Riordan Needs to Reflect on His Debt to the Valley : The area’s voters delivered his victory. He must channel resources and make appointments to recognize an electorate that has waited too long for action from City Hall.

The voters of Los Angeles elected Michael Woo mayor on June 8.

That is, the voters of Los Angeles outside the San Fernando Valley.

In the rest of the city, Woo beat Riordan 52% to 48%. In the Valley, Riordan beat Woo 70% to 30% to achieve his overall 54% victory.

What, then, is Riordan’s mandate from the Valley? To serve the interests of the people who elected him. The election’s meaning should not be lost on those “over the hill” who have had a free rein at City Hall for 20 years--it’s the Valley’s turn.

Some commentators have bemoaned the Valley’s new, presumed clout at City Hall. Others have gone so far as to call it divisive.

Their common misconception is that the Valley remains the all-white suburban enclave they remember from their last trip here 20 years ago. The Valley is a place of divergent cultures and widely varying economic status, and the employment center for hundreds of thousands of Angelenos.

Richard Riordan should not spend one second apologizing to these hand-wringers for his Valley support. Instead, he should reflect on Seneca’s, and Shakespeare’s, guidance on the debt he owes to the San Fernando Valley voters who have given him the opportunity to be mayor.

Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca fed Shakespeare the line “what fools these mortals be.” He also wrote widely on politics. He is the source of such political advice as “You roll my log, and I will roll yours,” which in modern usage translates to, “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.”

Seneca would probably have the same advice for Riordan that he gave his Roman contemporaries: “He who receives a benefit with gratitude repays the first installment on his debt.” Here are some tokens of gratitude the Valley should expect from the new mayor:

* Appointments. The city’s commissions make many of the city’s day-to-day decisions on planning, zoning, parks, police and fire assignments and dozens of other issues that directly affect Valley residents. Riordan has more than 200 positions to fill.

Under the Bradley Administration, only 19.6% of those positions were filled by Valley residents, who make up 40% of the city’s population.

Some commissions had no Valley representatives at all, including important ones like the Police Commission. Riordan should guarantee that no commission will go without Valley representation.

* An equitable allocation of city resources to the Valley. Fifteen years ago, a study showed that for every $1 paid in taxes, the Valley got back 25 cents in services. While that condition has improved through the hard work of Valley City Council members, particularly Hal Bernson, we don’t yet have equity.

If Riordan’s plan to put 3,000 new police officers on the street succeeds, the Valley should get at least 1,200 of them, matching our share of the population.

* Riordan’s gratitude should include his active participation in securing the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Many of his Valley votes were won because he supports the breakup. Woo lost many Valley votes because he opposed it. Riordan should be meeting with Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) and state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) at the earliest opportunity to plan a strategy for getting the breakup legislation through the Assembly. It has passed the Senate.

Failing a majority vote in the Legislature, Riordan should put the full weight of his office behind an initiative to achieve Valley school district independence. Anything less than the kind of effort he put into his term limit initiative would be seen by Valley voters as a betrayal.

* Riordan’s final sign of gratitude should be a genuine commitment to see the Valley and its problems firsthand. Mayor Tom Bradley visited foreign countries more often than he visited the Valley. I don’t think Valley voters will stand for the same kind of treatment from the man they have now elected to serve them.

Dick Riordan clearly owes his election to the Valley’s voters. His debt is not to some narrow special interest. It’s to the people who pay the bulk of Los Angeles’ taxes. The families in the Valley are the backbone of Los Angeles. If the city is ever to turn around, it’s the people of the Valley who will be its movers and shakers. After 20 years of neglect, it’s the least they have a right to expect.

Frankly, Valley interests need to be emphasized just so we can catch up to being even with the rest of the city.

While Seneca was gracious with his political advice, Shakespeare was more succinct with his: “Words pay no debts.” Mayor-elect Riordan would be wise to heed both men.

If he doesn’t, the Valley’s voters will be the mortals Seneca talked about 20 centuries ago.

The Vote for Mayor Numbers in Thousands In the Valley*Riordan: 118 Woo: 51 Outside the Valley Riordan: 192 Woo: 209 *Council Districts 2,3,7,12, which are entirely in the San Fernando Valley Source: L.A. City Clerk