PEROT WITHDRAWAL BEST FOR PARTY, LAMM SAYS.

Byline: Lori Stahl Dallas Morning News

Ross Perot should get out of the presidential race or his new Reform Party could be ``destroyed altogether'' by a lack of ``candor and accountability,'' rival Richard Lamm charged in written remarks released Monday.

In an opinion article written before Sunday's convention in Long Beach, Lamm made his strongest statements yet about Perot's leadership style.

``The same skills which Perot used to build his business empire are not the ones with which to grow a political party,'' Lamm wrote in the article submitted to the Dallas Morning News. ``In fact, if Perot continues to run the Reform Party as a business it could be destroyed altogether.''

Perot spokeswoman Sharon Holman dismissed Lamm's comments and said voters would decide whether they want Perot as their nominee.

``It's time for Governor Lamm to get away from the criticism of the process and get back to the issues, which is what this party is all about,'' she said.

Lamm's article illustrated his frustration as he challenges Perot for the party's presidential nomination. Members are voting by mail, telephone and computer this week; results will be announced Sunday in Valley Forge, Pa., at the second session of the convention.

Lamm credited Perot with creating a viable third political party.

``Ross, we salute you!'' he said. But he also called on party members to ``pass the torch'' to him as they cast ballots this week.

In his article, which was released to a Morning News reporter, Lamm said: ``The Republican and Democratic parties have given us good reason to be cynical about our political system. It would be a tragedy if the voters become equally soured on independent politics should the Reform Party prove to be nothing more than the same old egoism and back-room deals.''

He concluded, ``Not for my sake, Ross, but for America's - pass the torch and let your new creation get out of your shadow.''

The party has been bankrolled almost completely by Perot, who has spent at least $6.2 million to organize it.

That has led to some frustration for Lamm, who has repeatedly criticized party leaders for withholding some membership data and Perot for refusing to debate him.

Holman ticked off a list of things Reform Party officials have done to ensure Lamm fair access to party resources, including pursuing lawsuits with some states that will not permit a substitution for Perot on the ballot.

In other developments reported by The New York Times on Monday, there were signs that voting for the party's presidential nominee could be marred by the same kinds of complaints of undelivered mail ballots that surfaced during the party's makeshift primary. In July, those complaints led the Lamm camp to question the efficiency and integrity of the mail-in candidate preference survey used to certify Perot and Lamm as candidates.

Ted Muga, the San Diego County Reform Party chairman and a Lamm supporter, said he personally knew 10 people who had not received the mail ballots for selecting the presidential nominee. Based on telephone conversations with people ``up and down the coast,'' Muga said party members elsewhere in California had not received them. ``Many other people are getting two or three,'' he said. ``That's quite common. Our daughter got two.''

San Diego County is home to about 22,000 Reform Party members, Muga said. ``You have to be somewhat tolerant of what is happening even though I am a Lamm supporter,'' he said, given the difficulty of building a national party overnight.