Homeowners View Riordan Skeptically

Mayor Richard Riordan may have ridden into office on a wave of San Fernando Valley support, but officials from a network of home and property owners groups say they are only cautiously optimistic about their future.

“I think a new broom sweeps clean--he’ll at least be willing to sit down and listen,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, and an officer in the Ventura Boulevard Council, an umbrella group of home and property owners organizations from Woodland Hills to Studio City. “Where it goes from there, I’m not sure.” While homeowners embrace Riordan’s plan to combat crime and graffiti, they have expressed concern over his call to streamline overlapping city services, saying they fear the effect it might have on the ongoing battle over development.

“We are worried that expediting processes could come at the cost of community input and participation,” said Tony Lucente, president of both the Studio City Residents Assn. and the Ventura Boulevard Council. “We hope the mayor understands there is a need for a balanced approach.”

The president of one homeowner group that has been at odds with several developers during his tenure said he is optimistic that Riordan will be fair.

“Even though he is strongly pro-business, I think he will balance the needs of developers and the community,” said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. “But I think the first we’re going to learn is when we start seeing his commission appointments. That’s when we’ll know what he’s about.”

Silver, who has become the leading opponent among homeowners to development along the boulevard, said that although he is hopeful Riordan will be able to balance business and community needs, the homeowners have recourse if he does not.

“We helped put him in office,” Silver said. “And now, we can help him or we can hurt him.’