Riordan Pleads Case in Washington : Government: Mayor-elect seeks support in hiring more police and creating special enterprise zones. He has meetings with Clinton, California lawmakers.

Mayor-elect Richard Riordan led a delegation of Los Angeles city officials here Tuesday to ask the federal government for “a hand, not a handout” in helping with needs ranging from hiring more police officers to creating special enterprise zones in riot-torn communities.

Riordan also had an impromptu 20-minute meeting with President Clinton after a scheduled appointment with White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. (Mack) McLarty. Clinton had endorsed Riordan’s opponent in the mayoral election, City Councilman Michael Woo, and the meeting was viewed as part of an effort by the White House to reach out to the Republican mayor-elect.

Riordan said the conversation touched on the city’s economic needs and his proposal to tap airport revenues to pay for increased police personnel. The two also chatted about jogging and golfer Arnold Palmer, who received an award in Washington last weekend.

“It went extremely well,” Riordan said. “(Clinton) stated that he loves Los Angeles and he wants to do everything that he can to make L.A. healthy. . . . We told him that the primary concerns were safety and jobs in Los Angeles.”

A political novice who has never held elected office, Riordan appeared as tickled as a Washington summer tourist at being able to meet with the President. Afterward, he pointed out to a reporter that the meeting took place in the Oval Office and that numerous pictures were taken by a White House photographer.

The purpose of the Washington trip is to help Riordan get acquainted with prominent members of Congress and with Administration officials before he takes office July 1. Riordan met in separate sessions Tuesday with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and Small Business Administration officials.

Before returning to Los Angeles today, Riordan is scheduled to have lunch with members of the California congressional delegation and meet individually with Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Riordan is being accompanied by four City Council members, several staffers and Nancy Daly, a children’s rights advocate he has been dating for a couple of years. Riordan’s trip is being paid from privately raised transition funds, which so far total $26,000, a spokeswoman said.

Between meetings, Riordan made his top priority clear in a one-word reply to questions about what he is seeking from Washington: “Money.”

His talks focused on seizing revenues generated by the Los Angeles International Airport for the city’s general fund, creating “empowerment zones” in South-Central Los Angeles that would give tax breaks for companies that produced jobs and using federal assistance, such as increased Metro Rail funding, to stimulate the city’s economy.

“Our top priority is safety and economics,” Riordan said. “Until Los Angeles becomes safe, jobs are not going to come back to L.A. So the crime bill is important, getting revenue out of the airport and out of other appropriations in Washington are important. They are all related to safety.”

But even as Riordan was making rounds in the capital, a House committee was taking action that could make it harder for the mayor-elect to fulfill an important campaign promise: using LAX revenue to pay for more city police.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a measure that would deny federal transportation funds to any city that, in conjunction with a public airport, uses airport revenue for anything other than capital or operating costs for the airport.

The provision in the 1994 appropriations bill was inserted by Rep. Bob Carr (D-Mich.), chairman of the panel’s transportation subcommittee, to impose a stiff penalty for violating a 1982 law that prohibits shifting airport funds to other municipal functions. This step is intended, in part, to send a signal to Los Angeles and other municipalities inclined to tap airport funds that they will face an uphill fight in the House if they seek an exemption from the ban.

“It is not unique to LAX,” said a Democratic House aide. “Airport resources should go for airport development the same way as gas taxes should go for surface transportation development.”

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, chairman of the council’s Finance Committee, said the measure was intended to affect Los Angeles.

“We have a story to tell and a case to make to the U.S. Congess,” he said. “We hope in making our case that even congressman Carr may see we’re not being unreasonable. Public safety is the No. 1 concern in major American cities. Unless we can improve public safety in our city, people won’t want to come through our airport.”

Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles), a member of the Appropriations Committee, said he would not oppose Carr’s provision even though he intends to help Riordan seek a change in the law.

“I think the way to proceed is to attack” the 1982 law, Dixon said. He said Los Angeles lawmakers would seek to frame a strategy with colleagues representing other municipalities that would like to divert airport revenues to other purposes.

The House action did not take the city’s visiting delegation by surprise. “We knew it was coming,” Riordan said. “It’s just another piece of the puzzle.”

Riordan’s day began at 9:30 a.m. with a meeting in Feinstein’s office and ran nonstop into the evening. Democrats and Republicans alike welcomed Riordan and pledged to work in a nonpartisan way to help Los Angeles.

“I think he is doing a smart thing being back here to meet with people and find out what is happening in Washington,” Feinstein said. “Washington is extremely important. This gives us an opportunity to establish a relationship and work together.”

Times staff writer Alan C. Miller contributed to this story.