Meeting on June 26, the Pacific Palisades Community Council (1) decided that it would not encourage full public financing for city elections, and (2) opposed a local apartment owner’s request for a variance to convert his building into condominiums. By an 1l to 6 vote with one abstention, the Council failed to approve a motion that would have encouraged the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa to develop a ballot measure on public funding for city elections. The motion needed a two-thirds vote to pass. Council member Janet Turner recommended the motion because the City Council’s Rules and Government Committee has asked community councils to share their opinion about whether the city should provide such a program. On April 10, the Council listened to a presentation by Trent Lange, board president of the California Clean Money Campaign, an organization dedicated to eliminating money as a barrier in election campaigns and reducing the influence of special-interest groups. ‘I feel that we are a very important community and what we say does carry some weight,’ Turner said, when proposing the motion. ‘I think we should encourage the City Council to look into this measure; otherwise, we could be preventing some really fine candidates from running.’ Candidates would have the option of participating in the public financing program, which would have specific restrictions regarding private fundraising and use of personal funds. The program’s estimated cost is $6.1 million to $9 million more than what the city spends now for its partially funded public financing program, according to Lange. That program costs about $2 million annually and is paid for through the general fund. Resident Lou Del Pozzo, a Clean Money Campaign volunteer, asked the Council to vote in favor, saying, ‘We need a City Council that will vote for the interests of voters, not for outside big-money interests.’ Council member Jack Allen voted against the motion because he does not think full public funding will eliminate influence peddling and would be a waste of taxpayer money. Later, he told the Palisadian-Post: ‘There are better ways, I believe, of attacking influence peddling, such as denying both elected and appointed officials from voting on issues that would benefit a donor. My concern is that if public financing is adopted, it will eliminate support for better methods of controlling influence peddling.’ On June 26, the Council also voted 12-5 with one abstention to write a letter of opposition to the Office of Zoning Administration regarding a variance that an apartment complex owner is seeking in order to convert his apartments into condos. Sam Malak, who owns the 23-unit apartment complex at 16101 Sunset, does not have enough parking spaces to meet the requirements of a condominium complex, so he is asking for the variance. His building was built in 2000 with two parking spots per unit and six guest parking spots. City regulations would require that his condos provide 11 guest parking spots ‘ five more than what is available. ‘There is not enough room to provide more parking,’ Malak told the Community Council. Members complained that parking in that area near Muskingum Avenue is already congested, but Malak insisted the parking situation would not change. ‘I don’t see that it would make a difference,’ he said. ‘The only thing that changes is going from renting to ownership.’ Malak would like to convert the complex because ‘the building is a good candidate for condos, and there is a demand for ownership.’ He said he will continue to operate the building as an apartment complex if he does not receive the variance. Council member Harry Sondheim said he opposes the variance because it sets a precedent for contractors to construct apartment buildings and then change them into condos, so as to avoid complying with city rules. The Office of Zoning Administration will make the final ruling.
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