Riordan Seeds Clouds of Change Over City Hall

A Los Angeles city garbage collector for 13 years, Joe Louis Pallan sees his secure and stable world whirling with the news that Mayor-elect Richard Riordan is about to take charge at City Hall.

“It’s unbelievable this is happening to us,” Pallan said last week as he emerged from a downtown city yard at the end of his shift. Fear is running deep among Pallan and his co-workers about Riordan’s pledge to turn municipal trash pickup over to private firms.

“You want to cry in anger, you know?” Pallan said.

Not far away at City Hall, the switchboard in Mayor Tom Bradley’s office has been besieged with calls for “Mayor Riordan.” Employees politely explain that the new mayor will not take over until July 1, but privately take offense at the premature inquiries. “I get hurt,” said one Bradley worker. “People should show some respect.”

Across the street, in view of the mayor’s suite, a large rooftop sign congratulating the mayor-elect is scheduled to go up next week. The display is the brainchild of a billboard company lobbyist whose fortunes could rise in the new Administration.

Suddenly, the barometric pressure in city government is dipping and clouds of change are gathering everywhere.

Riordan, a hugely successful, 63-year-old venture capitalist, will take office in 18 days with a broad mandate for change, whole new networks of advisers and influence and an arsenal of ideas to alter the culture of city government.

He has vowed to scrape together funds for more police by leasing Los Angeles International Airport, consolidating departments, contracting out basic services, slashing redundant jobs and elected officials’ staff costs and curtailing taxpayer-financed travel. He also wants to bring in many new faces, and try out private-sector management concepts.

“People . . . don’t want business as usual,” Riordan said, summing up the message in his defeat last week of two-term Councilman Michael Woo.

Just how far the Riordan Revolution will get at City Hall is unclear. Power is lopsidedly vested in the liberal-leaning City Council, and politicians often jettison their campaign rhetoric when confronted with the complex realities of governing.

But after 20 years of Bradley rule, nearly all of City Hall--elected officials, department managers, commissioners, employees and lobbyists--is in a state of political and emotional flux as the first Republican mayor in more than 30 years prepares to take the tiller.

“People are expecting change,” said Felicia Marcus, president of Bradley’s Board of Public Works, a full-time body that Riordan has said should go on the chopping block. “Some are embracing it. Others are skeptical of it. But everybody is expectant of change.”

With the election over, Riordan advisers have sought to moderate City Hall fears of abrupt upheaval.

“It would be fair to say that the Riordan Administration does not view this process as having anyone a big loser,” said Dan Blackburn, communications director for the Riordan transition team. “The issue is to do what’s best for the City of Los Angeles. But how each individual or group will be affected by that is not clear at this point.”

UCLA management professor William G. Ouchi, a longtime Riordan adviser and key player on the transition team, said significant change is needed in city government and savings in “huge . . . immense numbers” is possible.

Riordan has maintained that millions can be freed by bidding out the airport, trash collection and street maintenance, and consolidating scattered accounting functions and merging departments, such as planning, transportation, housing and community development to eliminate duplication.

It is that sort of sweeping overhaul that puts Pallan, the trash collector, and other civil servants on edge, despite Riordan’s assurances that he can accomplish his goals without workers losing their jobs. When private firms take over city services, they typically pay workers lower wages.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that he represents the business class more than Mr. Bradley ever did,” said a City Hall security officer, one of many worried about getting pink slips under Riordan.

“He wants to privatize everything and that makes me and a lot of other people scared.”

Ouchi said “a little bit of anticipation” and the threat of competition for jobs can stimulate employees “to think about new ways of doing things”--a healthy development for large, complex organizations.

At the same time, Riordan has learned from his business experience, Ouchi said, that “if you push that too far, (workers) often respond by just hunkering down and holding on to the old ways . . . they just can’t handle the idea of so much change.”

Riordan has sought to allay fears by talking of empowering employees, particularly city managers, and pushing down decision-making authority--an increasingly popular management philosophy.

