LATINO, JEWISH LEADERS FORGE TIES; ALARCON-KATZ CONFLICT SPARKS QUEST FOR UNITY.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

With tension still high in the Alarcon-Katz state Senate race, leaders of the Jewish and Latino communities from throughout Los Angeles met Thursday in an effort to head off the potential for broader racial conflict.

``It was an ad hoc group of representatives of about 30 different organizations involved in the community and we resolved to not let this cause divisions,'' said David Abel, editor of the Planning Report.

``We agreed to work to keep things in their proper perspective and we will wait and see what happens in the election and if there will be a recount.''

Among those involved in the session were the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, MALDEF, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation Council.

The ad hoc group met for two hours at the downtown Central Library in a hastily arranged meeting to discuss the fallout from the battle between Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz.

``We came to a consensus that these kinds of frank conversations are needed to prevent a ripple effect in the community,'' Abel said.

``We are going to meet on a regular basis, and are particularly looking before the November election, to see what issues are developing.''

Despite widespread predictions of racial conflict in a bitter race pitting a Latino against a Jewish politician, the campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 20th state Senate District in the San Fernando Valley remained reasonably high-minded until the closing days.

At that time, powerful Eastside Democrat state Sen. Richard Polanco sent out a racially charged mailer linking Katz to Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and anti-Latino activities by Orange County Republicans in 1988.

In fact, Katz was appointed by Democrats to file a legal action against the Republicans and won a major settlement that went to help register Latino voters.

The vote turned out to be one of the closest in state history, with Alarcon eventually prevailing by just 29 votes, and tensions between the two candidates have risen.

Alarcon has since apologized for the mailing, which was developed by his campaign consultant, but Katz has rejected it as insincere.

With a decision by Katz near on whether to have a recount, aides continued to spar Thursday at the county Registrar-Recorder's Office in Norwalk, where Katz was reviewing ballots to determine if a recount might be successful.

At one point, Katz aides asked for deputy sheriffs to be brought in to prevent the Alarcon representatives from intruding on their work. Registrar Conny McCormack stepped in and calmed the situation down.