[3][4] On May 6, 1987, Galanter was "brutally assaulted" in her Venice home in the 2200 block of Louella Avenue[5] by an intruder who left her in critical condition with stab wounds in her neck.

[7] "One wound severed the carotid artery that supplies blood to the left side of the brain, and the other punctured the pharynx, part of the food tube near the esophagus.

"[4] A jury found Olds guilty of first-degree burglary and second-degree attempted murder involving great bodily injury and the use of a knife.

[9] Galanter made a study-trip to Antarctica in January 1989 as an "exotic vacation" she had promised herself as she lay in bed bleeding from the knife attack.

[10][11] While a Yale student, Galanter and "scores of others" opposed a New Haven urban renewal program that would have bulldozed buildings and cut streets through poor and working-class neighborhoods.

"[18] In 1987, Los Angeles City Council District 6 was a "diverse area" that included "racially mixed" Venice and Mar Vista, as well as predominantly white Westchester and mostly black Crenshaw.

They were no match for Galanter's army of neighborhood activists, made up of Democrats, Republicans, suburban homeowners and bohemian renters.

The election was also widely regarded as a harbinger of a new brand of politics in the city, with Galanter leading a protest against the effect of development on traffic, air and water pollution and neighborhood tranquility.

[21]Four years later, a tough fight against six other candidates—including Tavis Smiley, later known as a radio and television commentator— forced Galanter into a runoff with Republican Mary Lee Gray, who was an aide to County Supervisor Deane Dana and who polled well "in portions of the affluent Venice Peninsula, as well as the Crenshaw District.

[23] One of her passions, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, sweeping Southern California with new political vigor, is limiting growth in the vast Los Angeles basin.

In the fight against forests of new high-rise office towers, new oil-drilling rigs, new mini-malls, sewage in Santa Monica Bay, more smog over the Hollywood hills and, most of all, more traffic on the freeways, Galanter is a suddenly renowned advocate of what has come to be known as the slow-growth movement.

She had a chance to step up to the plate and she sort of sagged up there instead.Strongly opposed to the plans of Summa Corporation for a 1,087-acre piece of prime vacant land at the foot of the Westchester Bluffs when she first entered the City Council in 1987—"one of the largest real estate developments ever contemplated for Los Angeles"[4]—Galanter spent much of her time afterward in trying to mitigate the effects of the proposed $7 billion residential, retail and hotel package; she did, in the end, vote in favor of the deal as it was finally put forth by Maguire Thomas Partners in 1993.

[25] That "especially wrenching" vote caused dissension among her backers,[25] but it was later noted that the deal "would preserve 270 acres of the Ballona Wetlands, create a riparian corridor, pour millions into easing traffic problems and put recycling facilities in place" and that "She also won commitments for affordable housing units.

The MWD was making a preliminary study of locations for a nuclear plant to produce electricity and convert seawater to drinking water.

She asked that 200 acres be set aside near Los Angeles International Airport for a wildlife preserve because at least ten endangered species lived there.

The original assessment project was sponsored by the Venice Canals Association (VCA) in 1976 during Pat Russell's term as council member.

Venice Canals Association board members Barbara Michalak, Les Otterstrom, Paula Tate, Marla Engel, Ruth Ann Steffens, Fred Hoffman, Anita Henkins, Joseph Smith, W. Reid Monroe, Bonnie Felix, and Murray Leral worked to establish the assessment district for the Venice Canal Improvement Project.

Galanter asked the state agency California Coastal Conservancy to review the options for a canal improvement project.

A poll by the City of Los Angeles found that over 79 percent of the homeowners opposed the assessment project using the Armorflex material.

Based on public meetings and city polling it was clear that the Armorflex plan would not be approved by the property owners and the project would fail again.

Loffelstein, or Loffel Block, was identified by a VCA committee member Andy Shores as possibly meeting those goals.

The test was successful with plants growing in the blocks, wildlife and ducks able to climb up the material, and the majority of the property owners supporting this design.

"[34] Galanter worked with the community to get a $50,000 sculpture installed at Van Nuys Airport—"a piece of public art demanded by some people who were outraged over a series of bronze statues that they said were a poor fit for the airport.

Its base is surrounded by figurines from aviation and Hollywood —Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Bobbi Trout—who helped shape the history of the 75-year-old facility where the final scene from the classic "Casablanca" was filmed.

[35]In 2005-06, Galanter occupied the Bellarmine College Visiting Chair in Los Angeles Urban Research at Loyola Marymount University.

At that time she was the principal of Galanter and Company, a consulting firm specializing in "land use, urban infrastructure, environmental policy and political strategy.