PERSPECTIVES ON THE MAYOR’S RACE : A Choice Between Two Flawed Men : Los Angeles needs honest answers, intelligent discussion, a realistic agenda and ‘growth’ from Riordan and Woo.

Like most of the registered voters in Los Angeles, I did not vote for either Michael Woo or Richard Riordan. And I believe that for the June runoff, we are faced with a choice between men who showed themselves to be very imperfect in the way they captured the two top spots.

The part of me who for years sent a monthly contribution to Common Cause to support campaign-finance reform is sick at the idea of Riordan buying himself a baronial fiefdom, and saddened that Los Angeles could be captured by someone who spent almost $30 a vote, much of it out of his own pocket, to secure his runoff place.

While Riordan had one of the great campaign slogans of all time--”Tough enough to turn L.A. around”--it is not clear to me that he did anything in the primary to justify identifying himself as the “tough” candidate. He abandoned many of the positions that he had supported over the years, and he did not have the courage to tell voters that if they wanted more police, they might have to pay more taxes.

Woo did support Proposition 1, the increased police measure that got almost 60% of the vote but still fell short. At a candidate forum of Democratic homeowners one Sunday afternoon, Woo said there would be an increase in their taxes if they supported the measure, but that he was for it. But the rest of his campaign was marked by what can only be termed “pander bear” activity: telling groups that he would support their cause, if he captured the mayor’s job. He got enormous mileage out of being the first member of the City Council to call for the resignation of Police Chief Daryl Gates. The reality is that they all waited too long, and when Woo did so, after last spring’s violence, he knew he was running for mayor and there were constituencies to be grabbed with such a stand.

His campaign did a brilliant job of capturing the endorsement of important voices in the ethnically diverse community of Los Angeles. With both Latino and African-American candidates in the race, Woo won the endorsement of La Opinion and the Los Angeles Sentinel, and polls showed him as capturing the major blocs of votes from both communities.

Much of Woo’s money comes from his ties to Asian-Americans of all political persuasions in California and across the country. To me, Woo remains an enigma. I’m not really sure what he would do or how he would govern this city.

And yet, one of these two will win what will be one of the most important elections in the history of this region. The position is much more important than simply heading the country’s second-largest city. It is about using that “bully pulpit” in setting an agenda for a region that has been battered economically, sees spreading crime, a deteriorating physical infrastructure, overly expensive housing and potentially divisive relationships among the largely white homeowner class and a range of ethnic groups whose numbers have increased dramatically in the 20 years since Tom Bradley’s election.

We need intelligent discussion from Riordan and Woo about the kind of power structure each would put in place, and what agenda each would fight for in the City Council, on the airwaves and in Sacramento and Washington. We do not need a campaign based on Woo calling Riordan a “Reagan Republican” and Riordan calling Woo Bradley redux.

The history of politics in America is about flawed people winning public office and sometimes rising to the challenge of greatness. The whole country watched Bill Clinton “grow” during his presidential campaign, and Californians, during two statewide elections, saw Dianne Feinstein “grow” in stature as she grappled ever more confidently with issues.

We need Woo and Riordan to “grow” during this runoff. Two months from now, the city needs to have confidence that one of them can be tough, innovative, visionary and compassionate. We need to believe that he will be able to sell his goals to the other layers of government he must work with to make the essential happen. It’s a tall order, and we all have a lot riding on the outcome.