Timing of Police Station’s Opening Raises Eyebrows

Mayoral politics may be playing a role in the timing of the dedication and opening of the new Mission Area Police Station in the vote-rich San Fernando Valley.

At least that’s what one of Mayor James K. Hahn’s challengers suspects.

Last week, city officials said the long-promised sixth Valley station was not expected to be completed until the latter half of March, after the mayoral election. And it could take another month or two after that to install computer and radio equipment.

Hahn, meanwhile, is locked in the battle of his political career, and his opponents claim he has accomplished little in his first term.

Not to worry.

Los Angeles Police Department officials, after reexamining the issue, declared that the station may be completed, staffed and operating by March 6, a happy circumstance for the mayor who is counting on Valley voters to deliver for him two days later.

Hahn now tentatively plans to preside over a dedication ceremony for the police station Feb. 17, a representative said.

Elizabeth Kaltman, a spokeswoman for Hahn, denied that the timing has anything to do with the election, saying it is just coincidence.

But the Feb. 17 event is hardly convenient for the LAPD. Chief William J. Bratton will be out of town.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley), a candidate for mayor, said he is pleased that the station in his district is nearing completion but questioned the motive for the speeded-up timetable.

“Their timing is impeccable and it absolutely convinces me that the mayor is using police operations for his political benefit,” he said.

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Governor Visits School to Promote Vocational Education

The “governator,” as the students at Norco High School called him, entered the cafeteria at their school Thursday to the strains of U2’s heart-pounding anthem “Vertigo.”

Teens with spiked hair and pierced eyebrows screamed and snapped photos with their cellphone cameras as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bounded onto the stage to promote his plan to expand vocational education.

“I think the most important thing is that we support education,” Schwarzenegger said over the cheers of about 200 students.

It was the governor’s second visit to a school to promote education since a poll released Jan. 27 by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California showed that 51% of California adults disapprove of the way Schwarzenegger is handling K-12 education.

Last Monday, he visited a charter school in the San Fernando Valley to promote charter schools. “I have to be honest with you,” he told students there. “I love charter schools.”

At both appearances, Schwarzenegger pointed out that his latest budget proposed a $2.9-billion increase in education funding. His critics note, however, that the governor had promised education leaders nearly twice that amount.

A spokeswoman for the governor rejected suggestions that he scheduled the two appearances to spiff up his image.

“We don’t plan events in response to polls,” said Ashley Snee, the governor’s deputy press secretary.

So what did the students think of the governor’s speech?

“I don’t know,” said 17-year-old Ashlee Jones. “I couldn’t hear a word he said.”

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Legislature Shows That It Can Act Quickly If Necessary

They don’t move fast enough for Schwarzenegger, who accused lawmakers of just hanging around after the new session started this month.

But last Monday, the Legislature proved it can act quickly.

Lawmakers passed a bill to allow the burial of Metropolitan Anthony, the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, at the Fresno County monastery he founded.

There is no designated cemetery at the monastery, and getting a county permit could take 10 months. One of Anthony’s last wishes was to be buried at the monastery.

He died Christmas Day at age 69, a few weeks after a diagnosis of lymphoma. His jurisdiction extended across seven Western states.

The Assembly passed the bill without a no vote, then disbanded. Democrats took off for a two-day retreat in Newport Beach, where they discussed their legislative and budget agenda.

“Perhaps you should surrender and not retreat,” Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) suggested before adjournment.

“Mr. Mountjoy,” replied Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Leland Y. Yee (D-San Francisco), “I believe you’ll pay for that comment.”

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2 Names in Guessing Game Over Shelley’s Replacement

The guessing game has begun over whom Schwarzenegger will appoint to replace Secretary of State Kevin Shelley after his decision last week to resign.

Names that have surfaced include former state Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), favored by many Republican conservatives, and former state Sen. Bruce McPherson (R-Santa Cruz), favored by GOP moderates.

Shelley quit just as he was scheduled to testify Feb. 17 before a hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which is reviewing whether he improperly spent government voting funds for partisan purposes.

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Education Secretary Makes Sure His Message Gets Out

If you liked it once, will you like it again and again?

California Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell delivered his second annual State of Education speech in Sacramento almost two weeks ago.

His press office arranged for reporters based elsewhere to listen via telephone and posted the full text of the speech on the department’s website, www.cde.ca.gov.

But now the peripatetic schools chief is crisscrossing the state, giving an abbreviated version of the speech in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Monterey, Butte, Orange and San Bernardino.

O’Connell spokeswoman Hilary McLean said her boss -- who is campaigning hard against the governor’s proposed education budget for the next fiscal year -- wanted to be sure everybody got the message.

“He wants to have a serious discussion about what it takes” to properly educate California’s youngsters, McLean said.

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Points Taken

* Californians for Ferret Legalization have hired Niello, Merksamer, Parinello, Mueller & Naylor, the lobbying firm that hired former state Sen. Dede Alpert (D-San Diego) a few months ago. Alpert carried the ferret legalization bill that Schwarzenegger vetoed last fall.

* Assembly Democrats retreated to the Hyatt Newporter for three days last week in the heart of Republican Orange County, prompting one political insider to quip, “It doubles the number of Democrats in the county when they come down.”

* Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal joined former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in signing a ballot argument in favor of a measure on the March 8 ballot allowing port police officers to join the pension system of the LAPD. Before he left the Los Angeles Lakers, O’Neal served as a reserve police officer at the port.

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You Can Quote Me

“I don’t believe police officers should be able to work three days a week while you work five days a week and criminals work seven days a week.”

City Councilman and mayoral candidate Bernard C. Parks at a candidates’ debate on why he opposes a flexible work schedule for police officers.

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Contributors this week were Times staff writers Hugo Martin, Jean Pasco and Nancy Vogel.