RIORDAN BARS COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM JOINING NEWS CONFERENCE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Mayor Richard Riordan shut five City Council members out of his news conference Wednesday on the LAPD scandal and then ordered the microphone shut off when they barged in after it was over.

One member said Riordan's actions bordered on creating a ``constitutional crisis''; another said his actions were a declaration of war.

At one point, council members pounded on the door in frustration and Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said they were threatened with arrest.

Riordan dismissed their complaints: ``I think they were just being childish. Most of them don't come to the events I invite them to.''

Added Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez: ``This certainly was a historic day in Los Angeles because these council members have never before shown an interest in what the mayor has to say.''

The incident is the latest in the long-simmering dispute between the mayor and the council.

Seconds after Riordan concluded his news conference strongly supporting Police Chief Bernard C. Parks in his eighth-floor media room at City Hall, the five council members rushed in to protest keeping them out of the event.

Councilwoman Rita Walters, who at barely 5 feet tall is the shortest council member, had a door shut on her foot and arm as she attempted to slip through, members said.

``I think this is outrageous,'' Goldberg said. ``It is absolutely essential we have a dialogue with the mayor on how to deal with this. He is entitled to have his press conferences but to say we're not entitled to hear what he says is an outrage.''

Councilwoman Laura Chick added: ``This is symbolic of this administration and its desire to control the flow of information.''

After Riordan spoke and as council members were trying to speak to the news media, the mayor ordered aides to shut off a device known as a mult-box that allows television and radio reporters to plug into an outlet to record what is said.

``They are entitled to have their news conferences in their own conference room,'' Rodriguez said, referring to the council's own press facilities outside its third-floor chambers. ``Space is very tight in this (mayor's) conference room and we barely had space for the reporters.''

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, a longtime foe of the mayor, declared the impasse ``bordered on a constitutional crisis.''

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the fifth member of the group, said the problems facing the city because of Rampart are the most serious it has had in years and required a unified front.

``The point is local government does not operate as effectively as it should without forthright communication,'' Ridley-Thomas said. ``The point here is to have the mayor and council work collectively and collaboratively.''

Asked how the public can have confidence in city leaders being able to solve problems with so much acrimony, Walters said: ``He declared war on us.''