COUNCIL TO MAYOR: SEE YOU IN COURT : CHARTER REFORM PANEL VOTE COULD BE DELAYED.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to ``vigorously'' contest a class action suit filed by Mayor Richard Riordan and others asking a federal judge to clarify key issues about how and when an election for a Charter Reform Commission can be held.

The 9-1 vote directing the city attorney to defend the city against the suit promises to move the ongoing power struggle between the mayor and the City Council into a federal courtroom.

And it casts doubt on whether an election for a Charter Reform Commission can be held during this April's municipal election.

In the lawsuit, the mayor and co-plaintiffs, including Airport Commission President Dan Garcia and Redevelopment Commissioner Chris Robert, ask the judge to allow an election of commissioners by district instead of at-large and to rule that the election must be held in April.

Riordan also has asked that the City Council stipulate in court that the election can be held by council district in April.

``We're not stipulating to that,'' said Councilman Nate Holden. ``We don't have to. He could ask us to jump over the moon, and we don't have to do that.''

Added Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, ``The mayor has asked us to do a number of things that are preposterous.''

The City Council has appointed its own 21-member Charter Reform Commission that is scheduled to begin meeting later this month, and whose recommendations will be subject to approval of the council.

But the mayor and his backers have submitted 303,000 signatures on petitions to place the election of a 15-member Charter Reform Commission on the April 1997 ballot. That commission would have the power to submit reform recommendations directly to the voters without council approval.

Councilman Joel Wachs, who cast the only dissenting vote, said Friday's council action was an outrage and an insult to the 303,000 residents who signed petitions to qualify the charter reform initiative.

``The council is intent upon killing the mayor's efforts and stopping an election in any way it can,'' Wachs said after an hourlong closed session that some participants described as heated.

``To ignore the public is an affront to the voters,'' Wachs added.

Studio City attorney David Fleming, a co-sponsor of the initiative with Riordan, said that the council is telling the residents who signed the petitions that their action does not count.

``The more this goes along, the clearer it is that the council's whole game is to hold on to power,'' Fleming said.

The motion to defend against the lawsuit was offered by Councilman Mike Feuer and supported by council members Galanter, Holden, Laura Chick, Richard Alarcon, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Jackie Goldberg and Richard Alatorre.

Absent from the meeting were council members Rudy Svorinich Jr., Hal Bernson, Marvin Braude, Rita Walters and John Ferraro.

City Attorney James Hahn issued an opinion last month that says electing a charter reform commission by council district violates state law and that the council has discretion to set the election after April 1997, as long as the delay is reasonable.

The city attorney also said that a citywide election of the commission may violate the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits at-large elections that dilute the vote of minorities.

The mayor, Garcia and Robert filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the city's minority community asking a federal judge to clarify the conflict between state law and federal law.

The council will meet again with the city attorney's representatives in future weeks to refine strategy and grounds for contesting the lawsuit, once the city clerk determines whether there are sufficient signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot, Galanter said.

``This is the essence of a moot issue until the petitions have been certified,'' Galanter said.

The verification of the signatures is expected to be complete by Dec. 16, officials said.

Fleming said the council action would not necessarily delay the election if the federal court decides the legal issues are sufficiently clear to rule on quickly.

However, another reform campaign backer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the court case could drag on for months if the council vigorously opposes the mayor's lawsuit.

That would mean that the election of a charter reform commission would not be held when the mayor and many council members will stand for re-election in April.

In addition to voting to mount a defense, several council members told City Attorney representatives in closed session that they believe the initiative petitions should be invalidated, council members said after the meeting.

They said the petitions call for a citywide election, while the mayor and his supporters are now asking a judge to allow an election by council district.

``They failed to notify the people that were signing these petitions that they wanted to have elections by district,'' Holden said, suggesting the petition drive may have to be redone.

Further complicating matters, the council refused Friday to stipulate that the two lead plaintiffs - Garcia and Robert, could be certified as representing the racial classes of Latinos and African-Americans respectively.

Garcia is a vice president for Warner Bros., and Robert is a transportation consultant. Some council members said they are part of the city's power elite and not representative of the broader racial groups.

``The concept that these people are representative of these classes caused vehement reaction,'' one council member said.

Riordan was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment, but a representative of the mayor's initiative campaign, Citizens to Turn L.A. Around, said the council action shows disdain for the 303,000 residents who signed the petitions.

``It is absolutely shocking that in the face of this mandate, the council insists on fighting to delay this election,'' said former deputy mayor Mike Keeley.

Galanter said Riordan was to blame for the mess.

``The mayor of Los Angeles is suing the city of Los Angeles. Let's keep in mind what's going on here,'' Galanter said. ``In effect, they are suing the City Council because they did not write a clear initiative in the first place.''