Woo and Riordan Agree to 6 Mayoral Debates : Politics: Whether those appearances will be enough for the voters is itself the subject of controversy.

Stay tuned for the Dick Riordan-Mike Woo show.

With the June 8 runoff a month away, the Los Angeles mayoral candidates have received more than 50 invitations to appear together. They have agreed to debate six times. Whether that is enough was itself the subject of debate Wednesday.

Woo accused Riordan of avoiding live TV confrontations, saying that his opponent is a packaged candidate who wants to get his message to voters through TV ads.

“Let’s stop debating over debates and start debating the real issues facing the people of L.A.,” Woo said. He said he has challenged Riordan to five prime-time live TV debates, as alternatives to candidates’ forums that attract a limited number of voters.

Riordan insisted that he is not ducking Woo. “The people will have plenty (of) chances to see Mr. Woo and myself on TV during this campaign,” Riordan said. “I think they’ll be sick of us by the end of the campaign.” Riordan said he has agreed to six debates, including two on TV in the final days before the runoff, and is considering several others.

The candidates have agreed to meet Tuesday at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in West Los Angeles, May 13 at Congregation Shaarei Tefila in the Wilshire district, May 22 at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Mid-City area, May 26 on KABC radio, June 5 on KTTV Channel 11 and June 6 on KCOP Channel 13.

This already exceeds the number of debates in past elections. Retiring Mayor Tom Bradley met challenger and City Council President John Ferraro only once in 1985 in a debate that was carried only on cable TV and radio.

Virtually every TV station in town, including those that broadcast in Spanish, is trying to set up debates. In addition, dozens of community groups have invited the candidates to appear together.

KNBC-TV invited both candidates to debate on a weekly basis during the local news. Both candidates accepted before the primary but Riordan declined to appear this week. A Riordan spokesman attributed the cancellation to a scheduling conflict.

The city’s Ethics Commission is planning two debates of its own in the coming weeks but has not yet lined up commitments from either candidate. Attorney William K. Mills, a member of the Ethics Commission, said both camps have expressed interest in the city-sponsored debates.

One group that has just about given up on organizing a debate is the League of Women Voters.

“It’s very hard to get them to give you a commitment,” said league official Thea Brodkin. “When you call Woo or Riordan’s office, they said they have 50 invitations already. We wonder if it’s necessary.”

For some would-be sponsors, it’s been more difficult trying to arrange a debate in the mayoral race than it was in the presidential campaign.

Last year it took weeks of squabbling and exchanges of insults, but at least aides to each of the presidential candidates came together to reach an agreement over the format and schedule of debates.

In the mayor’s race, representatives of the two campaigns have not tried to come together. Instead, they have left it to would-be debate sponsors to shuttle back and forth to try to arrange dates and formats.

Campaign strategists say it is wiser for Riordan, who is making his first bid for elected office, to try to limit debates against Woo, a seasoned politician.

Richard Lichtenstein, a political consultant who is not involved in the mayor’s race, said of multimillionaire businessman Riordan: “He has the resources to define the campaign . . . without having to mix it up.

“Debate is an uncontrolled environment fraught with risks. Mike Woo has been around the political debates, whether it is in the council chamber or in campaign settings, far more than Riordan. . . . In Woo’s case, he wants to encourage as much free-for-all as possible.”

At his news conference, Woo acknowledged that he cannot match Riordan dollar for dollar and said the voters will suffer if they have to make their decision based on TV commercials alone.

Ironically, Woo was criticized by many of his rivals during the primary campaign for skipping candidate forums, especially those held in the final weeks of the campaign.

Lesser-known candidates who did not have the resources of the front-runners sharply criticized Woo and Riordan for relying on ads to reach voters. At one forum sponsored by homeowners groups near Griffith Park, Councilman Joel Wachs brought a chair with Woo’s name on it to draw attention to Woo’s absence.

Woo said Wednesday that he attended more than two dozen candidate forums during the primary campaign. He said neighborhood forums can be informative for the few who attend but do not reach as many voters as TV debates do.