The Cities' Struggle For Hearts And Minds They Are Fighting To Persuade A Largely Suburban Electorate That They're Worth Saving.

This time last year, with the acrid smoke of the Los Angeles riots still heavy in the air, Congress coughed up $1 billion in emergency urban aid, half for summer jobs that might reduce the potential for unrest in cities across the country.

Philadelphia received an extra $6 million, enough to more than double the number of teenagers who got minimum-wage work through the Private Industry Council (PIC).

Twelve months later, with no fire this time to illuminate the continuing distress in American cities, mayors and community activists wait in frustration as Congress wrangles over the federal budget, whittling away at aid for urban areas.

President Clinton's $16 billion stimulus package, at least half of which would have gone to unemployment benefits, community block grants and summer jobs, was derided by Republican senators as mere "pork" for big-city mayors. The bill was killed in April by a filibuster.

Since then, efforts to restore money for summer jobs and other urban programs have sputtered: House proposals to increase spending for the cities have been cut in the Senate version. Final spending levels will be worked out in conference committee.

U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Foglietta, a Philadelphia Democrat who is chairman of the House Urban Caucus, sounded weary in a telephone interview last week after several days of haggling over budget and tax bills.

"It's a sad commentary on the whole status of the philosophy of this country. They're just telling the cities to go to hell," he said. "It's extremely frustrating."

Patricia E. Irving, president of Philadelphia's PIC, shares Foglietta's frustration. City schools will recess for the summer on Wednesday. At least 25 percent of the 43,000 students over the age of 14 would meet the federal poverty guidelines to qualify for jobs under her program. Several thousand more qualify who are not in the school system.

But right now, she has funding to provide only about 8,000 jobs. Last year, as a result of the eleventh-hour emergency aid, Irving put 11,073 young people to work.

Mayor Rendell had been elated at Clinton's proposed stimulus package, which would have sent $67 million to Philadelphia for community development projects, SEPTA and summer youth employment.

He said he was "bitterly disappointed" when it was shot down by the filibuster, a sentiment that was shared by other big-city chief executives who gathered last week in New York for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.