Riordan Urges Wilson, Legislators to Spare L.A. : Budget: Taking his case against cuts to Sacramento, he finds fiscal problems more complex than expected.

Mayor-elect Richard Riordan led a delegation of Los Angeles officials to Sacramento on Thursday to fight against cuts in funding for the city, but emerged pronouncing the state budget process “infinitely more complicated and difficult than man could ever dream of.”

Arriving in the state Capitol two days after his election, Riordan told Gov. Pete Wilson and legislators that Los Angeles will not be able to maintain adequate police services if it is saddled with proposed state budget reductions of up to $300 million.

“As Los Angeles goes, so goes the state of California,” Riordan told the Assembly after being introduced by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), one of his rivals during the primary campaign for mayor. “If the big cities deteriorate, the rest of the state will deteriorate.”

Riordan particularly attempted to appeal to Wilson, a fellow Republican, on the issue of law enforcement.

“Los Angeles is not a safe city, as most of the big cities are not,” Riordan said after a half-hour meeting in the governor’s office. “We need a zero change in our budget to make our city safe.”

One of those accompanying Riordan was his new transition team communications director, former Cable Network News correspondent Daniel Blackburn.

Some thought Riordan’s mere presence in the capital, where Mayor Tom Bradley seldom ventured in recent years, might help the city.

“I don’t recall a mayor of Los Angeles ever addressing the Legislature directly,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, head of the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, who traveled with Riordan. “I think by the end of the day just his presence here could change the chemistry of the debate.”

After a round of meetings with Wilson, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), Riordan said he detected flexibility in proposals to take money from cities. But he declined to say how the state leaders might compromise.

Riordan, who takes office July 1, said he is willing to support measures to extend a half-cent state sales tax beyond June 30. Asked if he would support the tax if it put him at odds with Wilson, he said: “Those are the kind of details I don’t want to get into today.”

“I think now we at least understand each other very well,” he said. But he acknowledged: “I had not realized the incredible complexities that go with the budget crisis in Sacramento. I thought I did, but it’s infinitely more complicated and difficult than man could ever dream of.”

Riordan, scheduled to leave today for a five-day vacation, said he received a congratulatory call Thursday from President Bill Clinton. “He complimented me on keeping my sense of equilibrium and my sense of humor during a very difficult campaign,” Riordan said.

He said Clinton also asked him to support federal legislation to expand business enterprise zones--something Riordan said he promised to do.

On Thursday, the bigger issue was the state budget, which is supposed to be approved by the Legislature by next week and signed by the governor before July 1.

State leaders have been trying to close a $9-billion deficit and meet a constitutional requirement to provide minimum funding for schools. They have proposed substantial reductions in property tax support to counties and cities to help balance the budget.

The governor’s latest proposal would not be as severe as other plans--taking $288 million from cities statewide and up to $98 million from Los Angeles.

But Los Angeles officials--who already emptied trust funds and pared services earlier this year--said that even the smaller reduction would lead to devastating cuts in police and other services.

Although state officials expressed sympathy, they gave no indication that Los Angeles will be spared reductions.

“It’s already a lot better than it has been,” Brown said of the city’s potential loss. Roberti took pains to point out that teachers, prosecutors and many other groups have also been to Sacramento to plead against reductions.

And after the meeting, Wilson made a small joke: “We are not able to share with you agreements that were not reached.”

Still in the glow of Tuesday’s victory over Councilman Michael Woo, Riordan was not brought down by the words of caution. Nor were his traveling companions, who included Police Chief Willie L. Williams, Fire Chief Donald Manning, City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, City Council President John Ferraro and Councilmen Marvin Braude, Hal Bernson and Yaroslavsky.

The Los Angeles officials spent much of the day praising each other.

When asked for specifics about the city’s budget, for instance, Riordan quickly deferred to Yaroslavsky. “He’s the expert,” Riordan said.

Riordan also announced that Yaroslavsky would be the city’s representative on a committee with state and county officials to attempt to work out solutions to the budget difficulties.

Ferraro, in turn, said he was proud of Riordan’s performance in the Capitol.

Braude said he was delighted by Riordan’s willingness to appear jointly with council members.

And Yaroslavsky concluded a news conference by saying of the new mayor: “When he speaks, he speaks with a credibility we haven’t had up here in years. Not to put a rap on anyone else, but he is perceived as being a citizen-politician with a mandate from the people.”

Blackburn, who left CNN two weeks ago, made headlines in the late 1970s as a radio correspondent when he testified on behalf of a former member of the so-called Charles Manson family while covering her trial.

Blackburn said Thursday that he did nothing improper and had been subpoenaed by the defense. The former Manson family member was merely an acquaintance, and news accounts of the relationship were exaggerated, he said.

Riordan’s transition chief, William Wardlaw, said neither he nor Riordan knew of the matter, and added that it is not a concern. “The people in the city of Los Angeles were very forgiving about an indiscretion Mayor-elect Riordan had,” he said, referring to Riordan’s alcohol-related arrests in the 1960s and 1970s. “This (Blackburn) incident, of which I am unfamiliar, is very, very old.”

Wardlaw said he was impressed by the former reporter’s political coverage, particularly during the recent presidential campaign. “People have seen his work as a journalist and respect him,” he said.

Before working for CNN, where Blackburn reported on the Los Angeles mayor’s race until this month, he was employed by NBC News.

It was while Blackburn was an NBC radio reporter that he testified during a sentencing hearing for Leslie Van Houten, a former member of the Manson family convicted in the 1969 slayings of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.

Blackburn described Van Houten as “intelligent, charming, considerate . . . a decent young lady.” According to news accounts at the time, Blackburn testified that he had socialized with Van Houten while she was free on bail, seeing her about three times a week and attending picnics, parties and other gatherings with her.

Blackburn said Thursday that news reports and the prosecution miscast his testimony and the relationship. He said he met Van Houten through her roommate, who was a also a reporter, and was in social settings with her only a few times. He said never was alone with her and had no romantic interest in her.

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