Ueberroth Does Balancing Act as Rebuild L.A. Chief : Riots: Leaders lobby chairman for roles for minorities in restoring the city. Task force has not named a board of directors.

Just after it was born, the Rebuild L.A. task force got its first taste of the post-riot political world in which it will live or die: Councilman Mike Hernandez showed up at its debut news conference and demanded to know: “Are we going to be a part of it?”

It is a question that has been asked many times since then, by the recent immigrants and other Latinos that Hernandez had in mind, by the Korean-American community, by African-Americans and countless others who live and work in the city.

For two frenetic weeks, Peter V. Ueberroth, chairman of Rebuild L.A., has been racing around Los Angeles, trying to assure such groups that they will have a vital role in the task of restoring Los Angeles.

But transforming Rebuild L.A. from an abstract idea to a breathing organization--one that enjoys the confidence of a divided and suspicious inner city--has proven a delicate task. Until now, a tiny group that includes Ueberroth and several colleagues has been in charge--struggling to keep up with more than 5,000 offers of help, ranging from the envelope sent by a little girl that included a dollar, a quarter and a penny to corporate proposals that could be worth more than $1 million.

The nonprofit corporation created by Mayor Tom Bradley with a sweeping mandate to lead “the rebuilding of Los Angeles,” has yet to publicly name a board of directors or senior staff. Such announcements, which may come this week, will help reveal how much the makeup of Rebuild L.A. will reflect the ethnically diverse city it is trying to resuscitate.

“We’re going to have to test him (Ueberroth) throughout the whole process,” said Hernandez, whose district includes densely populated Central American enclaves near downtown. “It’s not going to be an easy task for him to accomplish.”

The choice of board members illustrates the raw sensitivities over who is included in the rebuilding task. From ethnic groups to old-line corporations, elected officials to neighborhood leaders, more than 500 names, “probably a lot more,” have been suggested for the influential jobs, said Harry Usher, who served as Ueberroth’s lieutenant in the 1984 Olympic games and for now is playing the same role in Rebuild L.A.

USC President Steven B. Sample has volunteered to be on the board, as have representatives of Kaiser Permanente--which is loaning the task force a one-story building to use as its headquarters--the wholesale grocers’ industry, Bank of America and many other corporations.

Ueberroth has said that in order to succeed, and set the national precedent for urban revitalization, a tripod of support will be required, made up of residents, government and the private sector. In particular, he seeks major, long-term commitments from private employers to create good jobs in the heart of the city.

“We have an unbelievable crisis,” the chairman told a group of communications industry executives last week. “We have government out of money. So we have to build something new.”

He added: “The tripod has never stood before, in my opinion.”

Ueberroth agrees that in order to achieve any of the goals, Rebuild L.A. must extend far beyond the close-knit corporate network that includes a small clique of insiders from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Yet one leg of the tripod--the public--is divided, looking over its shoulder at which of its neighbors plays what role in rebuilding.

An example: “We want to make sure that he employs Hispanics to 50% of the upper and executive management positions--with policy and decision-making responsibility. That’s key,” said Rosa Marin, executive director of the Latin Business Assn., estimating that there are 40,000 Latino-owned firms in Los Angeles County.

Rebuild L.A., she added, should provide “contracts and opportunities to Hispanics in proportion to the ethnic makeup of Los Angeles.”

Or this, from a Korean businessman: “Since the majority of the victims are Korean, we told him we’d like quite a number of people on the board or some other level--not a token,” said Kee Whan Ha, a property manager and builder who attended a meeting with Ueberroth last week.

The Rev. Cecil Murray, who also met with Ueberroth, suggests that the organization create vice-chair positions, perhaps to represent the African-American, Latino and Korean communities. “He’s a man who is well-intentioned, courageous, forthright and productive,” said Murray, pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church. “(But) there’s a perception problem.”

If there is a perception problem, it may partly arise from the fact that Ueberroth and his associates prefer to operate behind the scenes, quietly and methodically, at a time when many shocked Southern Californians are looking for concrete signs of healing and rebuilding.

Despite the group’s low profile, several activities are under way. By late last week, Arthur Andersen and Co., an accounting firm, had received more than 5,000 offers of assistance on behalf of Rebuild L.A.

A task force of lawyers, meanwhile, is studying legal problems related to emergency assistance and rebuilding. An urban planning group is looking at issues of demolition, waste removal, architecture and landscaping.

Firms in advertising, public relations and other communications fields are organizing to advise the panel, while attempts to mobilize bankers and accountants--whose varied clients might be enlisted to help rebuild--also continue.

Despite doubts that Ueberroth--as a white resident of Orange County--is the most appropriate champion of the inner city, there are some cautiously supportive voices from the minority community in addition to criticisms.

“He has demonstrated a willingness to be responsive to the African-American community, as well as other communities,” said Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Los Angeles city councilman who has talked with Ueberroth four times since Rebuild L.A. was formed. The task force, Ridley-Thomas continued, is just undergoing “the birthing pains and growing pains that new organizations go through.”

Times staff writer George White contributed to this story.