Black Leaders to Plan Strategy for ’97 Mayoral Race : Politics: Ridley-Thomas says meeting stems from frustration with Riordan Administration. Other participants are less confrontational.

With some of them charging that Mayor Richard Riordan neglects their community, scores of influential African American leaders are expected to meet today to map out a strategy for the 1997 mayoral race that ultimately could include fielding their own candidate.

Today’s event, called Mayor’s Race Confab ‘97, grows out of a “complete frustration by several sectors of the African American community when reviewing the past 18 months of the Riordan Administration,” Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said Friday.

Others see the origins of the conference in a less confrontational light. “This is not an attack on the mayor,” said James Thomas, director of community and political relations for the West Angeles Church of God in Christ. “We want to establish the issues of importance to the African American community. If the mayor wants to play a role in helping us realize our goals, he’s welcome.”

The event has been organized by the Ecumenical Congress of Los Angeles, chaired by Thomas’ boss, the Rev. Charles Blake, head of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ. It will be held at the church, starting at 8 a.m.

Thomas said about 300 community activists and business, political and religious leaders are expected to attend the strategy session.

Riordan’s office reacted tersely to news of the meeting. “The political process is open to everyone,” Riordan deputy press secretary Jane Galbraith said. “That’s it. That’s all the statement we’re going to make.”

The mayor’s office is sending Anthony Thomas, its liaison to South-Central Los Angeles, to the conference.

Blake, in a Feb. 24 letter to participants, warned that “very soon the L.A. mayor’s race ’97 will be moving at full speed” and that the African American community needs to position itself now so it can articulate a clear agenda and exercise the greatest leverage possible on the race.

“We have the power,” Blake wrote. “If we do not use it, we will lose it.”

Blake’s church has one of the city’s largest black congregations.

The conference comes almost at the midpoint of Riordan’s Administration. It will be two years ago July 1 that Riordan took office, succeeding Tom Bradley, the black mayor who reigned over the city for 20 years.

According to African American leaders, some of the issues that trouble them about the Administration include:

* A dearth of Riordan advisers and commission appointees who come from the heart of the black community.

* The Administration’s bungling of a bid to win designation as an empowerment zone by the Clinton Administration. Such status would have made the city eligible for $100 million in federal grant money for social programs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives for businesses operating in the inner city.

* Riordan’s expressions of skepticism about the city’s affirmative action programs. During a recent radio talk show interview, the mayor said these programs sometimes seem only to benefit the well-connected and affluent.

* The mayor’s support for privatizing parts of the city’s work force. “Privatization would fall disproportionately on minorities who work in the city’s parking enforcement bureau, sanitation and general services,” said Ridley-Thomas, pinpointing his community’s concerns.

The councilman also noted that Riordan’s office is widely believed by blacks to be privately encouraging criticism of Police Chief Willie L. Williams and Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Franklin White, both of whom are African American.

A printed agenda and speakers list for today’s conference signal the direction it is likely to take. The topics include: “Possible Candidates,” “Areas of Mutuality Among Blacks and Other Minorities” and “Money and the Mayor’s Race.”

John Mack, executive director of the Los Angeles Urban League and a scheduled speaker, said one matter he expects to be addressed is whether Riordan--a Republican who won the election despite losing precincts dominated by black voters by better than 5 to 1--can be responsive to the issues of importance to the African American community.

“Clearly, there are some who are prepared to write off the mayor and others who are prepared to try to work with him, such as myself,” Mack said.

Mack added: “It is important that we recognize the reality that Riordan is the mayor and some of these issues of concern to us can’t wait until we elect another mayor. At some point we must be pragmatic and understand that we need to work together to solve these problems. If that process is not productive, then perhaps we take another route.”

Recently, a delegation of blacks, including Mack, met with the mayor to discuss their fears that Williams and White were being targeted for dismissal. Mack said Friday that he believed those talks had produced some encouraging results.