RIORDAN WATCH : Running Start

It’s hard not to like the energy and style Los Angeles Mayor-elect Richard Riordan has shown in getting a running start--so to speak--on his new job.

The running part became quite literal Wednesday in Washington when the 63-year-old Riordan got up at the crack of dawn to join President Clinton for his daily morning jog.

As a long-time civic activist, Riordan is known for many things around Los Angeles but jogging is not one of them. So we were relieved to note that he wisely did not attempt to match the younger Clinton stride for stride, and opted to end his workout by riding back to his hotel in a car.

But while Riordan’s abbreviated run surely will get the most media attention, there is a very serious side to his visit to the nation’s capital.

The mayor-elect is out to establish a face-to-face relationship not just with Clinton and his Administration but with members of Congress. He has told them flatly that he will need their help--which means federal money--to get Los Angeles moving forward again. We all should wish him luck.

Riordan’s visit to Washington follows a Sacramento trip, not as widely reported, in which he tried to establish a similar dialogue with Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature. All of this travel, it should be commendably noted, was paid for from a private mayoral transition fund.

The value of such high-profile mayoring is yet to be proven. But it is certainly refreshing to see someone waving the L.A. flag in Sacramento and Washington.