BUREAUCRACY WATCH : The Plot Thickens

In a few weeks the Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to take final action on a plan to reduce the hassle for film companies that shoot on location here. The film permitting offices of the city and county would be merged into one agency--a sensible idea that has already been approved in principal by the council and the county supervisors.

So it’s a done deal, right?

Not exactly. A petty battle--over, of all things, the distribution of seats on the proposed new corporation’s executive committee and its board of directors--has broken out between city and county officials. Creation of a so-called nonprofit Entertainment Development Corp. has been in the works since 1993.

The city’s version of the plan, aggressively presented by Mayor Richard Riordan, has been in the hands of county officials since March of 1994. So why the last-minute hitch? Turf protection, it seems. The consolidated film office will consist of members from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and the City Council and industry representatives. Their primary function will be to make Los Angeles more competitive for film and television projects by speeding up the permit process. The new organization will also oversee marketing and community relations.

Because most of the filming goes on within city limits, the City Council makes the stronger case for more representation. County officials may be unhappy, but they surely picked a late hour to raise objections to the city’s merger plan. They would be better off dropping them before the entire project is scuttled--and the voters and the film industry know whom to blame.