Police Commission Meeting Postponed : Conflict: Scheduled on the same evening as an appearance by Mayor Riordan, the gathering would have been the first in the Valley in two years.

The first meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission in the San Fernando Valley in two years has been postponed because it conflicted with a Valley appearance by the mayor, police officials said Friday.

The commission meeting, scheduled for Tuesday at Reseda High School, was postponed for two weeks because it fell on the same evening as a community meeting in Studio City to discuss Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposed city budget.

The mayor will speak at 7:15 at Osaka Sangyo University, 3921 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City.

Police officials said they postponed the commission meeting, now tentatively reset for May 24 at Reseda High School, because they believed there would be some Valley residents who would want to attend both gatherings.

“It was just common sense” to postpone it, said Richard Dameron, executive director of the Police Commission.

The Valley meeting will be part of the commission’s efforts to give more residents throughout the city the opportunity to testify before the commission on crime problems in their neighborhoods.

But the postponement irked some city officials from the Valley who said many people may be inconvenienced by the last-minute cancellation.

“I don’t feel there is a legitimate reason to postpone it,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents parts of the West Valley. “The Valley has enough people to pack all of those meetings.”

In fact, police from the West Valley division helped circulate about 2,000 notices about the commission meeting, officials said.

Riordan’s spokesman, David Novak, defended the decision to postpone. He said the shift will allow Valley residents to attend both meetings.

“Now everybody wins,” Novak said.

Riordan’s meeting is the latest of several hearings he has scheduled to promote his budget proposal. The final budget must be approved by the City Council by June 1.

Robert Gross, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Assn., said the commission was right to postpone the meeting because both events are important to Valley residents.

“The budget process is important to the public and so is the Police Commission meeting,” he said.