VILLARAIGOSA BACKS DUMP EXTENSION LOCALS CRY BETRAYAL, AS CITY PUSHES FOR CONTRACT TALKS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro and Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writers

Despite cries of betrayal from residents near Sunshine Canyon, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday stood by the City Council's decision to tentatively approve a five-year contract to haul city trash to the San Fernando Valley dump.

The mayor, in his first comments since Tuesday's vote, said he trusts the council's commitment to finding a better alternative by March 17 - the deadline the council set to cut a new deal with the trash hauler.

``I have great confidence in the council and you don't see me question what they've done here,'' Villaraigosa said during a press conference announcing a $295 million deficit in his upcoming 2006-07 city budget.

``We've got to balance our needs to responsibly address our sanitation needs in a fiscally responsible way, while on the other hand (we) want to begin the process of taking out a quantity of waste from Sunshine Canyon,'' he said.

``They're making every effort to do that and I support and respect them for that.''

Residents, however, said the mayor has already broken one campaign promise to oppose the Sunshine Canyon Landfill contract and they're concerned he has flip-flopped again - this time reversing his statement in an Aug. 4 letter to the North Valley Coalition that he would have supported Sunshine alternatives that cost an additional $9 million to $16 million.

``As far as we're concerned he's actively worked against us in getting the city out of Sunshine Canyon,'' Coalition President Wayde Hunter said of the mayor.

``Plainly, he misrepresented his position on landfills.''

Activists said it's particularly painful because they have campaigned for Villaraigosa in the past because of his position on Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

Villaraigosa has said he changed his position in office and lobbied his colleagues to vote for the contract because of concerns that the city would pay more to go elsewhere and sap money from other city services.

The City Council voted Tuesday to tentatively approve the five-year, $157 million contract with Browning-Ferris Industries, but gave themselves an 18-day window to cancel the deal if the city can't reach agreement with BFI on the cost of disposal.

BFI initially refused to negotiate with the city.

But late Monday, the company sent Council President Eric Garcetti a letter stating that if the city first approved the five-year contract Tuesday, then BFI would sit down and negotiate with the council.

BFI has given the city until March 17 to cancel the deal if the two sides can't agree.

At issue is the cost of implementing the City Council's adopted trash policy, which is to slowly cut the amount of trash going to Sunshine Canyon over five years and send garbage to landfills outside city limits.

BFI has said the contract requires Los Angeles to send all its trash to Sunshine Canyon to get the annual $29 million price.

If BFI agrees to allow Los Angeles to divert trash to other landfills with financial penalty, the city would pay between $1.2 and $1.8 million more per year.

If BFI refuses to negotiate and the city still chooses to send trash outside city limits, Los Angeles would pay roughly $14 million more per year.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com