Temporary Replacement for Lindsay Suggested : L.A. Council: The city attorney said there is some legal authority to support such a move without ousting the ailing councilman.

In an opinion that dramatically alters the debate over Councilman Gilbert Lindsay’s future, City Atty. James K. Hahn said Monday that the Los Angeles City Council has the power to appoint a temporary replacement for the ailing councilman without removing him from office.

Until Monday, the council had been acting on the assumption that the City Charter barred such an action and left little legal room to maneuver in what has become a delicate and controversial matter.

Lindsay, 90, was hospitalized Sept. 2 after suffering a stroke. He has remained partially paralyzed and unable to speak, a situation that has left the 9th District without council representation.

An attempt by council members to empower themselves to remove him, if necessary, through a provision in the Charter failed last week when Lindsay was moved from his hospital bed in Inglewood to a hospital within Los Angeles city limits. The Charter allows the removal of council members who are absent from the city without permission for 60 days or more.

Hahn said Monday that he issued the 14-page opinion to clarify the legal issues.

While the Charter does not specifically authorize the appointment of an “acting council member,” Hahn said in the opinion that “there is some legal authority to support it.”

Under Hahn’s plan, the council would appoint a temporary replacement who would remain in office and have the power to vote until Lindsay either recovers and returns to the council or his term expires in just over two years.

The proposal, he said, “has some merit because it allows for the office to be represented and for someone to vote.”

The appointment would be similar to the council’s power to appoint a replacement when a council member resigns or dies, Hahn said. He said legal precedent allowed for a Superior Court judge to be replaced temporarily when he was called to active military service.

Hahn called his approach the ideal solution and said it fell midway between two undesirable extremes--doing nothing and removing Lindsay from office altogether.

Whether the council will go along with the proposal was in doubt Monday. Many council members were out of town at a convention or traveling, but some who remained in Los Angeles said they are skeptical of the plan.

“I think it’s a terrible idea and I’m really surprised,” Councilman Joel Wachs said. “There’s nothing in the Charter that provides for that and the city attorney admits that. . . . It’s stretching it.”

Wachs said his chief objection is that the voters of the 9th District will have no voice in deciding who will represent them.

“It would shut out the constituents completely,” Wachs said. “It would be a pure political appointment.” He said the council members should “face reality” and push for a Charter amendment that would permit the removal of Lindsay and other elected officials who become incapacitated.

“People always say it’s terrible to disenfranchise the voters,” Hahn responded. “But it’s a fairly common part of political life.” He pointed out that Sen. Pete Wilson will be replaced by an appointee when he takes over as governor.

John Mack, president of the Urban League, said he has misgivings about the proposal. “There’s no doubt that the status quo cannot go on for two years,” Mack said. “That clearly would be an untenable extreme that would not be fair to Mr. Lindsay or the citizens of his district.”

Mack and other activists have expressed increasing frustration over the largely black district’s lack of representation on the council but have not reached a consensus on a solution.

The council’s recent attempt to remove Lindsay was rushing things, Mack said.

“I feel it’s very important that Gil Lindsay not be drummed out of office,” Mack said. “He must be treated with respect.

“Gil Lindsay was elected by his constituents and they should have the opportunity to make a decision as to what their future representation should be.”

Mack said Bob Gay, one of Lindsay’s deputies, might be appointed by the council.

“He clearly would have to be a serious candidate for such a scenario,” Mack said. “He has ties with members of the council as well as some sectors of Mr. Lindsay’s constituency.”

Gay said he had not read the opinion and had no comment.

Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores said Monday that she had not read Hahn’s opinion but that she might go along with a temporary appointment if it could be limited to a few months.

In the meantime, she said, the council should move forward with a recommendation to amend the Charter.

Flores said the council would want to consider a range of candidates, including Gay. “Bob would have a very good chance because he certainly has the experience and the knowledge,” she said.