Riordan Seeks Spotlight on Eve of Trip to Capital

First there was the breakfast with fellow multimillionaire Steve Forbes to announce that his magazine had picked Los Angeles for its annual confab of the nation’s top business chiefs.

Then came word from the White House that President Clinton would be joining today’s Washington document-signing ceremony for a local $1.9-billion rail and truck corridor.

For Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Thursday opened opportunities for two turns on the national stage. And that’s just the beginning: the Republican mayor’s stint in the capital--today through Monday night--also will include talks with some top Democrats, a session with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a round of inaugural parties with his First Friend, Nancy Daly.

Not bad for a guy whose profile is usually so low that Newsweek magazine left him off its list last fall of “25 Mayors to Watch.�

The Washington lineup includes the photo op with the president and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena that Riordan will share with Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill. They will be signing documents for a $400-million federal loan to complete the financing on the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile project to speed freight from the two cities’ harbors to rail transfer yards near downtown Los Angeles.

“It will mean thousands of quality jobs for Angelenos, and it will secure Southern California’s place as the country’s international trade hub,� Riordan said.

Then there’s the meeting with House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and the reception for Housing and Urban Development’s outgoing secretary, Henry Cisneros, and his successor, Andrew Cuomo. Both were instrumental in helping launch the Los Angeles Community Development Bank after the city was passed over for a lucrative “empowerment zone� designation in 1994. Riordan said he has arranged to speak with Vice President Al Gore as well, and will wrap up his day over dinner with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

“The Republicans will all be out of town,� Riordan volunteered in an interview, lest someone think he was snubbing (or being snubbed by) the members of his own party.

The topics on the table include the city’s dispute with federal transportation officials over the city’s use of revenues from Los Angeles International Airport, the issues that have threatened federal funds for the troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the federal grant program enabling cities to hire more police.

It’s important because “so many things they do back there affect us and the other big cities,� Riordan said of his intention to increase his visibility in Washington.

On Saturday, when he joins Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley at a U.S. Conference of Mayors public education breakfast, Riordan will get to dwell on school reform. That is a topic he has long been interested in and, as he gears up for a reelection challenge from Democratic state Sen. Tom Hayden this spring, he has signaled that he plans to increase his involvement in education issues.

Riordan recently signed up as a senior policy advisor Helen Bernstein, the reform-minded former president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, and he said Thursday that he plans to issue a position paper on education in about a month.

“There have to be consequences for those in the system who fail to educate our children,� said Riordan, who has long advocated giving individual schools more decision-making power and holding them accountable for poor student achievement.

Even before leaving town Thursday, Riordan got to rub shoulders with a national political figure--publisher and former GOP presidential contender Forbes. Forbes was in town to promote (and sell ads for) his magazine’s special Los Angeles supplement this September and to address a luncheon meeting of the city’s Town Hall public affairs forum.

But his appearance with Riordan at a Century Plaza hotel breakfast was just the entrepreneur-turned-mayor’s cup of coffee. Forbes will hold its annual CEO Forum here in June.

Riordan sees the conference, attended by people who make decisions about whether to move corporate headquarters and where to build offices and outlets, as a golden way to market the city.

“The Forbes CEO Forum provides a great opportunity to showcase Los Angeles to the foremost business leaders in the nation,� Riordan said to the roomful of area business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Times political writer Cathleen Decker contributed to this story.