“It comes down to leadership, where the head person isn’t going to cut somebody’s head off because they make a mistake,” Riordan said last week. “You have to give people the power to make decisions in this city and with that, in effect, forgive them when they make mistakes.”

Changes in City Hall power and perks under a Riordan Administration will mean far more than new organizational charts and management experiments if the mayor-elect delivers on campaign promises.

For example, he has said the spigot of taxpayer money for Bradleyesque globe-trotting will be closed for all but the “most critical” travel.

That is causing heartburn at the semiautonomous Harbor Department, where commissioners, elected officials and bureaucrats racked up hundreds of thousands of air miles each year on city-funded travel.

Harbor Commissioners Floyd Clay and Tosh Terasawa, who have served on various boards for years, said Riordan’s proposed travel cutbacks would be a mistake. Los Angeles would lose lucrative agreements with potential harbor tenants and shipping companies to other ports, they said.

“Whether I am a commissioner, or whoever is a commissioner, you have to go and talk” to potential clients, Clay said. “Because I guarantee you our biggest competitors are making visits.”

A major shake-up of commission appointees, key staff members, informal advisers and lobbyists with prime access also appears likely as Riordan takes power.

Organized labor, which had the run of City Hall under Bradley and cast its lot in with Woo, seems to be one of the bigger losers. (One exception is the Police Protective League, which backed Riordan.)

“For city employees, it will be a disaster,” said county AFL-CIO chief Bill Robertson, whose union includes many of the city’s 44,000 employees. Robertson and other union officials, including labor leader Jim Wood, head of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, have been close Bradley advisers and held commission appointments.

Riordan has said he will reach out to all groups that did not support him. Still, the balance of influence at the mayor’s office is likely to shift more toward key corporate management organizations, such as the venerable Central City Assn.

“I think there will be greater access to Riordan because he is a business person,” said Carol Schatz, the CCA’s lobbyist. “Based on what he said during the campaign and what he has said since being elected, he understands the importance of integrating the business community into the decision-making process--and that’s what has been absent for a long time.”

Also expected to fade from the inner circle of power are a host of perennial Bradley appointees, such as longtime airport Commissioner Johnnie Cochran.

“Not that he did anything wrong,” said businessman Bondie Gambrell, a Democratic fund-raiser and prominent African-American activist. “But like the mayor, he was just there too long . . . I think a lot of heads will roll.”

Bob Burke, Riordan’s political director and a longtime Democratic Party and gay community activist, agreed. “There are a lot of commissioners who have just been recycled and kept on for years,” Burke said.

Dan Garcia, chairman of the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, said Riordan’s Administration is likely to include “people who have not had a lot of experience at City Hall . . . some lawyers, some business people and more people from the (San Fernando) Valley.”

A key link between Riordan and his main voter base in the Valley is likely to be Ben Reznik, a leader of the influential Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., several observers agreed.

“People at VICA will have more power, more clout,” said one City Hall lobbyist.

Also joining the inner circle will be minority entrepreneurs and Riordan associates, such as McDonald’s franchise operator Frank Sanchez and African-American attorney Stan Sanders, both members of the mayor-elect’s transition team.

Riordan’s political ascendancy, as well as that of his minority backers, is churning the leadership of ethnic groups at City Hall.

Urban League President John Mack, who enjoyed lofty status in the Bradley Administration, acknowledged there will be changes in access to the mayor’s office. But he said Riordan “is not going to determine who the leadership of the African-American community is. That’s going to be determined independently of City Hall and the mayor.”

Riordan has said he will stress ethnic diversity at City Hall--but the rise of a wealthy, white Republican to power is causing apprehension among minority city employees, many of whom rose in the barrier-busting Bradley regime.

“It’s the end of a whole era, not just for the mayor’s office, but for the city,” said Marcela Howell, an African-American who is special counselor to the mayor and director of the post-riot Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. “Mayor Bradley brought a lot of new people into government. There’s a big question mark out there about what the new Administration will look like. People are just waiting.”

