Mayor’s Valley Liaison Hopes to Recreate Feeling of Earlier L.A.

Cecilia Aguilera, the mayor’s new liaison to the San Fernando Valley, envisions an office that will establish strong ties with community-based groups, residents and council offices. She worked on Mayor Richard Riordan’s election campaign and assumed her position in late August.

She fended off critics who assume her appointment is tied to her husband’s business relationship with the mayor. Jeffrey L. Glassman, Aguilera’s husband, is a principal in Riordan & McKinzie, the law firm the mayor founded.

She succeeds City Councilman Richard Alacron, who used the office as a jumping-off point for elected office.

This is the first public-sector job for the 35-year-old Sherman Oaks resident. She said she took the position to help recreate the type of environment she knew growing up in the city.

Aguilera holds a law degree from UCLA and previously worked as a property management executive for a Los Angeles-based firm.

She was interviewed by staff writer Chip Johnson.

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Question: What are your responsibilities?

Answer: As an area representative, my biggest responsibility, my mission, actually, is to go out and create and develop strong working ties with each of the council districts. The San Fernando Valley has seven council districts represented--four that are entirely in the San Fernando Valley and three that have portions in the San Fernando Valley.

I’ve made contact with their field offices and have met all of their field deputies and met their staff in City Hall. A lot of times when the constituents call us, or they come to us with a concern, it’s something that they’ve possibly already approached the council office about, or where they will be best served first approaching the council office and then working with the mayor’s office too.

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Q: So constituents have a choice?

A: We want to eliminate picking the office that suits you best, because, really, the function of the council office is to serve the constituents who are located within their boundaries. The function of the mayor’s office is to make sure that constituents are taken care of.

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Q: Are you the person who would exert pressure through the mayor’s office or at least let council offices know that there are constituents complaining?

A: Where there are bigger issues, they will always end up coming to the mayor’s office. In those cases, what I do is call the office that is affected and ask them, “Have you been contacted by such and such constituent, and are you aware of this concern?” Sometimes they’re not even aware of it.

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Q: Have you begun to field these calls?

A: Oh, it started from Day One. Customer service, or servicing a constituent, starts from the day you walk in. I think that what happens over time is you are able to go through the request or the concern or the challenge presented by each of the constituents a little bit faster. But you’re hit with it right from the starting line.

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Q: Are there any recurring themes that you are hearing from residents?

A: I think that we have a concern, and it’s citywide, but it’s certainly very eloquently put forth by the Valley residents, about crime. I mean public safety is a No. 1 concern, and I’m certain that led to the mayor’s election and his current popularity among the residents. It has their attention. They want public safety.

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Q: Did you hear about that on the first day?

A: From the very first day. It still faces me. Every day I go out I speak with different community groups, community leaders. It’s been helpful, and people are willing to share information, and it’s been very rewarding to find people whose common goal is to restore Los Angeles to its former glory. I think that that’s a common goal.

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Q: Is that possible?

A: I believe it’s possible, or I wouldn’t be working for this administration. That’s the goal of this administration.

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Q: You think Los Angeles can be the way it was in the 1950s or ‘60s?

A: Well, we do understand that the city has progressed. We’ve got an enormous population that’s grown immensely. But we can restore the feeling that you had for the city of Los Angeles. I was born in the later ‘50s, but I remember my childhood. I was born and grew up in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles was a wonderful, great place to be. I have children now, and I feel that I want to bring them up here, but I want to bring them up in a city that’s safe.

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Q: What about the issue of more police officers on the street?

A: Residents want to see more police officers on the street, but at the same time Valley residents are telling me they want to see more police officers, they’re telling me they are very happy with the success of community-based policing.

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Q: Are you saying people feel safe walking outside their homes at night?

A: No, I’m not saying that. What I want to make people understand is that community-based policing has started to lead to that feeling that you can take back your streets, that you are not a victim. That’s what I hear in people’s voices. There is a feeling that each individual is empowered and no longer has to be a victim. Don’t get me wrong. We are understaffed and we don’t have enough officers for a city the size of Los Angeles.

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Q: What would be the impact of more police in the Valley?

A: It is the belief of citizens citywide that if you have a greater police presence, it will deter crime. I think it’s the perception of public safety. Everyone has to feel like they have access to the Police Department, and currently people don’t feel like that.

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Q: Why did you want this job?

A: I guess because I had come to a place in my own life where I thought, OK, I’ve worked my whole life in the private sector, I think it’s time to go out into the public sector. I guess I see myself as being able to assist in the change that I want to see in Los Angeles. It’s a challenge, and it’s something that I was ready for in my life.

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Q: You have said that some communities aren’t as vocal as others. How do you reach those people?

A: I have found that to a certain extent there are language barriers that keep people from coming forth and asking for assistance. I’m very fortunate to be fluent in Spanish, and though we need many more languages, Spanish has been useful.

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Q: You didn’t use your maiden name Aguilera before accepting this job. Is that right?

A: No, my married name is Glassman. I had a hyphenated name. I used to go by Cecilia Aguilera-Guthrie, which became Aguilera-Gut, Aguilera-Guth--I can’t tell you how many names it became because it never fits into a computer once you have over a certain number of letters. When I got married for the second time, I decided I’m not going to have the hyphen because every time there is a hyphen you end up with these strange names.

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Q: Was there a flap over the name change?

A: Actually, no one made a flap over it. It was an interesting little thing. As I told the reporter who asked me, you can call me Cecilia, you can call me Cecilia Aguilera, you can call me by my full name, and I will respond to all these names and do the same things.