Republican Joins Double-Duty Commentator Ranks : Television: KCOP says Xavier Hermosillo’s mayoral appointment poses no conflict of interest in his on-air role as counterpoint to Democrat Bill Press.

Xavier Hermosillo, the latest KCOP-TV Channel 13 commentator to wear more than one hat, will remain on the air after his appointment by Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to the Fire Commission.

Hermosillo and News Director Jeff Wald say there won’t be any conflicts with the dual roles.

“Xavier has mainly been doing social commentary, and I see absolutely no problem in allowing him to continue,” Wald said. “I would think he would stay away from anything having to do with the Fire Department.”

Hermosillo is promising not to pull any punches in possible commentaries about Riordan.

“If I believe the mayor does something that is out of step with what I think is best, I will mention it,” Hermosillo said. “Anybody who knows me knows that I speak my mind freely and openly, even to the point of offending people. I have always been a straight shooter and call it the way it is.”

Earlier this month, a Hermosillo commentary criticized groups that had attacked Riordan for not including enough minorities in his early appointments. Hermosillo said he had not applied for a commissionership before doing that commentary.

News organizations traditionally bar their reporters from involvement in government or political affairs to avoid charges of possible conflict of interest. Rules for commentators, who do not face the same standards of objectivity as reporters, are less restrictive, although KNXT-TV (now KCBS) Channel 2 barred Bill Stout from commenting on the governor’s race in 1978 after his wife accepted a position on the Republican nominee’s staff.

Roger Bell, news director at KABC-TV Channel 7, said he “wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that (Hermosillo is) a bad commentator because he serves the mayor of Los Angeles.

“As long as the audience has been told that, if he’s going to talk about a mayoral issue, then we all know where he’s coming from,” Bell said. “Viewers are smarter than a lot of the experts believe. They see through the opinion and make up their own minds.”

Hermosillo, who operates a San Pedro public relations business, has given commentaries on the station’s Thursday newscasts since May. He is part of the station’s effort to offer a Republican viewpoint after commentator Bill Press’ election in April as Democratic Party state chairman and given the presence of a Democrat in the White House for the first time in 12 years.

(KCOP has been criticized by news executives at rival stations, California Republican Party Chairman Tirso del Junco and officials of the Riordan campaign for allowing Press to stay on the air since being elected party chairman. Press himself is also a commissioner, an appointee by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman to the County Commission on Insurance.)

A onetime sports reporter for two South Bay newspapers, Hermosillo later served as a news writer for KFWB-AM (980). In 1987, he was a leader in what turned out to be a failed attempt to lure the Raiders football team from the Coliseum to Irwindale at a time when Riordan was a member of the Coliseum Commission.

Hermosillo has drawn fire from black leaders on several occasions, most notably when he opposed efforts to close down riot reconstruction sites that did not employ African-Americans. Hermosillo objected because many of the projects were providing jobs for Latinos.

Hermosillo is also involved in electoral politics. He unsuccessfully sought a seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees this spring and is the state chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.