At the same time, the hierarchy of City Hall lobbyists, dominated by longtime Bradley confidante and Woo campaign adviser Maureen Kindel, also may rearrange itself, observers said.

Several lobbyists and Riordan advisers said the election results are bad news for Kindel and other consultants closely aligned with Woo and Bradley.

“I think (Kindel) is part of the old governing clique of the city that I don’t think Dick Riordan wants,” said one Riordan insider, who asked not to be named. “He will be relying on old associates and people he has known for years.”

Police Protective League President Bill Violante, whose organization backed Riordan after years of battling Bradley, also is expected to join the mayor-elect’s circle of advisers. Violante was on stage with Riordan when he made his election night acceptance speech.

“The Protective League and police officers are going to see tremendous influence at City Hall--like they haven’t had in 20 years,” said lobbyist-public relations consultant Eric Rose. Rose, an adviser to former Chief Daryl F. Gates when he came under fire after the Rodney G. King beating, has conservative credentials and law enforcement ties that could boost his stock in the new Administration.

It was Rose, a lobbyist for the Patrick Media billboard firm, who arranged for the congratulatory Riordan sign to be displayed across from City Hall. He said his firm just wanted to wish Riordan well.

Emotions may be running highest in Bradley’s suite. Workers there know they have to pack up and find new jobs.

“There’s a real mixture of feelings,” said Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani. “A lot of people, including the mayor, are looking forward to the change . . . But there is a lot of sadness. A lot of memories people have had were refreshed by packing boxes.”

Staff members have been briefed on retirement benefits and placement opportunities; farewell gatherings have been held.

“It’s an emotional separation process,” said Rosa M. Martinez, the mayor’s liaison to the Latino community. “It’s hard to see everybody packing up after such a long time. The worst part is that some have found jobs and others, like me, don’t know what they’re going to do.”

In these final days, Martinez has had to answer her own telephone; her assistant already jumped ship.

On the positive side, Martinez said, potential employers are sympathetic. They know, without asking, why she needs a job.

Times staff writers Ted Rohrlich and Marc Lacey contributed to this story.

The Riordan Scorecard

Los Angeles Mayor-elect Richard Riordan, who takes office July 1, has promised bold changes during his Administration. Here is a look at what he has pledged to deliver. The Times will monitor his performance and report every four months on actions taken.

PLEDGE ANALYSIS STAFFING Hire 3,000 more The lynchpin of police officers the plan, with no leasing out LAX, new taxes. faces legal and political uncertainties. Appoint commissioners Can be implemented reflective immediately. of city’s diversity and geography. MONEY Cut mayor and City Council City Council could override. budgets by 20% Travel at personal Can be implemented expense and immediately. work for a $1 a year. SERVICES Contract out Requires City garbage collection Council approval, but promises rejected in past no current because of workers will opposition from lose jobs. minority-group council members and labor. Eliminate Board of Requires City Public Works. Council approval. Consolidate departments Requires City of planning, Council approval. transportation, community development and housing. Meet regularly with Can be implemented the public. immediately. BUSINESS Sell government Requires City bonds to provide Council approval. capital to attract high-tech firms to L.A. Require processing Implementation of environmental began under impact reports for Mayor Tom Bradley’s building projects Administration but within a year. but faces funding problems if more staff is required.

Sources: Riordan campaign literature, interviews and public remarks

Riordan Taps 6 to Aid Transition

Mayor-elect Richard Riordan on Saturday named six people to help his newly selected transition team pick potential commissioners, decide on staff members for the mayor’s office and set priorties. They are:

* Jadine Nielsen, executive director

* Ted Stein, policy adviser

* Kim Wardlaw, governmental liaison

* Dan Blackburn, communications director

* Charles Bakaly III, counsel to the transition staff

* Gary Mendoza, counsel to the transition staff

Riordan will replace Mayor Tom Bradley, who is stepping down after 20 years in City Hall, on July 1.