POLITICS GET BACK TO BASICS SMALL VENUES THE STUFF OF EARLY MAYORAL CAMPAIGNING.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

ENCINO - It is here, in a room like the multipurpose auditorium at the Encino Community Center and similar ones across the city, that the next race for mayor might well be decided.

On one recent night - one of those mild, sultry late summer evenings after a day of soaring heat - that three of the top six candidates in the race honed their message in an event that uniquely marks the American democracy.

It is a rite of passage that all political candidates must go through, from school board to president, in town halls, debates and forums that could as easily be held here or in Ames, Iowa.

On this occasion, it is Councilman Joel Wachs and Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa, joined later by Parks Commissioner Steve Soboroff, appealing to some 100 members of the Encino Property Owners Association in what has been an intense two-week series of appearances by the mayoral candidates.

Wachs, a 30-year veteran of city politics, is blunt and populist in his appeal to the group, a mix of new homeowners and veterans of the Proposition 13-wars of 1978.

``Next April, you have the opportunity, for the first time in more than three decades, to elect a Valley mayor,'' said Wachs, a Studio City resident and one-time Republican who changed his affiliation to independent in his 1993 run for mayor to appeal to Democrats and independent voters.

``Do you know what a Valley mayor means? It means a mayor who appoints an Airport Commission that will do something about noise at Van Nuys Airport and have a curfew on nonemergency helicopters.

``It means a mayor who will appoint a (Department of Water and Power) Commission that will not allow your toilet water to go into your taps. It means a mayor who will put teachers over billionaire sports owners. Think of the difference of a Valley mayor.''

Villaraigosa is no less appealing in his remarks.

``I was born in Los Angeles,'' Villaraigosa said. ``My grandfather came here in 1906. When I grew up, I never dreamed I would one day be a member of the California state Legislature. I never dreamed I would one day be speaker of the Assembly.''

Yet, now, he said he sees the city as facing a leadership crisis, despite its prosperity overcoming the recession of eight years ago, despite the drop in crime and fear from that period.

``The city is adrift,'' Villaraigosa tells the crowd, relating his efforts as speaker to reduce partisan divisions in Sacramento. ``It is time for the city to have leadership from someone who can build consensus.''

And, Soboroff, the least known of the major candidates, comes in and tells the crowd of his accomplishments as parks commissioner in creating parks advisory boards and in solving problems.

``You talk about neighborhood councils? I've done them,'' Soboroff said, referring to himself as the ``dot-to-dot'' or ``can-do'' guy who gets projects started and completed.

As the forum goes on for another hour, it is still somewhat disappointing to both the candidates and the crowd.

Not present are City Attorney James Hahn or Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles. Also missing is state Controller Kathleen Connell, who less than 24 hours later would announce her candidacy for mayor.

Without a full field, there is little media attention. No television cameras show up to record who could possibly be the city's next chief executive.

It seems to be a deliberate strategy on the parts of those who do not appear. After all, it is one of hundreds of sessions they have already held - in living rooms, at parks and playgrounds, at community events and homeowner meetings - and hundreds more to be staged before next April's election to winnow the field to two candidates.

The candidates themselves are already familiar with their opponents' positions and arguments and they show a mutual respect, in some cases a genuine appreciation and liking of each other.

At one forum at Occidental College, a boisterous Wachs accidentally knocked his chair over when he stood to speak. Villaraigosa, at the opposite end of the table, walked behind the candidates to straighten it for his opponent.

During other sessions, the candidates join the audience in applauding one point or another of their opponent.

The reason for so many appearances so early is term limits.

``I don't remember a time when so many events have been held so early,'' said Rob Glushon, an attorney and longtime local political activist who served on the Elected Charter Reform Commission and is now on the city's Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, overseeing development of a system of neighborhood councils.

For the 1993 mayoral election - the last time there was an opening, when Mayor Tom Bradley announced his retirement - the first public event was held in the December before the election.

Wachs said he values the community meetings and they are important to his campaign as a way to connect to voters.

``My campaign is really based on reaching people at the neighborhood level and not based on glitzy television commercials,'' Wachs said. ``These meetings offer an in-depth way to let people get to know you and judge you differently from television ads.''

But behind the scenes of these meetings, there is a reality of what will be needed to win this election - money.

Even with all the events being held, the candidates can expect to speak directly to perhaps 10,000 voters, at most. That's 10,000 out of the 1.3 million registered voters in the nation's second-largest city.

And, if half of those do turn out to vote, it will take millions of dollars to get a message to them in the mail and on television.

With six major candidates all expected to hit the maximum in matching funds, that means some $18 million will be spent by next April. And, it could grow higher if Soboroff, as expected, uses his own wealth to finance his campaign as well as the possibility of Connell also using her own money.