CHECCHI SAYS BIDS TO SPLIT CITY, LAUSD UNAVOIDABLE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Drives to break up the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District are inevitable - prompted by the failure of government to respond to the needs of people, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi said Thursday.

``You can't hold back the forces of nature,'' Checchi, the little-known multimillionaire businessman running for the state's highest office, said at a breakfast with political reporters.

``As we move more into the information age, people are expecting quicker decisions and more accountability. That's what's happening with the move to break up Los Angeles and the school district. You won't be able to stop it.''

While not endorsing specifics of either proposal, Checchi said the breakup moves are similar to what he would try to do as governor in creating a more decentralized system of state government.

``Our state government, which is basically from 1950, is the last to recognize what corporations have been doing for years - decentralizing and putting decision-making in the hands of people who know what the problems are,'' he said.

Checchi said he believes part of the problem with state government - and the lack of public trust in it - is based on the lack of real governance over the past 30 years.

``We are still living with the master plan for education that was developed by Gov. Pat Brown,'' he said. ``Our water plan is still the one developed by Pat Brown. That was more than 30 years ago.''

Checchi, who has been traveling the state for the past 10 months meeting with various groups about his candidacy, plans to finance his campaign out of his $550 million personal fortune, acquired primarily from his years as president of Northwest Airlines.

Questions over his stewardship of that company have been raised in recent weeks, but Checchi says the company is well-managed and is now one of the top airlines in the nation.

He rejected the notion that a loan from the Minnesota state government is what has kept the company operating.

``We were approached by the state and didn't get any preferential treatment,'' he said. ``The only thing we were able to do was get money at a lower interest rate. The state was fully covered and we paid all our costs.''

Checchi's main announced opponent for governor is Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, and rumors persist that U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein also will enter the race. But he said he is not concerned about either and plans to wage a campaign based on issues.

``I think people are tired of negative campaigns, of campaigns based on wedge issues,'' he said. ``We will respond to attacks, but we will focus on the issues.''

As part of that effort, Checchi advisers said he plans to begin a series of television commercials in the next few weeks to introduce himself to Californians and raise his name identification.