L.A. leads the league in stadium transit errors

The second-to-last time that this column visited Dodger Stadium was in 2002, when it took only 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot after a weeknight game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The final time that this column visited Dodger Stadium was in 2003 for a Bruce Springsteen concert. At that time, the parking fee was $10 for ballgames but was raised to $20 for the concert. Nice.

Now comes the Dodgers’ new parking plan, which has brought fresh rounds of complaints over the bad traffic before and after games. So let’s begin there....

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How do other cities handle baseball traffic?

They have encouraged the building of new downtown stadiums near mass transit, or they have built mass transit near existing stadiums.

So baseball fans in Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (Cubs and White Sox), Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, New York (Mets and Yankees), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Washington can all take a subway or light rail to the game.

Metrolink and Amtrak trains have a station next to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, although the train schedules are a bit spotty for baseball fans. Even Phoenix and Seattle are building light-rail lines that will stop near their ballparks. It should be noted that Phoenix is a sprawling mess, and Seattle’s traffic is five degrees beyond bad.

As for the Dodgers, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its predecessor agencies offered bus service to the games from 1962 -- when Dodger Stadium opened -- until 1994, when it was halted for budget reasons.

In 2004, the Dodgers tried running a Friday night shuttle service from Union Station to the games, but that was stopped after one season because of low ridership. On average, the MTA reported, only 400 fans each game used the service.

The cash-strapped MTA last year looked into restoring bus service using a contractor, but decided not to because it would require an annual subsidy of $153,900 to $202,500 per year. County supervisor and MTA board member Mike Antonovich is still in the process of blowing a gasket that the shuttle isn’t being run.

Sigh. No, make that 18 sighs.

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And the historical perspective?

Let’s go back to April 1962, when the first Saturday night regular season game at Dodger Stadium also caused a parking meltdown. How bad was it? The parking lot became so constipated with cars that the team had to turn away fans -- including those with tickets to the game, according to a Times story that year. And the game wasn’t even a sellout.

“The Dodger management, which broadcast an apology over the radio late in the game for the mix-up, could only say it hoped to solve the problem in the future,” The Times reported.

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The lessons here?

In hindsight, building a stadium on a hill away from mass transit and surrounded by residential neighborhoods seems less than wise -- unless you believe thousands of idling cars are great for the environment.

And that’s not even considering the many residents evicted from Chavez Ravine for a federal housing project that never got built, only to see the city sell the land to the Dodgers in a deal some said had “sweetheart” written all over it.

The other lesson is that when a city makes a big mistake in the realm of urban planning, the mistake usually sticks around for decades. The good news, however, is that a few good bulldozers can fix even the worst of mistakes.

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Moving on, what did Councilman Bill Rosendahl say during a debate over the benefits of spaying and neutering dogs and cats?

“What does it do to the dog when you take away its natural energies?” Rosendahl asked animal services chief Ed Boks during an hourlong debate Tuesday.

The question caused a few of his colleagues either to wake up or almost fall out of their chairs.

The context: The council was debating whether to support state legislation to require all dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old. Animals of breeders with permits would be exempted.

The law has widespread support because nearly everyone on the council agrees there is a pet overpopulation problem that outweighs concerns that a dog may lose its edge.

The statistics seem to support that position. In 2005, 840,000 dogs and cats were brought into animal shelters in California, and 432,000 of those were euthanized at a cost to taxpayers of $259 million.

Rosendahl ultimately voted for the resolution, but noted that before his dog Rosie died, she had had three litters. He said he also was concerned about what he would do with his nephew’s 4 1/2 -year-old dog Lulu -- currently in Rosendahl’s care -- who hasn’t been spayed.

Later in the week, Rosendahl said he voted with a heavy heart, and that he believes that spaying and neutering alters animals’ character and nature.

“The problem is irresponsible humans,” Rosendahl said. “It’s not the animals.”

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What interesting thing did ace angler Carmelo Gaeta see recently in the Los Angeles River?

Gaeta is the Atwater Village resident who took this column carp fishing a couple of weeks ago.

He sent an update via Blackberry last week: “I’m standing on the bank of the LA River as the Fire Dept. is pulling out an automobile. It’s nearly completely submerged,” Gaeta wrote, adding, “I wonder if there’s fish inside.”

Happily, the car appears not to have landed in the river by accident, but to have been abandoned and dumped.

In related news, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a water bill Thursday, by a vote of 394 to 25, that contains $20 million in funding for L.A. River revitalization projects. A similar bill still must clear the Senate.

But for those keeping score at home, river advocate Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) is leading river advocate Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) $20,000,000 to 0. Suck it up, senator!

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Where is the entire City Council going to be July 10 and 11?

On an overnight retreat to “step back, review priorities and needs, as well as build a common vision and direction for the council,” according to an April 17 memo signed by the council leadership team of Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry.

“The retreat will also give us all the chance to hear what each of us has planned for the coming year,” the memo states. “Specifically, we will ask for each council member to be prepared to make brief presentations on the fiscal year 07-08 goals for his or her committee and council district.”

One interesting note -- the council is scheduled to have its leadership elections July 1, meaning Garcetti, Greuel and Perry must be pretty sure they will still be running the show 10 days later.

The retreat, of course, sounds awesome and may even produce some good ideas. Let’s also hope that a nice woodsy setting is chosen. Think about the possibilities:

Making s’mores with Janice Hahn. Watching Tom LaBonge wrestle a bear. Short-sheeting Dennis Zine’s bunk.

Wait. This just in: San Pedro is on the short list of prospective retreat locations. At least there’s water.

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And what four words uttered by any politician at the retreat should trigger the immediate recall of the entire City Council?

“Let’s go skinny-dipping.”

Next week: Not in My Frontyarders.

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steve.hymon@latimes.com