CHARISMA NOT ENOUGH FOR MAYOR.

Byline: EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

TWO years into Antonio Villaraigosa's term as mayor of Los Angeles, some are beginning to ask publicly: What has Villaraigosa really done to make L.A. more livable for its key residents?

Let's look at some of the key issues:

Police reform: The May 1 melee in MacArthur Park mocked Villaraigosa's line that the Los Angeles Police Department has turned the corner on implementing the reforms mandated by a slew of commissions and the federal consent decree.

The MacArthur Park fiasco proved there's still much work to be done before the city can get out from under the decree. And Villaraigosa will have to do much more than saber-rattle to ensure that the department has made real headway on reform. So far he hasn't done that.

Reducing gang violence: Following the murder of black teen Cheryl Green last December, allegedly by Latino gang members in Harbor Gateway, Villaraigosa sped to the neighborhood. He held press conferences and vowed to crack down on gang violence. But Villaraigosa has offered little more than tough talk. And activists have screamed for him to bump up spending on violence-prevention and gang-intervention programs, as well as to better coordinate disjointed job, skills-training, education and drug-treatment programs that are already available for at risk youth.

As yet, though, there is no visible sign that Villaraigosa is putting his full political muscle behind that effort.

Cutting traffic: In countless surveys, L.A. drivers rank solving the city's transportation woes as one of the top quality-of-life issues in the city. But Villaraigosa has not pounded out a comprehensive, regional transportation plan. Meanwhile, he has managed to rile up members of the Bus Riders Union, who have wallpapered the city with signs demanding that he stop the proposed MTA fare hikes

Empowering communities: Neighborhood councils still have nowhere near the clout that city officials promised to give them. Strong councils would help improve police, fire and street services. Yet many appear to engage in nothing more than ceremonial prattle and debate klatches.

Villaraigosa has done little to pressure the City Council to give greater power to neighborhood councils. That failure reinforces suspicions that the powers that be at City Hall are little more than nameless, faceless bureaucrats who resist any effort to give L.A. residents greater say-so in city government.

School reform: Villaraigosa should have used the time and money that he squandered on his wrong-headed school takeover bid on devising tangible school-improvement programs. He could also have done what former Mayor Richard Riordan did and turn the mayor's post into a bully pulpit to prod school officials to attack bureaucratic inertia, waste and mismanagement; increase and improve teacher training, texts and equipment; and hand over greater decision-making power to local schools.

That doesn't mean simply packing the school board with cronies, but working in a spirit of cooperation to improve student and teacher performance. That takes hard, gritty, behind-the-scenes work. Now that Villaraigosa's school seizure bid flopped, he's got two more years to show that he's up to the task.

Redeveloping South L.A.: The stacks of reports, surveys and TV features on the recent 15th anniversary of the L.A. riots told the same grim tale of poverty, violence and neglect in South L.A. neighborhoods. The lofty promises that major corporations and city officials made in the year after the riots to rebuild the area have proven empty.

Villaraigosa spent much time wooing wary and reluctant black voters during the election, and they supported him in bigger numbers than in his first mayoral bid in part because they expected that he would make South L.A. development one of the top priorities in his administration. That development obviously hasn't happened.

Villaraigosa's trademark charisma, charm and political acumen are his strong suits. But those qualities alone don't make great mayors, and neither does the knack for making big promises that are difficult, if not impossible, to keep. Villaraigosa ultimately will be graded a success or failure based on his ability to fix the things in the city that can be fixed.

In 2005, Villaraigosa claimed that he would be a tough and visionary mayor. But after the first two years on the job, he's got a lot of work to do to boost his performance grade.