CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Soft drinks at an arts fete carries teetotaling image a little too far.

WINING THE DINERS: It promises to be the most glamorous municipal dinner Torrance has held in years.

Guests at the Oct. 25 opening of the city’s new Cultural Arts Center will pay $100 apiece to feast on a spread that includes salmon roulade with a cucumber citrus salad, as well as breast of chicken stuffed with feta cheese, roasted peppers and spinach with a Cabernet glaze de viande.

But planners recently discovered a fly in their soup: A recently approved policy prohibiting the city from sponsoring arts center events in which alcohol is served. The city flinched at the prospect of guests in black tie and evening gowns washing down their salmon with Sprite.

So did the City Council, which swiftly altered the new policy to permit someone else to pour the booze at city-sponsored events.

So the caterer, Chez Melange of Redondo Beach, will do the serving, probably white wine to go with the chicken. That way, the city can maintain its teetotaling image--and avoid parching patrons of the arts.

BALLOT BOXING: It didn’t take long for the political fisticuffs to start in El Segundo over the special November election to fill the City Council seat vacated by Jim Clutter.

Councilman Scot Dannen is trying to scuttle the candidacy of Janice Cruikshank on grounds that she improperly obtained signatures on her nomination petition.

He claims Cruikshank perjured herself by signing a sworn statement that she had circulated the petition, when it really was taken around by someone else. Dannen also charges that Cruikshank violated the Municipal Code by obtaining signatures from city employees during working hours.

Cruikshank, one of four candidates in the council race, dismisses Dannen’s accusations as dirty politics. She admits she did not personally obtain signatures for her petition, but asserts that this is not required.

Cruikshank concedes that signatures were obtained from city employees during working hours, but says she only learned of it after the petition had been turned in. Five city employees were reprimanded for signing the petition while on the job.

BEMOANING ZONING: Property values are something worth fighting for on the affluent Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Just ask local school district officials. Last week they sued the city of Rolling Hills Estates over a council-mandated zoning change that they say has greatly reduced the property values of three school sites the district has been trying to peddle.

In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District asks the court to overturn a city decision that changed the schools’ zoning from residential to institutional. City Councilman Warren Schwarzmann said the council took the action to ensure that the city’s General Plan will include enough land zoned for institutional uses, such as schools, government buildings and churches. And the three school sites fit the bill, he says, because they are large and close to main thoroughfares.

Before the zoning was changed, school district officials had estimated that the parcels--Peninsula High School, Rancho Vista Elementary School and Dapplegray School--were worth up to $15 million.

“We just wanted to protect our rights,” said Jack Bagdasar, president of the school board.

Although the city said the school district could always apply for a zone change if it wanted to sell or develop one of the sites, Bagdasar said the trustees were not swayed by the argument.

“We’re not naive enough to think that that would happen,” he said. “We’re trying to keep our options open.”

LIMB FROM LIMB: Torrance resident Irmi Lake is furious about the city’s pruning a tree in front of her Linda Drive home.

Instead of a trim, she complains, the tree got a butch.

“My children lost their shady spot,” Lake said. “Now I’ll have to put up an umbrella.”

She is so mad, she affixed a sign to the tree that reads: “If You Want Your Tree To Look Like This Call 781-6900”--the number for the city Street Maintenance Department.

Montey Chamness, city street tree administrator, says Lake’s favorite tree was pruned along with dozens of others in the neighborhood, and hers was the sole complaint.

Besides, the tree in front of her house had a low branch that hung over the road. “It was hit repeatedly by trucks and campers going by,” he said.

Lake thinks the city went too far: “Every day someone goes by and they’re laughing at my tree.”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

El Segundo: Duffers may soon be seen hooking and slicing golf balls near Sepulveda Boulevard. The City Council ordered planners to design a municipal driving range on the east side of the street, between El Segundo Boulevard and Hughes Way. Council members want the range planned so they can build a nine-hole golf course on the rest of the property if they wish.

Manhattan Beach: City Council called for proposals for a study of the Police Department. The study, expected to cost $25,000 and to be completed by January, will focus on the quality of service, how police treat the public and where improvements can be made.

Rancho Palos Verdes: City Council ordered an anti-graffiti ordinance drafted that would regulate the display of spray paint in stores to prevent its theft.

Redondo Beach: City Council scheduled a special meeting for Oct. 1 where the future of the historic library building in Veterans Park will be discussed.

San Pedro: Harbor-area councilwoman Joan Milke Flores told a rally of the residents group Save Old San Pedro on Saturday that she endorsed their position for duplex zoning in Old San Pedro. But she said she still had not decided whether the area to be rezoned in Point Fermin should be duplex or single-family.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Torrance: Special City Council meeting Tuesday to approve a $3.5-million bond sale to replenish the city’s liability fund. The fund was depleted by a recent $6.5-million judgment against the city in the death of motorcyclist Kelly Rastello. He died in a collision with a vehicle driven by a Torrance police sergeant. The meeting is at 5:30 p.m., 3031 Torrance Blvd. For information, call 618-5880.

San Pedro: Los Angeles Planning Commission Thursday considers a proposal that would rezone some of San Pedro’s residential neighborhoods. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the Harbor Department headquarters, 425 S. Palos Verdes St. For information, call 485-5071.

OTHER COUNCIL MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St. 217-9565. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated 7 p.m. on the next two Sundays.

Hawthorne: 7 p.m. Monday, 4455 W. 126th St. 970-7902. Televised on Channel 22 (Paragon) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Hermosa Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1315 Valley Drive. 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

Inglewood: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd. 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, 548-7637; In Wilmington, 548-7586; In Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, 548-7664; In Westchester, 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West. 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road. 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North. 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).