Budget Plan Provides for Valley Investments

The $4-billion annual budget released Friday by Mayor Richard Riordan provides a generous investment in the San Fernando Valley, including money to build a new firehouse and police station and funding to renovate 13 existing libraries.

Funding for the libraries and police station, however, depends upon two bond measures that voters would have to approve by a two-thirds majority--an uncertain prospect, considering a similar bond was rejected last year.

But other funding is more certain, such as money to resurface and sweep Valley streets and funds for a new DASH shuttle service in Van Nuys and Panorama City.

The budget overcomes a $101-million deficit, in part by cutting 470 jobs, most of which had been left unfilled, and shrinking the budget nearly $50 million over last year.

The spending plan calls for no tax hikes and offers a smaller increase to the Police Department than any of Riordan’s previous budgets.

The mayor’s budget also appears to make overtures to the City Council, a body with which Riordan has had a long and rocky relationship.

The budget, for instance, calls for increasing by 600 miles the number of streets that are swept. Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents most of the northeast Valley, has long complained that the city does not do enough to keep streets clean.

As head of the council’s Public Works Committee, Alarcon said he was also happy to see that the budget sets aside money to pave 175 miles of streets, contrasted with 150 last year.

“I am pleased to see any increase,” he said. “I believe it is a critical need.”

Riordan has also requested placing a $150-million bond on the ballot to renovate or expand 28 libraries citywide, including 13 in the Valley at a cost of $62.6 million.

The funding targets a problem that has concerned Councilman Mike Feuer for years. He represents Sherman Oaks and Studio City and has complained that the libraries there are overcrowded and in dire need of expansion.

“Both Sherman Oaks and Studio City are going to respond very favorably to real funding to expand an important community resource,” he said.

In Canoga Park, Councilwoman Laura Chick has worked for years to replace a quake-damaged adult movie house with a community theater. Riordan’s budget sets aside $108,000 for staffing and other costs to support construction of the Madrid Theater. Most of the construction costs are coming from a federal grant.

The mayor’s plan also calls for a bond measure of up to $465 million to build new police stations in the east San Fernando Valley and Mid-Wilshire district. The bond would also provide funding to rehabilitate three existing stations, including $30.7 million for the West Valley station.

Both bond measures could appear on the ballot as early as November.

While the special attention may please Valley representatives, it could trigger cross-town battles with council members from the central city.

“I’m surprised that we continue to focus the projects where the children are not,” complained Councilman Mike Hernandez, who represents the crowded neighborhoods northeast of downtown. “The mayor continues to cater to that population he believes votes. It’s not in the best interests of the entire city.”

Hernandez said facilities such as fire stations and libraries should be allocated based on population, not geography. He said his district has only nine fire stations compared with 27 in the sprawling 11th District, which covers parts of the Valley and Westside.

Mayoral budget director Chris O’Donnell said a new $1.5-million fire station would be built in Panorama City because that area contains the highest concentration of simultaneous emergencies.

The library improvements, he added, are concentrated in the outlying areas of the Eastside, Westside and the Valley because a bond measure in the late 1980s focused on the central city facilities.

“The bottom line is the budget provides increased services for every part of the city,” Riordan communications director Steve Sugerman added.

Other Valley funding includes:

* $575,000 in transportation funding for a new DASH shuttle bus for the Van Nuys-Panorama City area.

* $259,000 to expand services to seven days at three Valley libraries.

* $92,000 for an additional staff worker to process building plans at Van Nuys Civic Center.

* $200,000 to expand an electronic arts program for teenagers in five Valley classrooms.

Times staff writer Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this story.

* BUDGET SHIFT: Focus now on basic services. A1