Chief’s Car Inquiry Puzzles City Hall

After public criticism over his wheels, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams has flung open the garage doors of his bosses and colleagues, requesting detailed information on what kinds of cars City Council members and high-ranking bureaucrats drive at taxpayers’ expense.

But Williams’ unusual inquiry--made formally under the the Freedom of Information Act--instead threatens to turn up the heat on Williams.

After the chief refused to explain Thursday why he wanted the makes, models and sticker prices of the vehicles, lawmakers wondered privately if he was launching personal investigations or perhaps preparing a lawsuit against the city.

And why, they wondered, didn’t he just ask them?

“He’s trying to get issues that deflect from his incompetence as the chief of police,” said Councilman Richard Alatorre, who drives a $32,810 Jeep Cherokee and has gotten a new car every two years since 1986 for a total tab of $157,093 (all prices excluding sales tax). “I guess he has nothing better to do with his time.”

After five minutes of uncomfortable answers about why he drives a $37,746 Oldsmobile Aurora--the most expensive car in the fleet--Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas remained baffled about why the chief made the inquiry.

“I don’t know what to think,” Ridley-Thomas said. “What was he thinking?”

But Williams was mum on the subject, shrugging off questions at a morning news conference and later declining through a department spokesman to explain why he asked for the information or what he thought of what he got.

“He refused to respond, period, to anything to do with that,” Lt. Anthony Alba said.

The Times reported April 30 that Williams had traded in his $20,490 Crown Victoria for a new Chrysler New Yorker that cost $27,225, and that members of the Police Commission and the officers union were irked that the chief was driving nicer wheels than police officials usually get.

Three weeks later, Williams wrote to Department of General Services manager Randall C. Bacon, asking for data about publicly funded cars as well as the cost of office renovations made by council members and general managers. News organizations also had inquired about the work on Williams’ office, which cost $19,335.

The response to Williams’ request shows a wide range in the types of cars that lawmakers and their staffs drive, as well as how often they buy new vehicles.

That is because there are generally no guidelines: Elected officials and a few top administrators can choose any American-made car and can switch wheels every two years--or drive them into the ground.

According to the data released Thursday, Williams’ New Yorker is pricier than all but one of the cars driven by his fellow general managers (Ezunial Burts, head of the Harbor Department, drives a $30,817 Buick Park Avenue from 1992), and costs more than cars belonging to 11 of his 15 council bosses.

Among council members, Ridley-Thomas drives the fanciest car, but Alatorre has far outspent his colleagues over the long haul, with an average annual car budget of $17,000.

At the other end of the spectrum are Councilwoman Ruth Galanter--who drove her $14,610 Oldsmobile Cutlass from her election in 1987 until it was stolen a few weeks ago--and Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, whose $13,074 Chevy Lumina from 1992 lacks electronic door locks and is cheaper than several of her staff’s city cars.

“I’ve always been a plain-wrapper person,” Goldberg shrugged.

Ridley-Thomas said he never thought much about price when the transmission went on his 1991 Lincoln Continental, which had cost $29,926. He wanted a smaller car. Someone suggested the Aurora. It happened to cost $37,746.

“I had no idea of the cost of the car in comparison to anyone else,” the councilman said. “It was simply a question of getting a car that one was comfortable with.”

In addition to their own vehicles, each council member is entitled to six cars for staff members.

The highest total tab, $111,018, belongs to Council President John Ferraro, who has a 1991 Lincoln Town Car that cost $31,486. Though Mayor Richard J. Riordan usually travels in his personal vehicle, his office has a total of 36 cars costing $369,348, including a 1952 Chrysler Parade Car with a $27,714 price tag.

In terms of office remodeling, Williams’ expenditures pale in comparison to the $137,368 spent since 1991 by Galanter, according to the data released Thursday. Other top spenders include Alatorre, whose remodeling in the past five years has cost $111,440, and the mayor’s office, which has spent $101,273.

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who promised during her 1993 campaign not to drive a taxpayer-provided vehicle and has spent just $9,369 on office renovations, said the total dollars are “so insignificant that it’s almost not worth having a discussion.”

But Chick, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, said she is troubled by the chief’s inquiry--and his silence on the matter.

“I don’t understand it,” she said. “It would be nice when someone asks for that kind of information for him to say why he wants that information.”