TIPOFF REPLACING ROMER, HOW CLOSE WILL LAUSD KEEP ITS ENEMY?

Byline: RICK ORLOV

With the announcement by LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer that he wants to leave his job this year, everyone gets a chance to see if the Board of Education has learned any political lessons from the past six months.

The question being posed to them, privately so far, is how they should select a successor and whether they should consult the two most vocal critics of the district - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Controller Laura Chick.

Villaraigosa is expected to soon unveil his plan on how he wants to gain control of the district. And Chick has been poring over boxes filled with audits sent by district officials to try to head off her effort to conduct a separate audit.

Some school board members are said to be adamantly opposed to including either one in the selection process - even as Villaraigosa says he expects to play a role.

However, other officials are urging the board to do what it did when it selected Romer - establish a special panel of a variety of interests that would include Villaraigosa and Chick.

``It's the old adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer,'' one official said. ``If they are involved in the selection of the next superintendent, they might be willing to give us some more time to make changes.''

Former Mayor Richard Riordan re-emerged last week, less than three weeks after undergoing heart bypass surgery, to join with Villaraigosa as a member of his homeland security team.

One thing Riordan said he learned from his experience as mayor was not to rely on the federal government in an emergency.

It was the Northridge Earthquake that became the turning point for Riordan in being recognized for his executive skills and changing his view of city workers, whom he had held in disdain during his campaign and first months in office.

After the earthquake, Riordan said he had developed a new respect for the city staffs and their response throughout the region.

And city workers said they came to appreciate Riordan's little touches - such as providing free meals from his restaurant, The Original Pantry, for several days after the earthquake.

It's raining cats and dogs at City Hall these days.

Councilman Herb Wesson, borrowing from an effort started years ago by county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, has started a biweekly program featuring stray pets available at city shelters.

It is a program he hopes to present at every Friday meeting.

Last Friday, he featured a cat named Skittles from his district and a dog named Ruthie from the neighboring district represented by Councilman Bernard Parks.

Wesson convinced Parks to join him at a podium and pose with Ruthie.

A reluctant Parks walked over but didn't bend to have his picture taken with the canine.

``I don't do dogs,'' he said.

Last week, downtown business and government leaders made much of what they proclaimed as the latest ``renaissance'' of the area.

Prior to a downtown news conference, various business types mingled with reporters and tried to compare notes on how many stories had been written over the years about the downtown renaissance.

Ten or 15, offered one observer.

Too low, said another, noting the only other story written about more often was the return of the National Football League to the Coliseum.

Staff Writer Dan Laidman contributed to this report.

Rick Orlov, [phone]rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com