CITY ATTORNEY: FOURSOME OF CANDIDATES PITCHING FOR GREATER ROLE.

Byline: Rick Orlov

TO hear the candidates tell it, the next Los Angeles city attorney will turn one of the nation's largest government legal offices into the modern-day equivalent of ``The Untouchables'' - and solve the city's educational, environmental and neighborhood problems.

``This is like being the attorney general for Los Angeles,'' said ouncilman Mike Feuer, one of the four candidates seeking the job.

Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo said he sees it as ``the most exciting position in the city. Maybe even more important than the mayor's job.''

And two deputy district attorneys seeking the job, Lea Purwin D'Agostino and Frank Tavelman, said it is their courtroom experience that is needed in an office that prosecutes misdemeanors and provides advice to the city's 35separate departments and agencies.

It is a contest set up as much due to term limits as political ambitions, with incumbent City Attorney James Hahn, prohibited from seeking a fifth term, running for mayor.

Under Hahn, the office has become more aggressive in a number of areas, from gang injunctions to special units on the environment and domestic and senior abuse.

The four candidates don't criticize Hahn, but they say more needs to be done in terms of controlling costs and responding to the needs of neighborhoods.

The city attorney manages an office of 459 attorneys - almost equally divided between the civil and criminal branches - with a budget of nearly $72 million, not including money set aside for liability payouts.

Feuer decided to give up a chance for another term on the council because of the city attorney vacancy.

``This really is a perfect fit for me,'' said Feuer, who cites his experience as director of the Bet Tzedek public-interest law firm before winning his council seat in a special election. ``I know what it is like to manage a public-interest law firm and having written laws for the past six years.''

Feuer said he has a specific agenda for the office, including continuing efforts at police reform, controlling gun violence and working on quality- of-life issues.

``I want to make the City Attorney's Office the best environmental law firm in the state,'' Feuer said. ``I want to make this the office that fights slum housing conditions.''

Delgadillo has been Mayor Richard Riordan's deputy in charge of business development since 1993 and has the mayor's backing in the race.

Much of his focus has been on the need for the City Attorney's Office to help improve education - even though it's far removed from the authority of the office.

``I'm not saying I can fire teachers or tell schools what books to use, but I can use the bully pulpit to make education an issue, and I can use the powers of the office to make sure that kids are going to safe schools.''

Delgadillo said he also wants to use his business background to make the City Attorney's Office more aggressive in dealing with issues such as land use and being more effective in dealing with advice to city agencies - to prevent future legal action - and maximizing revenues to the city.

D'Agostino has been a career prosecutor - working on some of the highest-profile cases over the past 23 years such as the Alphabet Bomber, who nicknamed her ``Dragon Lady.''

``I carry that as a badge of honor,'' she said at one recent candidates'forum.

D'Agostino has been the most aggressive of the candidates, attacking Feuer and Delgadillo for what she sees as their failures over the past eight years to reform the Los Angeles Police Department and allowing city liabilities to soar.

``It's time to get rid of the bloated bureaucracy and get someone in there who is tough and experienced,'' D'Agostino said. ``We have the highest-paid elected officials in the country, yet can we say we have the best and most efficient government? I don't think so.''

D'Agostino emphasizes the criminal division of the office and the need to step up prosecution of crimes. To deal with community frustrations, D'Agostino said she would assign deputy city attorneys to serve as liaisons with the new neighborhood councils.

Tavelman also cites his record as a prosecutor for two years and his years as a reserve officer with the LAPD.

He has proposed a number of new units for the City Attorney's Office while showing off a fondness for acronyms.

One of his programs is called QUEST, for Quality Urban Environment Strike Teams to deal with quality of life issues. Another is LIMIT, for a Liability Management Intervention Team to deal with managing cases. A third is TNT, for Targeted Neighborhood Teams to have attorneys assigned to communities to work on various issues.

Tavelman's decision to run came on the spur of the moment, he said.

``As a reserve police officer, I became frustrated at some of the problems the city has, and I thought this was a good opportunity to do something rather than sit around and complain.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1) D'AGOSTINO

(2) DELGADILLO

(3) FEUER

(4) TAVELMAN