Riordan Stumps for Bond Issue, School Candidates

Limping slightly from a broken toe, Mayor Richard Riordan hobbled his way around the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday seeking support for a $744-million public safety bond measure and his slate of candidates for the city school board.

The mayor began his morning at a North Hollywood nail polish factory and ended it watching a group of Pacoima senior citizens do a hip-wiggling line dance known as the Tush Push. In between, he dropped by an Arleta fire station.

Riordan wore a dark blue bootee over his damaged foot, which he said he injured when his dog urinated on the bathroom floor. The 68-year-old mayor slipped on the wet marble and slammed into the doorjamb.

The injury did not prevent the mayor from cheerfully working the audience at each stop, shaking hands and posing for pictures.

Riordan’s message, delivered to cosmetics workers and senior citizens alike, reflected priorities he has been pushing for months: Vote for a bond to build police and fire stations, back a Riordan-approved slate of four candidates for the school board, and support the proposed City Charter.

“We have a totally bankrupt education system,” he told about 60 people at the Northeast Valley Multipurpose Senior Center, adding that poor children had little chance of learning to read and write at grade level. “Many of them, through hopelessness, will turn to anti-social behavior such as drugs and crime,” said Riordan, who visits neighborhoods in the Valley about twice a month.

One woman, Sigrid Larson of Pacoima, complained about people breeding pit bulls terriers for fighting in her neighborhood. Riordan later said his 1999-2000 budget is to include an increase of about $4 million for the Department of Animal Regulation, including about $1.5 million to help catch thousands of dogs roaming the streets in packs. The department’s operating budget is now about $8 million.

Jennifer Roth, deputy mayor of finance and policy, said the proposed increase would be “significant” but she would not confirm a specific amount. The budget, which is still being finalized, will be released next month.