RIORDAN REACHES OUT TO VALLEY : MAYOR WOOS VOTERS ON DAYLONG TRIP.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

In what could be a preview of his upcoming re-election campaign, Mayor Richard Riordan stumped across the San Fernando Valley on a six-stop blitz Wednesday that took him from a Realtors breakfast in Studio City to an after-school program in North Hills.

The mayor also visited senior citizens in Woodland Hills, debated students at Cal State Northridge and talked with police boosters in Mission Hills.

Throughout the day, he promoted the idea that Los Angeles - and specifically the Valley - is better off today than it was three years ago when he was elected.

``The Valley is a great place to live, to work and to raise a family,'' Riordan told more than 300 business and political leaders at a breakfast meeting of the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors.

``All of you believe as I do that the Valley has a glorious past and an incredible future,'' the mayor added in a speech that he described as a ``love note to the Valley.''

The mayor acknowledged later that the Valley is key to his re-election next year, and mayoral aides could not recall the last time the mayor devoted a full business day to a Valley visit.

At almost every stop, Riordan reminded his audiences that he has boosted the police force from 7,400 to 8,900 officers but that his plan to build the force further and to impose tougher curfew enforcement is threatened by City Council skepticism of his budget.

Realtors' board President John Muquar introduced Riordan to a standing ovation, saying Riordan ``is a mayor who has shown caring and concern for the needs of the Valley.''

The Valley's treatment by City Hall has been revived as an issue with a bill by Assemblywoman Paula Boland, R-Granada Hills, that would make it easier for the Valley to secede from Los Angeles.

Riordan acknowledged that it is important for him and other officials to show the Valley that it matters.

``I think the mayor and the city government have got to continuously do a better job of servicing the Valley,'' he said. ``I'm proud of what we've done. We have to keep going farther and farther to make sure the Valley gets its fair share of city services.''

Valley-based political consultant Paul Clarke said Riordan will have to pay more attention to the Valley, which played a key role in Riordan's election in 1993, in the run-up to next April's mayoral primary.

The Valley supported Riordan by a 3-1 margin three years ago.

``Over the last three years there has been some erosion of support,'' said Clarke, a Northridge resident. ``I think he can get it back but he has to do some work in the Valley.''

Former Tarzana Chamber of Commerce President Pat Zicarelli referred to that challenge during his invocation at the Realtors breakfast, when Zicarelli said some critics would claim it was a ``miracle'' that ``the mayor has come to the Valley.''

Riordan said later that his presence in the Valley is not unusual but that in the past he had not publicized many of his Valley appearances. He also said he has begun clustering his appearances together geographically, which may have him spending longer periods in one part of the city or another.

``What we are doing is making all of the places I go to public, which we didn't do in the past,'' he said.

Mayoral spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez said Riordan, who lives in Brentwood, has attended 65 events north of Mulholland Drive in the past six months.

``And that doesn't include his meetings with Valley people here at City Hall,'' she added.

However, Riordan aides could not recall the last time the mayor spent an entire day in the Valley such as the nine-hour visit Wednesday.

Clarke said Riordan may not have difficulty with his re-election if no serious challengers emerge. State Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, has filed papers to raise funds for the race, and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, said he is considering a mayoral bid, but so far neither has formally declared.

In a contested race, Clarke said Riordan's greatest problem with Valley voters will be a ``gap in expectation'' between what Riordan promised and what he has delivered.

That was clear on the second stop of his Valley tour Wednesday, when he visited Noah's Bagels in Sherman Oaks to praise owner Noah Alper for investing in the opening of several shops in Los Angeles.

Alper praised Riordan's staff for expediting permits. But nearby, Encino resident Leslie Steinman said she hasn't noticed a lot of change since Riordan took office.

``I don't see a big difference,'' she said. ``I see as many places going out of (business) as businesses coming in.''

At the afternoon session with 50 residents of the Foothill Division, Riordan and the police generally were praised by the activists present, including Ray Jackson of Pacoima.

``The whole relationship between the community and the police is better,'' Jackson told the mayor and Los Angeles Police Department brass who were present.

But when he asked them for suggestions on how the city can better serve them, he was flooded with requests.

Students suggested metal detectors and uniforms would make schools safer, while a Sylmar resident urged the mayor not to go ahead with a plan to take funds for weed abatement from community-based organizations.

Others said more jobs are needed in the Valley for young people and some teachers told the mayor the LAPD should send more officers into the schools to interact with students.

Along with a meeting with senior citizens in Woodland Hills and elementary school students and their mothers in North Hills, Riordan took his campaign to Cal State Northridge, where he addressed a 50-student class on ``Los Angeles: Past, Present, Future.''

Wearing a dark business suit, Riordan stood out in a class of young people wearing shorts, T-shirts and sandals.

The mayor told the students that he believes the Northridge Earthquake was the turning point for the city, getting people to become more involved in improving their city.

``Los Angeles is in a great renaissance,'' he told the students. ``As you go through the city you see a restored confidence.''

Sociology major Richard Burns asked Riordan if he was ever going to take a position on the California Civil Rights Initiative, which would outlaw preferential hiring programs.

Riordan said he has not taken a position because to do so would further divide the city.

He likened the CCRI to Proposition 187, the ballot measure that denies government services to illegal immigrants. At the same time, Riordan said he opposed quotas.

Burns said the mayor appeared to be offering contradictory answers: ``It seems like he wants to play both sides.''

THE MAYOR'S DAY IN THE VALLEY

Mayor Richard Riordan had a full day in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday:

8:15 a.m.: Riordan made a pitch for his budget and warned against secessionism in a speech to 250 members of the San Fernando Valley Association of Realtors at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.

9:10 a.m.: Riordan snacked on bagels and coffee with Noah Alper of Noah's Bagels in Sherman Oaks, touring the 5-month-old shop and praising Alper for contributing to the Los Angeles economy by opening a chain of stores in the city.

10 a.m.: Riordan held a private meeting with senior citizens at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills.

Noon: Riordan spoke to a class at Cal State Northridge.

2 p.m.: Riordan talked about his highest priority - public safety - in a visit in Mission Hills with officers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department's Community Police Advisory Councils from the Foothill Division.

3:30 p.m.: Riordan met with students and their mothers in a visit to Langdon Avenue Elementary School in North Hills, where he toured a computer lab and touted his LEARN school reform program. The mayor also helped students serve tea and cookies to their mothers during a pre-Mother's Day tea party.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

PHOTO (1 -- color) Mayor Richard Riordan addressedpupils at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday during his six-stop visit around the Valley.

(2 -- color) A class of 50 students talked to the mayor about the area's history and future.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News

Box: The mayor's day in the valley (see text)