FEDS CHAT WITH AIDE TO VILLARAIGOSA COMMUNICATION DISCUSSED; NONPROFITS GET TERROR GRANTS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

A White House official called Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top aide to discuss better communication on Friday, the day after city leaders accused President George W. Bush of blindsiding them with the disclosure of new terror threat details.

Speaking at a Westside synagogue, where he and federal officials announced $3.75 million in homeland security grants to nonprofit groups, Villaraigosa said his chief of staff, Robin Kramer, had received a call from Ruben Barrales, the White House intergovernmental affairs chief.

``It was very positive,'' Villaraigosa said. ``The important thing here as I said is we need direct communication.''

A White House spokesman declined to comment on the conversation.

Villaraigosa complained Thursday that he hadn't been notified in advance that Bush would be releasing details of a foiled 2002 plot to attack a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper.

But federal officials contend they notified the Los Angeles Police Department that Bush would be talking about the thwarted al-Qaida plan, and that the state Homeland Security agency told the mayor's office.

California Homeland Security Director Matt Bettenhausen called Villaraigosa a strong partner at their joint appearance on Friday, but he said he thought the threat information had been disseminated appropriately.

Villaraigosa denied suggestions that he had overreacted, contrasting the multiple layers of notification Thursday with another terror threat incident in September.

``When there was an al-Qaida threat that referenced Los Angeles, I was immediately called directly by (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary (Michael) Chertoff at my home and had an extensive conversation so I knew all the details of what was going to be said the next day,'' he said.

``All the city of Los Angeles is requesting - this isn't a personal thing - is that we have that kind of direct relationship in these times.''

Councilman Jack Weiss, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, echoed the mayor's concerns.

``One reason I was surprised at the White House's failure yesterday was I would have hoped they would have learned the lesson from (Hurricane) Katrina about how important it is to have personal, regular contact with the chief executives of our cities,'' Weiss said.

In his Thursday address to the National Guard Association of the United States, Bush said terrorists planned to hijack a plane using shoe bombs and fly it into the Library Tower - since renamed the US Bank Tower - as part of a campaign against symbols of Western ``economic might.''

In addition to such high-profile economic and military targets, terrorists have shown domestically and abroad that they are also going after ``soft targets,'' Bettenhausen said.

``The idea of bombing nonprofits and religious organizations is nothing new, unfortunately,'' he said.

As part of that new strategy, the Department of Homeland Security provided California $5.1 million in grants for nonprofit security, with most going to organizations in Los Angeles.

Almost 30 groups - including the Sherman Oaks Health System, Chabad of the Valley Inc. and Valley Beth Shalom - will receive between $15,000 and $100,000 each.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com