DECISION'S IMPACT ON REGION UNCLEAR.

Byline: Lee Condon and Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writers

Los Angeles County government has an extensive system of affirmative action programs, but so far county officials say it's unclear what changes, if any, need to be made under Prop. 209.

The city of Los Angeles maintained Monday that there will be no fallout from the Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal against the initiative because the city already has eliminated gender and racial preferences. Cal State Northridge officials say their campus, by its nature, is already racially diverse.

Many voters expected that all affirmative action programs would be eliminated under the proposition, which bans race or gender preferences in hiring and college admissions.

But county officials say it's not that simple.

With the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to hear a challenge against the proposition, the only thing that appears certain is the prospect for a continued legal battle.

If the affirmative action programs are changed, supporters of affirmative action will sue. If the programs are not changed, Proposition 209 supporters will sue.

``You're either violating the constitution by discriminating against women and minorities or violating 209 by having an affirmative action plan,'' said Karl Manheim, a professor of law at Loyola Law School who worked on the appeal against the proposition. ``You're damned if you do, damned if you don't.''

John Hill, director of the county's Affirmative Action Compliance Office, said he is not making any changes until directed to do so by the Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors are waiting for an opinion from the County Counsel's Office, which is evaluating what changes, if any, need to be made.

Since 1976, the county has set goals and timetables for the hiring of minorities and women in all of its departments. However, the county does not set aside a specific number of jobs to be filled by minorities or give jobs to anyone who is unqualified just because of their race or gender, Hill said.

Much of the county's program may be protected because of a provision in Proposition 209 allowing government agencies to keep affirmative action programs if eliminating them would jeopardize access to federal funds. Since most departments receive federal money, Hill said those hiring programs may be protected.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, a Proposition 209 supporter, said the county should concentrate on aggressive outreach programs designed to hire and contract with minorities and women rather than rely on affirmative action programs.

``(The) decision repealed the arbitrary and discriminatory quota system. When you quota someone in, you quota someone out,'' Antonovich said.

Los Angeles officials said they do not expect to be affected by the ruling, since the city's only hiring policies with goals are the result of federal court-ordered consent decrees or already meet guidelines in not affording preferences.

However, a special task force is being convened by City Attorney Jim Hahn on Thursday to review the decision and make a final determination on whether any city policies have to be changed.

``In our contracts, we meet the terms of the Supreme Court's previous rulings in not having set-asides,'' said Assistant City Attorney Chris Wetshoff. ``What the court ruled is that you have to show a good faith effort and that's what we do.''

What that means is contractors are required to follow a series of steps to make an outreach to minority and women businesses for any subcontracts that are issued. This includes advertising, written notices and contact with placement organizations, among other steps.

The only places where there are specific goals are in the federal consent decrees for the Police and Fire departments.

Under the terms of that, hiring in both departments is to reflect the ethnic populations in the city.

Rich Mason, general counsel for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the system wouldn't be greatly impacted with the court's action.

``We don't have race-based hiring,'' Mason said.

However, the district's system of education commissions, which serve as liaisons between the board and the Latino-American, American Indian and African-American communities, may be in jeopardy, Mason said.

``It's definitely an issue, but we have not resolved what the impact will be with respect to the commissions,'' Mason said.

Proposition 209 will not affect Cal State Northridge, which has no affirmative action recruitment programs for admissions or hiring.

Because the university is required by law to accept the top one-third of graduating high school seniors, the student body has a high ethnic diversity, said spokeswoman Carmen Ramos Chandler.

About 38 percent of the school's 27,000 graduate and undergraduate students are non-Latino whites, Chandler said.

At UCLA, officials already had started to dismantle affirmative action programs in admissions.

Other programs targeting students of particular races or genders also have been eliminated or are being reviewed to find out if they are banned under Proposition 209, UCLA officials said.

The full impact of the end of racial preferences in admissions will be felt in fall 1998, with the arrival of the first wave of undergraduate students to be admitted without regard to race.

``Minority groups still tend to be in the lower tier of those admitted,'' he said.