Riordan Emerges as Election’s Big Victor

Tuesday’s Los Angeles municipal elections produced an undisputed winner in Mayor Richard Riordan, as well as a clear set of losers--foremost among them, the Los Angeles City Council and its allies in organized labor.

Riordan not only held off the council and its self-funded campaign to beat charter reform, but he also saw his chosen candidate for the council’s 14th District seat, Deputy Dist. Atty. Nick Pacheco, sweep to victory against Victor Griego, who had money and droves of volunteers supplied by local unions.

The victory by Riordan-backed Genethia Hayes for the school board completed his successful overthrow of that much-criticized body.

And his victory in the fight for charter reform--an idea hatched during his first term, fueled by his determination to give the San Fernando Valley a reason to stay with the rest of Los Angeles--rounded out the mayor’s self-proclaimed “year of reform,” 12 months that secure his place in the history of the city he has governed since 1993.

Appearing at a news conference Wednesday morning, Riordan beamed. “Wow!” he said as he entered a room brimming with reporters and television cameras.

After citing the benchmarks of Los Angeles’ progress in recent years--especially its drop in crime and booming economy--Riordan added: “The sweetest victory came last night when the voters said ‘yes’ to charter reform. . . . They said ‘yes’ to reform. They said ‘no’ to the status quo.”

Riordan’s friends and advisors were similarly jubilant.

“Few people, if any, in the history of Los Angeles have accomplished so much,” said lawyer Bill Wardlaw, who is Riordan’s closest confidant and who helped coordinate the campaigns. “His legacy is secure and extremely significant.”

But from the same results that saw Riordan sweep to victory in every campaign Tuesday night also arises a question: Having dramatically transformed Los Angeles’ political landscape, is Riordan now nearing the end of his run?

The very tools that brought Riordan to office and that he has so effectively employed in recent years--strong popularity with voters, an unrivaled ability to raise money and a willingness, even eagerness, to challenge City Hall by taking his case directly to the electorate--may become less relevant in his administration’s final two years.

Political Allegiances Come Into Play

One reason is that the issues now facing the Riordan administration--from securing expansion of Los Angeles International Airport to implementing the charter that voters resoundingly passed--are not ones where the electorate can logically be tapped for support. Rather, they are insider games, where a premium will be placed on political allegiances and City Hall relationships.

Those are Riordan’s weakest spots, and adversaries are lining up to take advantage of them in the coming two years. Councilwoman Ruth Galanter already has been dogging the mayor’s vision for the airport, joined by a growing coalition of local officials from across the region.

The campaign to secure a football team for Los Angeles has made great strides but is struggling with the final obstacles imposed by the National Football League.

And charter reform, though successful at the ballot box, now enters a lower-profile but still vital phase: the enactment of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ordinances needed to implement the document.

As Riordan said Wednesday: “Implementation is 98% of it.”

One key question in securing the charter’s implementation is how the council will act now that voters have registered their support for the document. For most council members, there is evidence that their constituents would not take kindly to blocking the charter’s progress. On the other hand, term limits mean that most council members will not be seeking reelection.

Tuesday’s elections revealed broad-based enthusiasm for the new charter, which won in 11 out of 15 council districts. It did best on the well-to-do Westside, but also fared well on the Eastside and in the San Fernando Valley, carrying every council district in those areas.

It did not pass in the three districts represented on the council by African Americans, and it lost, though narrowly, in the Harbor area. The representative for that district, Rudy Svorinich Jr., appeared at Riordan’s news conference Wednesday, standing to one side with a jar of olives. Riordan finally called on him, and Svorinich presented the mayor with the olives--a store-bought substitute for the traditional symbol of conciliation, the olive branch.

While Riordan pretended to hunt for a bottle of gin to make use of Svorinich’s gift, the councilman pledged cooperation with the effort to implement the charter whose passage he opposed.

“The people have spoken,” he said.

Council President John Ferraro, who provided most of the financial support for the campaign to defeat the charter, was less overtly conciliatory. But he issued a statement announcing that he was appointing a special committee to oversee implementation.

“There is a great deal of work to be done,” Ferraro said.

Enabling Measures Must Be Approved

Erwin Chemerinsky and George Kieffer, who headed the elected and appointed charter commissions, expressed confidence that the council, despite its opposition to the final document, would work hand-in-hand with the mayor’s office toward implementing the charter. Those two leaders noted that council members had cooperated in drafting the charter before ultimately deciding to oppose the document, and both men said they hoped the document’s passage would usher in a return of that civility.

Although slogging through scores of enabling ordinances is hardly the thing Riordan does best, he does have some important advantages that he may be able to exploit in the coming months.

First is the issue of public awareness. As Councilman Joel Wachs, a charter supporter, said Wednesday: “Any council member who refuses the will of the people will face the will of the people.”

Then there is Riordan’s staff. The mayor has seen significant turnover in his staff in recent years, and not long ago lost his aides with the most council experience, Deputy Mayor Stephanie Bradfield and Chief of Staff Robin Kramer.

But although Riordan is not a master of detail, his new chief of staff, Kelly Martin, is. A lawyer who sometimes angers council members and their staffs, Martin is at her best in handling highly detailed matters. As a result, some Riordan supporters believe the charter implementation will play to Martin’s strengths.

In addition, Riordan has assigned his chief counsel, Theresa Patzakis, to act as the lead overseer--what Riordan likes to call the “owner”--of charter implementation for his office. Patzakis has been Riordan’s point person on the charter for nearly two years and is one of his most trusted aides, positioning her to play a forceful role in the coming debate.

What may be most helpful to charter reform backers is that the shifting dynamics of Los Angeles City Hall have created a broad group of enthusiasts for the document, including one of tremendous importance: City Atty. James K. Hahn. Hahn supported the charter and was one of its most influential proponents.

Now that the charter has passed, Hahn’s office has the job of drafting the ordinances that will give the document life. Although Hahn and Riordan have often disagreed in the past, they now have a deep common interest. For where Riordan saw charter reform as an important opportunity to strengthen the management authority of the mayor’s office, Hahn sees himself as the city’s next mayor.

That gives Hahn the highly unusual opportunity to supervise the drafting of ordinances that will structure the duties of an office that he very well may inhabit in two years. Hahn has already formed a special group within his office to draft the necessary ordinances and begin sending them along to the council for approval.

“This is a charter that gives the mayor’s office the lead in shaping policy in the city,” Hahn said Tuesday night as election returns poured in. “The mayor is going to be held accountable for how this city is run.”

That’s music to the ears of Riordan backers who championed the charter and now want to see it fully implemented.

“Let’s face it,” one of those supporters said Wednesday. “Jim Hahn is more affected by this than Dick Riordan. He’s a new player, and he’s right where he’s needed.”

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Charter Victory

The new Los Angeles City Charter won an overwhelming mandate Tuesday, not only carrying the city as a whole but also winning in 11 of 15 council districts.

* SCHOOL BOARD

Genethia Hayes’ defeat of Barbara Boudreaux raised spirits on the Board of Education. B1

* COUNCIL RACES

Nick Pacheco and Alex Padilla represent the city’s next generation of Latino leaders. B1

* ELECTION TABLES. B5