WAKEUP CALLS LEAVE AREA VOTERS CRANKY.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Good morning. It's 6:45 a.m. and this is your wakeup call from Mayor Richard Riordan.

That wasn't the actual telephone call that greeted more than 100 San Fernando Valley residents early Monday morning, but the effect was the same.

Due to an oversight, automated calls featuring Riordan's voice endorsing city attorney candidate Rocky Delgadillo went to about 500 homes starting at 6:45 a.m., and about 125 people answered their ringing phones, officials said.

The election was a week ago. Delgadillo, a deputy mayor, finished second among four candidates, and he will be in a June 5 runoff against Councilman Mike Feuer.

Red-faced campaign officials offered an apology Monday to people awakened by the calls, which they said were the result of an error by a vendor, LSG Strategies in Washington, D.C.

``We offer our apologies to every voter who received a call today,'' said Kristina Scott, communications director for the campaign.

``It was a mistake on the part of an outside vendor, and we did not intend to disturb anybody's morning. The work of the campaign is to tell Rocky's story in a way which attracts support, not in a way that angers or annoys people.''

She said the campaign office received at least 20 complaints about the calls. Voters said they were shocked to be awakened by a political campaign.

``I got a call, and we were sound asleep,'' said an 85-year-old Sherman Oaks woman who asked that her name not be published. ``I don't like hanging up on anybody - I've done it three times in my life - but I slammed the receiver. I really was irritated.''

The Riordan message was recorded on election eve, April 9, for an automated telephone campaign that evening. LSG spokesman Mark Sump said the computer was not purged after those calls and the system started up again automatically when its clock reached its ``default'' setting of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.