Politicians Skeptical of Workshop on South-Central’s Problems : Rebuilding: Area representatives question whether meeting led by Riordan adviser will produce results.

A community meeting called by an adviser to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to discuss the needs of South-Central Los Angeles has prompted debate even before today’s first session gets under way.

Behind the scenes, some politicians representing the area are questioning the South-Central Community Workshop organized by the Rev. E. V. Hill. They wonder whether the mass meeting Hill has organized will result in a coherent report on what South-Central, an area torn by last spring’s riots, needs from the new mayor.

Los Angeles City Council members Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters do not plan to attend. It is not on County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke’s schedule for today. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) is holding a previously scheduled Town Hall meeting of her own today not far away from Hill’s session.

One City Hall insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested that Hill was going to have an uphill battle unless he has the support of the area’s elected leadership. He also questioned the process--35 position papers are planned--and whether the mayor will take the resulting report seriously.

“You can get a sense of community sentiment without elected officials,” the critic said. “But can you take this elephantine process that’s been developed and distill it into something useful in such a diverse community? That’s what I think is a problem. . . .

“Also, if all of these papers are not viewed with seriousness by the mayor, then a lot of people’s time has been wasted. Is this just another bookcase dust collector?”

Hill, the longtime pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, is a free spirit in the African-American community. A registered Republican in a Democratic stronghold, he endorsed Riordan early in the mayor’s race--unlike most other black leaders--and was rewarded with a volunteer special adviser’s post.

In his new position, Hill is attempting to compile a comprehensive report for Riordan on the community’s primary concerns. He says he knows some leaders are suspicious, but he contends that he is really appealing to South-Central’s everyday residents.

“This is not a meeting of elected officials,” said Hill, acknowledging that he has heard complaints from local politicians. “It’s not a political rally. This is a meeting of real grass-roots people.”

Soon after being named by Riordan as a special adviser, Hill held a breakfast meeting for about 125 community members. From that session, he came up with a list of more than 130 problems facing the predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods of South-Central. That unwieldy agenda was boiled down to 35 issues, each of which will be the focus of a workshop at today’s daylong session.

The issues range from health, the Los Angeles Police Department and hunger to privatization, the media and racism. Although notices of the event were sent to some elected officials, Hill said the workshop is really geared toward business and religious leaders, neighborhood activists, gang members and representatives of community groups.

Councilman Nate Holden is one who says he plans to stop by the session, although he doesn’t plan to participate throughout the day.

“Let the grass-roots do their thing and I’ll do mine,” he said. “I want to know what the community is thinking. This is politics of the ‘60s. They used to have these frequently.”

Hill formally opened the community meeting with an orientation Friday night. He intends to have one expert at each of today’s workshops come up with a three-page summary of each problem area, proposed solutions, and the elected official who is responsible. Those summaries, Hill says, will be edited and assembled into a report for Riordan.

“I’m a stickler for a plan,” Hill said. “I don’t have enough in my brain to say what all the problems are. I’m pulling in the community to help me. . . . I can either advise the mayor to cut ribbons and give plaques, or I can advise him to do things of substance.”

The meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at Jefferson High School, at 42nd Street and Hooper Avenue.