LOOK AHEAD * At a site near the massive gathering of Democrats in Los Angeles this summer . . .

As delegates to the Democratic National Convention wine, dine and anoint a presidential candidate at Staples Center this summer, a gathering of a different sort will unfold a few blocks away--designed to highlight the stark divide separating America’s rich and poor.

Its organizers call it the Los Angeles National Homeless Convention, and at a news conference scheduled for today they will announce plans to bring together thousands of homeless activists at the Dome Village, a tiny enclave of homeless people that is within jogging distance of virtually all of the Democratic convention happenings in downtown Los Angeles.

The counter-convention is the brainchild of activist Ted Hayes, who sees the Democratic presidential nomination--and its attendant media glare--as a perfect opportunity to spotlight issues affecting the most destitute Americans.

And it is especially apt in Los Angeles, believes Hayes, because the area has one of the largest homeless populations in the nation--about 80,000 people on any given night, experts say.

Hayes and his supporters say they also want to prevent police sweeps of street people who frequent the alleys, entryways and freeway underpasses surrounding Staples Center.

By inviting homeless people from across the country to come to Los Angeles for their own confab in August, they are daring Democratic National Committee organizers and police to try to move them somewhere out of sight--a practice Hayes claims is widespread when high-profile events come to town.

“Cities around the nation selectively enforce laws against people who are living in the United States,” Hayes said. “Until we find a way to get American homeless permanently off the streets, all talk about politics is meaningless.”

City officials insist there are no plans to conduct sweeps or otherwise roust the homeless during the Democratic convention.

“The police are not taking any extraordinary measures in dealing with homeless people in and around the convention site, nor are they engaging in sweeps,” said Frank Martinez, Mayor Richard Riordan’s liaison for the Democrats. “If a homeless person or anyone else comes to the attention of authorities by way of a police call, they will respond and deal with it as it dictates.”

Martinez said the DNC is in talks with Hayes about the homeless convention and “as long as they are engaged in lawful protest, we hope to work with them to avoid any potential problems.”

Hayes stressed that his group is pushing for peaceful, nonviolent dialogue and that Los Angeles homeless activists do not want the kind of chaos visited on Seattle and Washington, D.C., during recent economic summits to detract from their cause.

Planning for the homeless convention is centered at something known as the cyberdome, one of the Dome Village structures that has been fitted with 10 donated computers, faxes, printers and other equipment.

Organization of the event is still in the early stages, but it would run Aug. 14-17 and would include panels on law enforcement and adoption of a national homeless plan.

The framework calls for ending arrests of homeless people and providing adequate jobs, housing and health care within 10 years. Concerts are planned, and each day’s events would end with a candlelight vigil on the sidewalks surrounding Staples Center and the Convention Center.

For those familiar with Hayes--a tall, wiry man who once ran for mayor and has a flair for dramatic pronouncements--the idea of a counter-convention is not surprising. He created the Dome Village--a collection of 18 fiberglass, igloo-shaped structures--seven years ago as an experiment in self-help.

The formerly barren lot near the Harbor Freeway and 9th Street now provides transitional shelter for up to two dozen homeless men and women amid vegetable and herb gardens, flower beds and fruit trees. It has been visited by national and international dignitaries, including Britain’s Prince Edward.

The homeless organizers are working to win support from local social rights groups, universities and celebrities. They have secured an appearance by Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and hope to attract other candidates.

Michael Feinstein, a Santa Monica city councilman who co-founded the California Green Party, said Hayes’ plan is an opportunity to focus attention on the need for a coordinated effort to tackle homelessness issues. Feinstein also represents the Greens in a coalition of social activists--many of the same people who showed up in Seattle and Washington--that has been planning protests at the Democratic convention.

They see the Dome Village as an ideal staging area.

“The fact that they’re close makes it a natural place to start out from,” said Feinstein. “From Ted’s angle, if activists are going to be staging from his area, they need to have some understanding about the issues he is raising, and I think that’s a valid point. This is an opportunity for people from various groups to connect on an intellectual basis.”

Another supporter is Celes King, the longtime head of the Los Angeles office of the Congress of Racial Equality, who sees the convention as an opportunity to spotlight the plight of homeless veterans. A member of the Los Angeles County Advisory Commission for Veterans, he is working to organize hundreds of homeless vets and veterans organizations to participate.

The homeless convention already has its own Web site (https://info@domevillage.org) and is soliciting volunteers and donations. Supporters are forming a nonprofit group so that it will be tax-exempt.

“We need supplies, portable restrooms, public address systems, transportation,” said Alden Moore, a homeless man who moved into the village three weeks ago and is helping to coordinate volunteers.

People who don’t want to participate can write letters to President Clinton and the presidential candidates, said Thomas Flores, a fellow at the Center for California Cultural and Social Issues at Pitzer College, who is volunteering his time.

“We want to show that people are aware and concerned about this problem, and want something to be done about it,” Flores said.