51 HOPEFULS SET TO RUN FOR PANEL ON CHARTER REFORM : THE RACE FOR CHARTER REFORM.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The field of candidates for a charter reform commission on the April 8 ballot is down to 51, but three candidates disqualified by the City Clerk are appealing the clerk's decisions.

The clerk's office announced Tuesday that seven of the 58 candidates who filed nominating petitions did not have sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot.

One disqualified candidate, Cesar A. Portillo, has asked a judge to rule today if the city should include his name on the ballot, even though a clerk claims a person who circulated his nominating petition was not registered to vote in his district.

Portillo, who is the government affairs manager for the Aids Healthcare Foundation, said the city is using a technicality to keep the only Latino candidate in the 13th Council District off the ballot.

There are Latino candidates in five of the districts, but Portillo said it looks like only two Latinos have a chance to be elected to the 15-member panel, even though the ethnic group makes up 40 percent of the city's population.

``I think it's tragic that we are in post-riot Los Angeles and the body that is going to determine the city's future is not going to include the largest single ethnic group in the city in any representative way,'' Portillo said.

Two other disqualified candidates, teacher Joann Wysocki in the 15th District and finance officer Mark W. Johnson in the 11th District, are making arrangements to double-check invalid signatures on their petitions although they have not filed any formal appeal in court.

Mayor Richard Riordan, who co-sponsored the initiative that will bring an elected charter reform commission to voters, said he was pleased with the number of candidates who will be on the ballot.

``It's a great day for Los Angeles that so many qualified citizens seek to serve, without pay, as charter commissioners,'' Riordan said. ``Government works best as a catalyst for citizens to address their own problems.''

Riordan also defended his decision to endorse some candidates in the race, saying: ``I am supporting candidates who are bright, creative and independent, and who have the knowledge, experience and intelligence to find the best options to modernize city government.''

Sources say Riordan's endorsements so far include mayoral adviser Helen Bernstein in the 4th Council District; Valley Industry and Commerce Association Chairman Marvin Selter in the 2nd District; United Chambers President Gary Thomas in the 3rd District; Christine Robert, city redevelopment commissioner, in the 9th District; and former Assemblywoman Paula Boland in the 12th District.

Meanwhile, a separate advisory commission on charter reform that was appointed by the City Council met in closed session Tuesday night to interview four finalists to become the panel's executive director.

Former County Supervisor Ed Edelman, a member of the commission, said he headed a committee that narrowed the list of candidates for the executive director from 26 who applied to the final four.

Edelman said the position, which will pay $80,000 to $100,000 a year, is critical to help the commission get a grasp on the 72-year-old, 700-page City Charter.

``There is a lot of work that needs to be done to organize the commission and to set up a process for getting public input,'' Edelman said.

Sources said the four finalists for the job are:

Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton, who co-wrote a book on the 1992 riots in which he said, ``It is time for Los Angeles City Hall to open up to new ideas and to new participants, by experimenting with new formats for public involvement.''

Steve Erie, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has been active along with city unions in opposing Riordan's efforts to take money from the Department of Water and Power to subsidize the city general fund.

Xandra Kayden, a former member of the commission and a UCLA political science instructor who is acting director of the UCLA Policy Forum - a think tank on local issues.

Harold Kwalwasser, an attorney formerly with the law firm of Tuttle and Taylor and the former president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission under Mayor Tom Bradley.

The following people have been qualified by the City Clerk's Office to appear as candidates on the April 8 ballot for an elected charter reform commission. Boldface represents San Fernando Valley districts.

1st District: Gloria Romero.

2nd District: Anne Finn, Marvin Selter and John Simonson.

3rd District: James Greenfield, Gary Thomas, Dennis Zine.

4th District: Helen Bernstein, Tony Lucente, Charley Mims, James Regan, Denise Robb and Bill Weinberger.

5th District: Michael Bohlke, Jeff Brain, Erwin Chemerinsky, Matt Epstein, Horace Heidt, Howard Raphael and Andrew Tilles.

6th District: David Colwell, Sal Grammatico, Larry Kosmont, Chester Widom and Jimmie Woods-Gray.

7th District: Marcos Casteneda, Sam Kimura and Robert Winn.

8th District: Marguerite Archie-Hudson and Benetta Johnson.

9th District: Woody Fleming, Christine Robert and Richardo Torres II.

10th District: ``Jackie'' Dupont-Walker and Casey Peters.

11th District: Jack Allen, Pamela Aronoff, Rob Glushon and Maureen Kindel.

12th District: Paula Boland, Walter Prince and Keith Richman.

13th District: Lorri Jean, Bennett Kayser and Mike Sinkov.

14th District: Jose Legaspi, Nick Pacheco, Sylvia Robledo and David Tokofsky.

15th District: Jerry Gaines and Janice Hahn.

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BOX: THE RACE FOR CHARTER REFORM (see text)