TIPOFF DEVELOPER'S $20,000 LESSON: YOU CAN'T FIGHT CITY HALL.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

It's cases like a Valley Village condominium project last week that illustrate the saying "You can't fight City Hall."

While developer Gary Schaffel didn't put up much of a fight, he emerged from a council hearing on his project battered, bruised and $20,000 poorer.

Under pressure from Councilman Bill Rosendahl, Schaffel agreed to kick in an extra $20,000 for relocating tenants -- on top of relocation funds he had already given them and an extra six months he let them stay after they had been served with eviction notices.

But for Rosendahl, it was a case of on-the-spot negotiations to provide something extra for a group of tenants as the holiday season begins.

"There will be no coal in their stockings," he boasted.

Rosendahl took the stance despite the strenuous objections of the City Attorney's Office, which said the council action could be overturned in court and sets a dangerous precedent.

To other members of the council, it also was an embarrassing case of the council's bullying a developer for more money.

While none would comment publicly on the issue, several said privately that they were shocked by Rosendahl's actions. Still, they said they did not feel they could do anything because Schaffel agreed to the extra payment.

"It is exactly this type of thing that gets people angry with City Hall," one council member said. "No one here wants to support a bad development, but this guy followed all the rules."

Schaffel, for his part, offered a mild protest at the start of the discussion, saying developers are looking for consistency in city policy.

One City Council member caught in a legal wrangle is Councilman Dennis Zine -- over a lapel pin he has used for years as a political token to supporters.

The "Z-man" badge is modeled after the symbol used by Superman and it's drawn the ire of Warner Bros., which owns the rights to the symbol.

Zine received a letter from the company's lawyers demanding that he stop using the symbol.

"I didn't mean any harm," Zine said, adding that he only had a few hundred left.

And he has since developed a new lapel pin, this one modeled after an LAPD badge, with a large Z in the center and the city seal at the bottom.

With all of the discussion about a new "mission statement" for transportation in Los Angeles, it has given renewed vigor to a long-dismissed proposal from Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich for a monorail down Wilshire Boulevard.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is studying the proposal as an alternative to the "Subway to the Sea" proposal by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Metro spokesman Marc Littman, however, said the proposal has been studied in the past and received little support.

"The problem is it goes through three jurisdictions, and Beverly Hills and Santa Monica opposed it in the past," Littman said. "Also, it's along an earthquake fault, which means extra pylons, and there are questions on its limited capacity."

But one person who is undeterred is Robert Rosebrock, who has a Web site, www.monorails.org, where he pushes the proposal.

"More than 1million passengers a day use monorails in Asia and European countries," he said. "The technology keeps advancing and support continues to grow."

The countdown to Iowa and New Hampshire is well under way and a lot of folks are feeling left out.

But take heart: A national caucus is under way on the Internet and is organizing parties around the country. For information, go to www.nationalcaucus.com.

Supporters argue that it is a chance for a national vote on who should be the nominees for the two parties.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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