MAYOR VEERS ON VALLEY PULLOUT : RIORDAN SAYS HIS CALL FOR AMENDMENT ALLOWING CITYWIDE VOTE WAS `A MISTAKE'.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy and Mark Katches Daily News Staff Writers

For weeks, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan wouldn't say where he stood on a bill to make it easier for the San Fernando Valley to secede from the city.

Then on Thursday, after the state Assembly approved the legislation, Riordan's office finally issued a statement: He said the bill should not move forward unless it was amended to allow the entire city to vote on Valley secession. Riordan himself repeated that stand Friday morning to reporters.

On Friday afternoon, it was back to square one: Riordan said his aides erred in issuing Thursday's statement and that he would not press for any amendment to AB 2043.

``I did not say that,'' Riordan said of an amendment to allow a citywide vote. ``That was a mistake.''

This issue, it seems, is so politically sensitive that the Mayor's Office is having a little trouble figuring out exactly where it stands on the bill, which is now headed for the state Senate for consideration.

A statement issued by Riordan's staff Friday did little to clarify things.

The statement said the mayor is ``supportive of the right of Los Angeles residents to choose their own destiny. However, I am personally opposed to the splintering of our great city.''

So, does Riordan support the bill - which deals not with secession itself, but with Valley residents' ability to make a decision without the threat of veto by the City Council - or doesn't he?

Riordan would not discuss the issue further Friday, but spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez said he does support the legislation.

``He supports the bill from the standpoint (that) it gives people the ability to have power over their destiny,'' Rodriguez said.

Earlier Friday, Riordan said he wouldn't campaign for or against the bill.

``I have not been involved in it and as of this moment I don't intend to,'' Riordan said. ``I think people should have the right to self-determination, but I am not going to lobby for or against it.''

But the mayor's statement of neutrality was questioned by aides to Sen. Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward.

Lockyer's chief policy analyst, Patricia Wynne, said she was called April 17 by Greg Dawley, Riordan's assistant chief of staff, on AB 2043.

``(Dawley) told me that the mayor wanted to talk to Sen. Lockyer about the bill, and that the mayor was opposed to the bill,'' Wynne said.

The short phone call was placed the same day the bill, by Assemblywoman Paula Boland, R-Granada Hills, was scheduled for its first hearing in the Assembly Local Government Committee.

Rodriguez, the mayor's spokeswoman, said Dawley was questioned Friday about the claim - and denied that he lobbied against the bill.

``He did not,'' Rodriguez said. ``Our staff members call Sacramento to find the status of things and what's going on, but that was the extent of it.''

A Lockyer spokesman said Wynne stood by her account.

Over the past two days, Riordan's statements on the bill - or those attributed to him by aides - have been at times contradictory.

Just hours before the Assembly vote, Riordan said in an interview that ``I have no problems with the bill.''

Once the vote was cast in the Assembly, however, his office issued a statement saying he wanted the bill changed so that the entire city - and not just Valley residents - would vote on any secession drive.

On Friday morning, Riordan himself told reporters that he thought there should be a citywide vote.

``I think it is a total city project and I think that when you are looking at the health of the city, it should be determined by the whole people of the city,'' Riordan told reporters in the morning.

But a few hours later, he said he would not push to see the bill amended.

``I do not object at all,'' Riordan said. ``I think people should have the right to self-determination but I am not going to lobby for or against it.''

That led Riordan aides to release a clarifying statement attributed to the mayor.

``One of the fundamental principles of democracy is that everyone has the right to participate in major decisions affecting their community,'' the statement said. ``I am supportive of the right of Los Angeles residents to choose their own destiny. However, I am personally opposed to the splintering of our great city.''

In saying that ``everyone has the right to participate in major decisions affecting their community,'' was Riordan suggesting that the whole city should be allowed to vote on any secession drive?

No, Rodriguez said, telling a reporter that Riordan believes that the Valley should be able to vote by itself on secession.

Boland said she was troubled by Riordan's apparent waffling.

``That's very unfortunate,'' Boland said. ``I always believe that we need to be consistent in politics, whatever it is. We need to be consistent with who and what we are.''

Supporters of the Boland bill oppose any amendment requiring a citywide vote, saying that could kill a Valley secession drive.

Riordan is running for re-election next year, and political analysts say the Valley vote could be critical to Riordan in 1997, as it was in 1993.

Secession could become an issue in the mayoral race.

Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, is weighing both a challenge against Riordan and his position on the Boland bill.

Hayden has said he is leaning against the bill, but he plans to hold a town hall meeting in the Valley with Boland next month to allow residents to express their views on a possible Valley secession.

One political analyst noted that with the Valley secession bill, Hayden has an opportunity to distinguish himself from Riordan.

``When you run against an incumbent, you define issues that will delineate you from him,'' said Claremont College political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. ``You have to set up some kind of comparison. This is an issue that could well embarrass the mayor with his own political base.''

WHAT THE MAYOR SAID

Mayor Richard Riordan and his aides have issued contradictory statements on a bill to make it easier for the Valley to secede from Los Angeles. Here is a brief chronology:

THURSDAY MORNING: ``I have no problems with the bill,'' Riordan said in an interview.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON: In a released statement, Riordan said, ``The measure should be amended to require that all city voters have the right and opportunity to vote on this matter.''

FRIDAY MORNING: ``I think it is a total city project and I think that when you are looking at the health of the city it should be determined by the whole people of the city,'' Riordan told reporters.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: ``I do not object at all (to the bill),'' Riordan said in an interview. ``I think people should have the right to self-determination . . . ''

LATER FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Riordan aides release a statement saying, ``Everyone has the right to participate in major decisions affecting their community.'' But the statement does not clarify whether Riordan means that the whole city, or just the Valley, should vote on secession.

FRIDAY EVENING: Spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez said Riordan now believes that the whole city should not have to vote on secession.

Stay tuned.

MEMO: This story was reported by Mark Katches in Sacramento and Patrick McGreevy in Los Angeles.

CAPTION(S):

Box

Box: WHAT THE MAYOR SAID (see text)