Political Rivalry Erupts in Council : City Hall: The police chief is caught in the middle as potential mayoral candidates clash.

Smoldering rivalry among potential candidates for mayor erupted at the Los Angeles City Council meeting Tuesday when three members accused Michael Woo of political opportunism in a debate over police staffing and riot preparedness.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams found himself caught in the middle as the council members discussed Woo’s proposals to give the chief permission to immediately fill supervisory vacancies and to order him to report on preparations for civil unrest.

Williams said he was unfazed by the political maneuvering--in which council members Zev Yaroslavsky, Joel Wachs and Nate Holden attacked the police-related measures.

Woo and Wachs have said they will run for mayor, while Holden and Yaroslavsky have said they are considering running.

Police Commission President Jesse Brewer, who accompanied Williams to the council chamber, later expressed concern that the chief had been put in an untenable position when opposing council members tried to bring him into the argument.

“There is no doubt about it, the chief is being put in the middle on this issue and a lot of other issues,” Brewer said. “He doesn’t want to have to choose between one council member and another.”

City Hall veterans predicted the political posturing will become a staple in the council chamber until next April’s mayoral primary and an expected June runoff election. “This is going to be a wild mayor’s race,” predicted Councilman Hal Bernson.

Tuesday’s attacks were directed at Woo, who said he brought the police proposals forward only to make sure Williams has the resources to protect the city.

Woo’s first proposal was to partially lift a citywide freeze on police hiring and promotions--enacted because of budget problems--to permit Williams to make 211 promotions from the rank of sergeant and above. The Hollywood-area councilman’s second proposal was to ask Williams to report to the City Council on current preparations for civil unrest.

Woo argued that both proposals are important because of reports that the city was poorly prepared for last spring’s riots. He pressed for immediate votes on both items, circumventing standard review by council committees.

“I don’t think there is anything more important than our preparedness for riots and disasters,” Woo said. “I don’t think it should be treated as a routine committee matter.”

But Yaroslavsky and others accused Woo of political grandstanding in asking for the immediate vote on the issues. “It’s tough to run for mayor and run the city at the same time,” Yaroslavsky said.

The proposal to permit Williams to make promotions within the Police Department had been pending since August in the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, which Yaroslavsky chairs.

Yaroslavsky said the issue had not been resolved because Williams had also requested permission to hire new police officers, which Yaroslavsky said could deepen a budget deficit already projected at $71 million.

Williams said he later withdrew the request to hire the officers to smooth the way for the less controversial proposal to make promotions.

The chief said the promotions are important to expedite police operations. Reorganization of the department has been made more difficult because half of his executive staff has been depleted by attrition, Williams said. And investigations have been postponed, he said, because of shortages in detective ranks.

Williams declined to take sides when asked whether he needed to make the promotions immediately, saying: “I just need some action.”

Only council members Richard Alatorre, Marvin Braude and Mike Hernandez supported Woo’s proposal to authorize the promotions immediately. The majority agreed to send the proposal back to Yaroslavsky’s committee, with his promise that it would return for a vote by the full City Council next Tuesday.

Woo was immediately back in the line of fire when the council took up his proposal to call Williams before the council for a full report on riot preparedness.

In requesting the report last week, Woo pointed to the potential for civil disturbances related to the upcoming retrial of officers in the Rodney G. King beating case and the trial of the men accused in the beating of trucker Reginald O. Denny during the riots.

Woo said police preparations are particularly important given pending proposals by Mayor Tom Bradley to cut police staffing.

“It’s important for us to have those answers before we are asked to vote on cuts in the police and fire staffing,” Woo said. “If we can’t ask these kinds of questions, then I don’t know what we’re doing here.”

Holden objected to such a report, saying the city should not reveal its emergency response plans to those who might be planning to break the law.

Wachs said the question of riot readiness already has been addressed by a panel headed by former FBI Director William Webster, which is scheduled to release its findings today.

“I think it’s wrong to drag the chief of police in here for one’s own political purposes,” Wachs said. The measure also failed, by an 11-2 vote.

Woo said it was his rivals who were acting politically, blocking his proposals because of their own mayoral aspirations. “I think it’s the pot calling the kettle black,” he said.

Asked whether the two hours of council debate had been a waste of his time, Williams smiled and said: “I think I’ll defer on that.”