DEBATE STIRS OVER MEDIATOR IN CHIEF'S DISPUTE.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

As the Los Angeles Police Commission interviewed candidates for interim police chief Tuesday, a retired judge continued mediating Chief Willie L. Williams' dispute over his severance pay.

The judge was chosen over former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who headed the commission that bore his name and recommended a series of sweeping police reforms in the wake of the Los Angeles riots in 1992.

Williams' attorneys had rejected Christopher as mediator because of concerns about his impartiality. This latest controversy erupted as the Police Commission interviewed five finalists to become interim chief.

``We will need an interim chief because Chief Williams said he wants somebody appointed who will work alongside him,'' said commission President Ray Fisher. ``He's going to leave certainly by the first week of July, and we probably won't have a permanent chief selected by then.

``We narrowed things down a bit today.''

Efforts to settle the severance-pay dispute herald Williams' departure as chief, after the commission denied his reappointment for a second five-year term.

Some Los Angeles City Council members said they don't know why Mayor Richard Riordan has appointed a mediator. The council recently voted to reject a proposed $366,000 severance package for Williams.

``I am a little bit puzzled what exactly this is all about,'' said Councilwoman Laura Chick. ``The council's vote in my mind was a very clear turning down of a compensation package, so I'm not sure what a mediator does here.''

Sources say Christopher was Riordan's first choice to serve as mediator, and Christopher had voiced a willingness to take on the role, but Williams' attorneys did not approve of the selection.

Christopher did not return calls for comment.

``He was willing to step in,'' said one high-ranking city official, who requested anonymity.

Peter Ostroff, an attorney for the chief, declined to comment on specific talks about a mediator but said he was satisfied with the selection of retired Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard ``Skip'' Byrne.

``We have a very distinguished judge, whom I have full confidence in,'' Ostroff said.

Supporters of Williams said Christopher damaged his appearance of impartiality when he twice publicly supported the Police Commission's authority to decide whether to reappoint the chief.

Christopher's work on the Christopher Commission included recommendations for how to decide the police chief's tenure. He had said he issued his statements not to take sides, but rather to show confidence that the reforms were working as intended.

Councilmen Mark Ridley-Thomas and Nate Holden said Christopher's statements raised questions about his impartiality.

``He's already chosen sides,'' Holden said.

``He had already committed himself, and one of the cardinal rules of mediation is impartiality, so he effectively disqualified himself,'' Ridley-Thomas said.