids and other lower-polluting cars that cost more than comparable models.

The costliest vehicle driven by current elected officials is Councilman Nate Holden's 2000 Lincoln Navigator, which cost the city $41,491 before taxes. At the other end of the scale, Councilman Jack Weiss has declined a city car.

No upper limit

Los Angeles does not have a policy establishing an upper limit on the price of vehicles for elected officials - and they are eligible for a new car every other year.

City Controller Laura Chick thinks there should be a $25,000 limit on elected officials' cars, other than those with special security needs.

Chick said Los Angeles elected officials should be setting an example when they decide how to spend taxpayer money for their own transportation. Not only should they pick cheap cars, but they should take the ones that get the best mileage and are environmentally sensitive - unlike the SUVs driven by seven city officials.

``I could agree that written policies aren't needed if everyone was using the same standard of good judgment, the same sensitivity toward public perception,'' Chick said. ``But I think we all know that in terms of wages and benefits, that the electeds in the city of Los Angeles rank very, very high, if not the highest.''

``We're the elected leaders of the city. We should be leading on our own policies.''

Seven elected officials exceed the vehicle cost of the city's top official, and the one with the most security, the mayor. Hahn, whose security detail includes a police driver, uses a 2001 Chevy Tahoe that cost the city $28,941 - a used car price because it had been previously leased by his mayoral campaign, according to Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong.

Hahn's own policies on city vehicles, in fact, have been far thriftier than those of most other elected city officials. When he was city attorney, he drove the same 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis for 10 years, racking up about 150,000 miles, until the city's General Services Department forced him to give it up because of its condition, Wong said. For the rest of his 16-year term he drove standard pool vehicles or hand-me-downs from other elected officials.

Hahn's predecessor, Richard Riordan, paid for his own vehicle, a Ford Explorer.

Other officials, however, are not so frugal.

Second to Holden's Navigator is the 2001 Chevy Yukon driven by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, which cost $36,565. Third is City Councilwoman Jan Perry, with a 2002 Lincoln LS costing $35,522.

In the last three years, vehicles for the 13 elected officials who picked new cars averaged $29,937. By comparison, the pool vehicles for lower-level employees typically cost from $15,000 to $21,000.

Holden defended his vehicle choice by arguing it will ultimately cost the city less than it appears because he plans to buy it back when he finishes his term next year.

The price he will pay is substantially higher than what the city would receive if it instead sold the car at a used car auction and more than he would pay for the same used vehicle on the open market, he said.

``I've had four cars in 16 years. You may go all the way back and find some people cost more because they had twice as many automobiles as I had,'' Holden said. ``When you look at it like that, whereas on the surface it looked like the city put out a lot of money, they put out a lot less than they have for other council members.''

Alvin Blain, assistant general manager of General Services, confirmed that vehicles are generally sold back to elected officials at higher prices than they would fetch when sold at auction. If the vehicle is less than four years old, the price is set at halfway between the Blue Book retail and wholesale values.

``I don't know why they buy them,'' Blain said. ``I guess they're just used to them. If it goes to auction, you're at the mercy of whatever it auctions off for. A lot of them (elected officials) get mad at the price.''

Los Angeles city elected officials are allowed to use city vehicles 24 hours a day, whether on personal or city business - although they can only use them for personal business within Los Angeles County, according to the Ethics Commission.

The vehicles are maintained and fueled at city expense. Elected officials are eligible for new vehicles every two years. The only expense they have is the income tax they have to pay for the financial benefit of using the vehicles.

Only Weiss turned down a city car, as well as declining the allowance or any other reimbursements. However, he recently started fueling his personal vehicle at city pumps after realizing how much mileage his Jeep Grand Cherokee was logging on city business.

Policies defended

A spokesman for Council President Alex Padilla defended the city's policies on vehicles, saying elected officials need reliable transportation to serve constituents and respond to emergencies.

``The vehicles remain the property of the city of Los Angeles,'' said Padilla aide David Gershwin. ``The city is providing council members with a way to serve their constituents and a way to have a good, reliable source of transportation so they can conduct city business as quickly and efficiently as possible.''

Padilla, he added, chose a Chevy Tahoe because, at 6 feet 4 inches, he needed the extra leg- and headroom. Padilla himself declined to be interviewed about the subject.

The frugal route

Several council members did opt for the frugal route.

LaBonge and Councilman Ed Reyes took pool cars the city already owned, rather than request new purchases. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel picked another councilman's used car, the 1999 Chrysler 300M that Councilman Nick Pacheco previously drove and which originally cost the city $26,717. Pacheco got a new car this year, a 2002 Chevy Tahoe that cost $30,120.

The cheapest new car bought by the city for a current elected official belongs to Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who has a 2001 Ford Taurus that cost $21,971. Chick was second cheapest with a 2001 Mercury Sable for $23,229.

Councilman Eric Garcetti has the only leased vehicle, a 2002 Toyota electric RAV 4 that costs $24,084 for a three-year lease. It is leased because Toyota does not sell its electric vehicles, according to Blain.

Blain said if he got an unusually high request from a council member - which he can't recall getting in 10 years with the department - he would check with the council president before approving the purchase.

The figures, provided by the Department of General Services, are only for officeholders, their staffs and top bureaucrats and do not include the police and fire departments, or proprietary departments like Water and Power, Harbor, and Airports, all of which have their own fleet services beyond cars used only for official business.

The ``executive pool'' for the staffs of elected officials and department heads consists of vehicles no older than 1996 that include the following models: Chevrolet's Cavalier, Malibu, Lumina and Impala; Ford's Contour, Taurus and Crown Victoria; Toyota's Prius hybrid and Camry; Honda's Civic GX, Insight and Civic Hybrid.

As the older vehicles are phased out, they are being replaced with hybrid vehicles such as the Prius and Civic Hybrid that are generally more environmentally friendly, but also slightly more expensive. For example, a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid costs the city $21,569 and a 2002 Toyota Prius Hybrid costs $22,723. The hybrids, however, get about twice the gas mileage, Blain said, so are cheaper to maintain and save the city money in the long term.

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CITY'S VEHICLE FLEET

SOURCE: City of Los Angeles

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