Charter Bound for Ballot

The L.A. City Council approved a charter reform compromise last week, meaning the measure will be put before voters in June.

Under the plan, the mayor would be empowered to fire most city department heads, but they could get their jobs back by appealing and winning a two-thirds vote of the council.

In addition, residents could form city-sanctioned neighborhood councils to advise City Hall on a number of issues. Other provisions intended to make city government more efficient and responsive include curtailing management authority of the council and strengthening the City Controller’s Office.

L.A. Trade Slips

For the first time in 16 years, the volume of trade through the Los Angeles-Long Beach customs region decreased in 1998.

The decline, coupled with an increase in cargo handled by rival New York, threatens L.A.’s supremacy as the busiest port in the nation.

The Los Angeles Customs District which includes the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, as well as Los Angeles International Airport, Port Hueneme and McCarran Airport in Las Vegas handled a combined $181.5 billion in imports and exports last year. By comparison, the New York Customs District handled $180.3 billion in cargo, according to new figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

L.A.’s total represents a drop of more than 2 percent from the total of $185.9 billion in 1997.

Mattel Restructures

After a sharp drop in fourth-quarter earnings, Mattel Inc. announced that two top executives will be leaving the El Segundo-based toy manufacturer as part of a major reorganization.

The changes come as the company struggles to cope with lagging sales caused by changing play habits of children.

“We are in the process of transforming Mattel from a traditional toy company with four core brands to a children’s products company,” said Mattel Chairwoman and Chief Executive Jill Barad in a prepared statement.

Barad said the new structure will include fewer levels of management to allow faster decision making.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Mattel reported net income of $63.8 million, down from $195.1 million in the like period a year ago.

Davis Sues NFL, Again

Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, re-staked his claim to the Los Angeles market last week, just one day after a federal judge threw out his long-running lawsuit seeking huge damages from the National Football League over alleged antitrust violations.

Davis immediately re-filed the lawsuit, dropping the antitrust claims but reasserting his right to operate in the L.A. market. (The Raiders left L.A. in 1995 to play in Oakland, where they have played since then.)

It’s unclear whether that suit will fare any better than the one dismissed, but the move complicates NFL owners’ pending decision on whether or not to award Los Angeles an expansion team. That decision is expected to be made in about two weeks.

If the league does award an expansion team to L.A., it could face the prospect of paying Davis millions of dollars, if his lawsuit is successful.

Biomed Center Coming

Caltech announced it will break ground early next year on its $36 million Broad Center for the Biological Sciences.

The proposed facility is expected to dramatically advance Caltech’s biological and medical research efforts and stimulate continued growth of the biotech industry in Pasadena.

Billionaire Eli Broad, a Caltech trustee, donated $18 million for the center, which is being designed by New York architect James Freed. His work includes the acclaimed Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the new San Francisco public library.

Hughes Offers Guarantee

Hughes Electronics Corp., seeking to boost its sagging reputation as the world’s largest satellite maker, last week announced an unprecedented guarantee program. The El Segundo-based company’s guarantee is to replace, within six months and for a discounted price, any satellite that seriously malfunctions in orbit.

On a related front, the company is working to cut its average satellite production time to one year about half of what it is now.

In addition, Tig Krekel, new president of the satellite manufacturing unit, has assembled an independent team of “defect eliminators” that will report directly to him.

Last July, Hughes’ reputation took a hit when its Galaxy IV satellite had a catastrophic computer failure that sent it spinning out of position, disabling as many as 40 million pagers nationwide, as well as disrupting service to airlines, gas stations and other businesses.

Hollywood Helps Clinton

President Clinton’s impeachment defense fund received contributions from a number of people in the L.A. entertainment and business communities.

Among those who sent $10,000 checks were supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, movie director Steven Spielberg, movie producer Harvey Weinstein and entertainer Barbra Streisand.

The fund has raised $4.6 million in the past year from 35,000 donors, thanks partially to a direct-mail campaign that blamed Kenneth W. Starr and the congressional impeachment process for saddling Clinton with a staggering personal debt.

Health Workers Vote to Unionize

Home-care workers voted nearly 10 to 1 to join the county Service Employees International Union in what has been called the largest union election in modern U.S. history.

After a decade-long organizing drive, the vote makes as many as 74,000 workers eligible for union membership. Those workers have been earning the minimum wage of $5.75 an hour, with no benefits, for cooking, cleaning and providing other personal assistance to 80,000 elderly and disabled people who qualify for Social Security benefits.

Their wages are paid by federal, state and local government funds, after county social workers determine how many hours each client receives.

L.A. Cellular Name Changes

L.A. Cellular formally became part of AT & T; Wireless, in a move that will allow AT & T; to begin offering lower long-distance rates in Southern California.

Before taking over L.A. Cellular, AT & T; was unable to offer some cellular calling plans because its wireless network did not include L.A.

L.A. Cellular launched mobile phone service in the region in 1987 and grew into a company with 2,400 employees and more than 1 million customers. Those customers have been added to AT & T;’s 9.7 million customers nationwide.

Previously, L.A. Cellular had been owned by a partnership of AT & T; and Bell South. In October, the two telecommunications giants struck a deal that gave AT & T; control of the firm.

Compiled by Danny Pollock