Leaf Blower Ban Upheld by Council

Despite emotional appeals by fasting gardeners and some lawmakers who blasted their colleagues for attacking the working poor, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to uphold a ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers in residential areas.

Several members of the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners, who began fasting Friday, vowed to continue their water-only hunger strike until they die--or until Mayor Richard Riordan takes action on the ordinance.

“That’s the only way we can express our voice here,” said Adrian Alvarez, a group spokesman.

Hundreds of gardeners, most of whom wore green caps and blue sweatshirts, filled the council chamber Tuesday morning, many of them bouncing babies and toddlers on their laps. After the vote, they joined hundreds of their co-workers on the 1st Street steps of City Hall to rally against enforcement of the ban.

But after pleas by some council members for substitute motions or at least a delay, nine council members voted to uphold the ordinance making the use of the machines within 500 feet of residential areas an infraction punishable by fines and fees of up to $270.

Six council members, most of whom spoke passionately about the need to help the poor, mostly Latino gardeners who use the machines, said they would prefer forcing manufacturers to develop a quieter, cleaner leaf blower.

The dissenting council members were Richard Alarcon, Richard Alatorre, Hal Bernson, Mike Hernandez, Rudy Svorinich Jr. and Rita Walters.

“We have a group of working people and this is their basic tool that they use every day and we’re saying you can’t use it,” Hernandez told his colleagues, who--in a departure from routine--were all present in the chamber. “In the Spanish-speaking community, this is a major issue. It is us--government--trying to slap the working class down.”

Hernandez circulated a letter he sent to Riordan on Tuesday seeking a veto of the ordinance and signed by the five other council members who objected to the ban. Riordan’s spokeswoman said the mayor will review all the issues within the next two weeks before he makes his decision.

Still, it appeared unlikely that the mayor would waver from supporting the leaf blower prohibition. A stronger ordinance--making use of the blowers a misdemeanor with a six-month jail sentence as well as fines--was approved by the council and the mayor 13 months ago but enforcement was delayed.

Supporters and opponents of the ban pledged to take their case to the mayor before he takes action.

“We will write, we will phone, we will fax to encourage him to sign it,” said Joan Graves, a Pacific Palisades resident who supports the ban.

The leaf blower issue has been swirling around City Hall for a dozen years, when it was first introduced by then-Councilman and ardent environmentalist Marvin Braude. His successor, Cindy Miscikowski, took up the charge on behalf of residents in mostly affluent communities who objected to the noise and pollution caused by the gas-powered blowers.

“Today what we have before us is a public health issue, an environmental issue and a market issue,” Miscikowski told her colleagues. “We’ve gone through all of this before.”

Councilman Nate Holden agreed, saying: “They’re too noisy. We don’t need them. The time has come.”

Still, their council opponents took turns reiterating their disagreement:

Alatorre said the council was attacking the American dream by denying the gardeners the right to use the machines that they say quickly and effectively blow leaves and dirt off lawns and porches.

Bernson said the city should require blowers with vacuums that have lower decibel levels, but not restrict the machines outright.

And Svorinich said the council should determine the additional labor costs for the city if the blowers are banned.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who voted for the ordinance but who said she was sympathetic to the gardeners and to her colleagues’ concerns, said the manufacturers should be duty-bound to come up with a quieter, more environmentally appropriate blower.

“If we can put a rocket on the moon, a rover on Mars, for God’s sake, you can have a leaf blower that doesn’t harm the environment,” she said.

The council did agree to a proposal by Ruth Galanter to ask the Department of Water and Power to examine whether it could help ease the costs for gardeners to switch from gas-powered to electric blowers.

To supporters of the ban, including several Hollywood celebrities, the issue is akin to smoking, which the council prohibited in restaurants years ago. In that case, smokers were denied the right to light up in restaurants to protect the health of others.

“We’re all victims of this machine,” said “Mission: Impossible” star and Pacific Palisades resident Peter Graves, who said he recently returned from New York City, where gardeners do not use the machines. “It hasn’t hurt them--heavens no. Nary a leaf blower, just rakes and brooms. Wonderful. Wonderful.”

Still, the gardeners say that they will be forced to raise rates or run the risk of facing arrest. The new rules allow neighbors to call police when they hear the blowers and/or make citizens arrests, and requires the Bureau of Street Maintenance to send reminders to homeowners employing gardeners who still use them. If the mayor signs the ordinance, it could take effect in mid- to late February.

“This situation is really bad for us,” Alvarez said after addressing the crowd at City Hall. “We’re camping out here . . . and we’re staying until we have some action.”

The council approved a proposal by Hernandez allowing the fasting gardeners to remain outside City Hall with a city permit. But the gardeners must secure an insurance policy and agree not to sue the city if any problems arise.

Several gardeners are living in makeshift tents, with a portable restroom, on the south lawn of City Hall.

“I think this is the least we can do,” Alarcon said. “I don’t want to make light of this issue.”