3-Question Referendum Called Unclear : Trolley Issue Moves Closer to Ballot Spot

A proposed referendum that would ask San Fernando Valley voters if they favor construction of a Valley light-rail line moved a step closer Wednesday toward winning a spot on the June ballot.

However, confusion abounded as Los Angeles City Council members voted 10 to 4 to place one measure on the ballot asking voters three different questions.

“Shall a San Fernando Valley rail system be constructed; an advisory citizens’ panel appointed to recommend routes; and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission be requested to reserve funds for Valley?” asks the proposed referendum.

Concerned About Wording

The measure must be approved once more by the council before March 11 to win a place on the June 7 ballot.

The wording of the proposed referendum left the council’s attorney a bit puzzled.

Managing Assistant City Atty. George Buchanan had proposed that the three questions be posed to voters in separate referendums.

“You’re really not giving voters the choice of answering the questions,” he said.

“You could get a ‘yes’ vote for the first part, ‘yes, we want rail,’ and you could get ‘no, we don’t want any more advisory panels,’ ” Buchanan said. “What are they voting ‘yes’ on? What are they voting ‘no’ on? Who knows?”

But Councilman Mike Woo, who drafted the referendum, said the three questions are related. He said the referendum still comes down to whether Valley voters favor construction of a Valley trolley line.

“I see it all as one coherent proposal,” he said.

“If we have to break off part of it in terms of people deciding yes, they want rail, but they don’t want a citizens panel. . . . It just throws out even larger question marks than we have now about what it is that people want,” Woo said.

Mayor Tom Bradley and Woo last month proposed the referendum in an effort to end a stalemate over construction of a Valley trolley line.

The Transportation Commission in December turned to Valley elected officials for help after all five of its proposed light-rail routes ran into neighborhood opposition. The commission has warned that, if Los Angeles officials fail to resolve the stalemate, the Valley could lose about $750 million in rail-construction money to other areas.

Termed ‘Meaningless’

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, expected to oppose Bradley in the 1989 mayor’s race, has called the referendum “meaningless,” saying it would not decide the controversial issue of a route for the trolley line.

Woo, whose district includes Studio City, has contended that he is not convinced that Valley voters want a light-rail line.

The referendum asks voters if they favor creation of a 32-member “Citizens Panel on Transportation Solutions” to recommend possible routes for the trolley line and other transportation improvements in the Valley.

The panel would be made up of Valley business and homeowner representatives appointed by Bradley and the eight council members who represent the Valley. It would study new routes and the five routes proposed by the commission. It would have until Aug. 1 to make recommendations to the council, which would forward its recommendation to the Transportation Commission by Sept. 1.

The final decision on construction of a Valley light-rail line will be made by the Transportation Commission.

The five routes proposed by the commission are along the Ventura Freeway; along the Los Angeles River; along Chandler Boulevard and Oxnard Street east of the San Diego Freeway and Victory Boulevard west of Warner Center; along Victory Boulevard the length of the Valley and along the Southern Pacific railroad line, which runs diagonally across the Valley connecting North Hollywood with Chatsworth.