Public affairs programming could be loser in Adelphia reorganization. (Media & Technology).

When Bill Rosendahl, the public face of Adelphia Communications Corp. in Los Angeles, appeared at City Hall earlier this month to accept an honor for his longtime community service, Councilman Dennis Zine marked the occasion by offering him a bulletproof vest.

The gift was a wry statement about the cable giant's financial woes. But the gesture may turn out to hit closer to home than Zine might have imagined.

As a U.S. bankruptcy judge last week weighed Adelphia's request to hire former AT&T Broadband executives William Schleyer and Ron Cooper to revive the company, there was growing sentiment in and out of the company that the duo could make major changes to Adelphia's local management team.

The fate of Rosendahl, the company's former regional vice president and current vice president of political affairs, was unclear. He hosts a half dozen civic affairs programs, some of which are broadcast to Adelphia subscribers nationwide. Rosendahl's shows, such as "Week in Review" and "Local Talk," have garnered numerous awards and attract some of the biggest names in politics.

Adelphia is the nation's fifth biggest cable company and the largest cable provider in Southern California with 1.2 million subscribers. Most of those are in Los Angeles where the company -- despite an ongoing dispute over late and unpaid fees -- retains contracts for five of the city's 14 franchise areas.

Rosendahl declined to discuss possible management changes in Los Angeles, saying that local executives are concentrating on the task at hand. "What goes on at corporate doesn't matter that much," Rosendahl said. "We are focused on our everyday bread and butter, which is serving our customers."

Lee Perron, regional vice president for Adelphia in Los Angeles, did not return calls seeking comment.

Eric Andrus, a spokesman for Adelphia at the company's headquarters in Coudersport, Pa., said no decisions would be made about the Los Angeles operations until the bankruptcy judge approves a new management team. A ruling could come as soon as this week.

Some inside and outside the company say that employees have begun looking for new jobs in expectation of a shakeup. One competing cable executive noted receiving several calls from Adelphia employees inquiring about openings.

Cooper, who has been tabbed by Adelphia's board to be the company's new president and chief operating officer, visited Los Angeles earlier this month to meet with local management. Those meetings were described as friendly and part of a routine fact-finding tour, but they did little to allay concerns about possible cutbacks.

Adelphia continues to lag behind other cable operators in offering premium services like DSL connections to its subscribers. And the company's bankruptcy proceedings have further delayed upgrades and the rollout of those services in some of the city's most affluent areas, such as Brentwood and Sherman Oaks. "Compared to others like AT&T Comcast, they are behind," said Stacy Bumette, telecom regulatory officer for the city of Los Angeles.

But Adelphia is making progress on the customer service front, according to a report by the city's Information Technology Department.

The report found that Adelphia customers made 258 complaints to the city in the fourth quarter, down from 786 complaints the previous quarter. The improvement was attributed largely to a more efficient phone system implemented by the company.