LOCAL ELECTIONS / L.A. MAYOR : Debating Candidates Clash on Budget Issue

The candidates for mayor of Los Angeles clashed sharply Thursday on how to bail the city out of its budget crisis, with entrepreneur Richard Riordan pledging to never raise taxes and City Councilman Michael Woo saying the bitter medicine of more taxes might be unavoidable.

The conflict was just one in a series of heated exchanges between the candidates during a debate at a Beverly Boulevard temple. Aside from their headgear--both men wore yarmulkes--Woo and Riordan disagreed on nearly every front.

“I’m not going to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Riordan, who is following in the footsteps of someone we all know who once said: ‘No new taxes,’ ” Woo told an audience of about 200 at Congregation Shaarei Tefila in the Fairfax district.

“We may have to consider new revenue increases,” Woo said. “Everything is going to be on the table.”

But Riordan said a tax increase was a luxury the city could not afford.

“We have already taxed ourselves out of competition with Southern California and with much of the nation,” the lawyer-businessman said. “We can’t raise taxes anymore.”

Both candidates said that beefing up the Los Angeles Police Department would be a top priority, but they differed on how to carry that out.

Woo reiterated his proposal to slash the mayoral and City Council staffs and all other departments to expand the police force and preserve the fire and sanitation departments.

Riordan said that Woo’s proposed cuts in politicians’ staffs would only add 40 or 50 officers. “That’s just not enough,” he said.

Instead, Riordan called for the leasing of Los Angeles International Airport, which he said would provide enough money to provide 3,000 additional police.

But Woo derided that idea as a “pie-in-the-sky” proposal that has been rejected by independent analysts.

Continuing a campaign theme, Woo accused Riordan, a multimillionaire, of “trying to buy the highest office in the city of Los Angeles,” a reference to Riordan’s use of $6 million of his own fortune to bankroll his campaign.

Woo also accused Riordan of amassing the money through leveraged buyouts that had costs thousands of workers their jobs.

But Riordan said his motives were altruistic, and he cited the philanthropic work he has done, helping to create reading and learning labs for youngsters in Los Angeles and other parts of the country.

“Don’t judge me by how wealthy I am, but by what I have done with my wealth,” Riordan said. “I have spent tens of millions of dollars giving to help young people to learn.”

The two candidates also painted starkly different pictures of how they would govern the city. Woo said he would pattern his administration after the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek.

“(Kollek) set an example of real leadership that crosses ethnic lines, bringing Jews and Arabs together,” Woo said. “In this city, we also need leadership that can cross ethnic lines.”

Riordan argued that Los Angeles voters would rather have a tough-minded businessman at the helm.

“They want a person who can read a bottom line and who is ready to make tough budgetary decisions,” he said.

Both said they would lobby vigorously in Sacramento and Washington to increase the city’s share of federal and state revenue.

But those promises drew skepticism from City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who moderated the debate.

“Well, I wish you luck,” said Yaroslavsky, who had spent the day lobbying lawmakers in the state Capitol. “Because they didn’t seem to be listening to us today.”

The debate echoed differences sounded earlier in the day, when the two candidates appeared before the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. There, too, Riordan pushed his proposals to contract out operation of LAX and city garbage collection, and Woo refused to promise that he would never raise taxes “because that is not a pledge I think that we will be able to keep.”

Woo said, however, “I will not support any tax increase that has the effect of discouraging business from locating in the city.”

It was clear from the reception the two men got, however, that Riordan was the favorite of the crowd. He walked in to loud applause, while Woo received stony silence.

Heads bobbed up and down as Riordan told a story about a friend who wanted to build a factory in Los Angeles. “He was told it would take as many as three years to get permitting. He got a call from the mayor of Salt Lake City who said: ‘Come over here and . . . I will guarantee you will have every permit you need within 20 days.’ ”

Seeking to portray his opponent as part of the problem, Riordan said: “Ask Mr. Woo: ‘Where have you been the last eight years?’ ”

Woo was never asked the question. But he did pledge that if he is elected he will declare a state of economic emergency--a symbolic act to demonstrate his commitment to improving the city’s business climate. Woo also proposed using $5 million in city funds to leverage as much as $100 million in private bank loans to create jobs in the inner city. Meanwhile, state Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) received permission from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission to pour unused campaign funds into a mailing on Woo’s behalf.

Polanco said he would dip into $80,000 in leftover campaign funds to send out at least one mailer targeted to the Latino community on behalf of Woo. Riordan, charging that Woo is turning the officially nonpartisan race into a party battle, tried to cast himself as someone whose interests transcend party lines. The Republican businessman sent a letter to Senate leaders George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.) urging them to set aside partisan differences and support President Clinton’s economic programs. However, during the primary campaign Riordan trumpeted his endorsements from prominent GOP leaders.

Also Thursday, in the ongoing endorsement contest, Woo picked up the backing of state Treasurer Kathleen Brown.

Appearing with business leaders at a Sun Valley packaging company, Brown said that Woo’s knowledge of City Hall will help him reorganize the bureaucracy to make it friendlier to businesses.