CHARTER PANEL MAY COUNTER HH.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Even if Los Angeles voters approve Charter Amendment HH on Tuesday, that may not be the last word on the controversial proposal to give the City Council broad powers to reorganize proprietary departments.

Amid concerns that the measure might give too much power to the City Council, the appointed Charter Reform Commission will meet Nov. 18 to decide whether to put a countermeasure on the ballot in 1999 as part of a new charter, said George Kieffer, the panel's chairman.

``Whether or not it passes Nov. 3, I just don't believe it has gotten due consideration,'' Kieffer said. ``I would not view the fact that it passes as precluding us from taking it up.''

Critics of the measure say it would allow the City Council, by a two-thirds vote, to raid semi-independent city agencies including the Airport Department, Harbor Department and Department of Water and Power for revenue-producing functions.

Opposition to the measure is growing, including a statement Wednesday by the head of the Steamship Association, a group made up of shipping companies and other tenants at the Los Angeles Harbor.

``There's a long history in which they (the City Council) went after extracting every penny they could out of the port,'' said association leader Jay Winters.