LOCAL ELECTIONS / L.A. MAYOR : Wachs Assails Woo Over KTTV Studio Move : Politics: ‘Balderdash,’ says Woo’s campaign secretary as the candidates attack each other’s records.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Woo’s stewardship of Hollywood has become a favorite target of his competitors in the mayor’s race, and the attack continued this week as he was accused of doing too little to keep the KTTV Channel 11 studio from leaving the fading entertainment capital. The latest salvo at Woo--widely viewed as the front-runner in the crowded mayor’s race--was fired by Councilman Joel Wachs, who also is seeking the city’s top office. At a sidewalk news conference outside the KTTV studio at Sunset Boulevard and the Hollywood Freeway, Wachs called it a betrayal of Hollywood for Woo to let Fox Broadcasting, KTTV’s parent company, proceed with its relocation plans. Fox officials have said they plan to move KTTV from its leased facility in Hollywood to Fox-owned property in Century City. “The worst message we could send is that it’s OK for KTTV to leave Hollywood,” said Wachs, who has joined several other mayoral candidates in charging that Woo has failed to stanch the deterioration of Hollywood since becoming the area’s councilman in 1985. At a recent candidate forum, Wachs called Hollywood a sewer. Garry South, Woo’s campaign press secretary, called Wachs’ recent interest in Hollywood’s welfare disingenuous. South charged that Wachs and the other mayoral candidates who are faulting Woo’s record on Hollywood-related issues are “ready to do anything for a few seconds sound bite (on television or radio) and a few sentences in the paper.” South also called it balderdash that Woo has done nothing to prevent Fox from leaving Hollywood, saying that Woo asked the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to explore incentives it might offer the company to keep the KTTV facility at its current location. “Joel Wachs is a little behind the curve on this one,” South said. But the CRA project manager for Hollywood, H. Cooke Sunoo, said Woo’s office did not raise the prospect of agency involvement in a bid to keep KTTV in Hollywood until earlier this year. Talk about the Fox move has been in the works for several years, according to city officials. And the press secretary for Woo’s council office, Julie Jaskol, added that while KTTV’s relocation plans were evolving, the councilman and his staff were more deeply involved in redevelopment agency efforts to keep Capitol Records and KTLA in Hollywood. “At a certain point, you pick your battles and where to focus your resources,” Jaskol said. Wachs, at his news conference Monday, said he would request that the redevelopment agency explore incentives for keeping Fox in Hollywood. Wachs said his proposal should appeal to Cheviot Hills residents living near Fox’s 53-acre movie lot in Century City, where the media giant is planning a $200-million building program to accommodate the consolidation of many of its Los Angeles-area operations. The Fox expansion plan is opposed by many Cheviot Hills residents, who say it will exacerbate neighborhood traffic snarls.