THE TIMES POLL : Riordan Rates Favorably With 45% of Citizens

Four months into office, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has made a favorable impression on the public, with city residents approving of his performance by more than 2 to 1, according to The Times Poll.

The poll provides the first citywide snapshot of Riordan’s leadership and shows him rated positively across ethnic groups and geographic areas of the city, although many Angelenos are either reserving judgment or not paying much attention to the mayor.

Overall, 45% of respondents in the poll said they approved of Riordan’s handling of his job, whereas 17% disapproved and 38% said they did not know.

Comparable ratings for previous mayors at this stage in office are not available. Former Mayor Tom Bradley’s approval ratings climbed to more than 70% after the 1984 Summer Olympics and plummeted as low as 33% in the post-riot period.

“(Riordan) is off to a good start,” said John Brennan, director of The Times Poll. “His support at this point is very broad, but it’s embryonic.”

The poll was conducted Oct. 22 to 24 in the wake of the verdicts involving two men accused of beating trucker Reginald O. Denny and after Riordan received extensive media coverage of his proposal to add thousands of LAPD officers to the streets over the next five years. The Times interviewed 1,279 adults citywide, and the poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points. Margins of error are somewhat higher for some subgroups.

As much as anything, the poll results probably reflect the fact that Riordan has not yet faced major decisions or crises that can quickly harden and divide public opinion, said Herbert Alexander, a USC political science professor who studies local government.

“He really hasn’t been tested in the crucible of a tough issue,” Alexander said. “It takes events . . . something dramatic to impinge on people’s consciousness. But his negatives are not high, so while maybe he’s not done anything notable, he hasn’t made any big boo-boos.”

The poll preceded the devastating Southern California fires, which raged mostly outside the city limits. Riordan adopted a high profile, conducting a helicopter tour of burned areas and holding news conferences--one of which led to an apology after the mayor acknowledged some of his comments were insensitive to firefighters and victims from other cities.

Riordan’s critics tend to express impatience with the pace of change under the new mayor, interviews with poll respondents show. But among those who approve of Riordan’s performance, he is getting credit for trying to address the crime problem and appearing to foster a new climate of cooperation at City Hall.

Kenneth Toombs, 32, a Sherman Oaks management consultant, was glad to see Riordan’s proposal for a massive police buildup, despite the absence of any detailed funding plan. “At least we’re on to the next step,” he said. “Rather than worrying about whether we should have more cops, we’re now down to paying for it and getting police trained and on the streets.”

Toombs also said Riordan seems to have “formed something of (a) coalition with the police chief, the fire chief and other members of city government. If nothing else, it gives you a sense that there’s some cohesion . . . some common purpose and focus.”

Albert Young, 54, a disabled mechanic in South-Central Los Angeles, said he is still waiting for signs of physical improvement in his area, but he too is encouraged by images of cooperation he sees between Riordan and Police Chief Willie L. Williams. “It makes me feel better,” he said. “And it seems somebody’s done something. The police are getting friendlier; they are beginning to talk, they pass by and they wave.”

Indeed, approval of the LAPD’s performance has continued to climb, and its negative ratings have fallen sharply, the poll found. Sixty-one percent of respondents in the latest survey said the department is doing a good job, up from a low of 34% following the beating of Rodney G. King.

The LAPD’s rating has improved steadily since the arrival of the new police chief, Williams, whose popularity continues to soar. The latest poll shows Williams’ job approval rating has climbed to 72%, a steady rise from a 52% positive rating shortly after he took over the beleaguered LAPD in the summer of 1992.

The poll suggests that Riordan’s initial heavy emphasis on building up the police force, criticized by some as defining too narrow a vision for the new Administration, is in sync with residents’ concerns. The percentage of Angelenos who cite crime as the city’s most important problem has jumped from 27% a year ago to 50%, the highest such reading in at least 2 1/2 years.

The latest findings underscore the strategic importance of Riordan’s new public alliance with the LAPD chief, as the mayor seeks to rally public support for his enormously costly police expansion plan.

The new poll also gives a measure of the attitudes of the city’s adults as a whole, rather than the skewed universe of campaign and election polls that focus on the city’s registered voters, who are predominantly Anglo. As a result, it more closely reflects the progress Riordan is making--and the challenges he faces--as he shifts into governing a sprawling, diverse metropolis.

Like the voter coalition that carried him to office, Riordan’s strongest support continues to be among Anglos, Republicans and residents of the San Fernando Valley, where his approval ratings ranged from 55% to 58%, the poll found. Many liberals and Democrats also support the mayor.

The mayor has more work to do in Latino and African-American communities, and the central and southern areas of the city, where his negative and undecided ratings are higher.

Even so, Brennan said, Riordan did notably well among blacks, who overwhelmingly supported his opponent in the June election, former Councilman Michael Woo. Forty percent of black respondents approved of Riordan’s performance and only 19% disapproved. Forty-one percent said they didn’t know how the mayor is handling his job.

Young, the disabled mechanic, is African-American and generally encouraged by what he sees. “From the looks of it, (Riordan) is trying to get together with the community,” he said.

The Rev. Cecil L. (Chip) Murray, a prominent voice in South-Central Los Angeles, said he senses blacks are willing to give Riordan the benefit of the doubt, partly because he has promised to improve public safety. In addition, he has demonstrated a concern for the community’s social ills through past charitable work with education and youth programs, he said. “At this tick of the watch, he has the balance of optimism,” he said.

Among Latinos, the city’s largest and most politically underrepresented ethnic group, 34% of respondents approved of Riordan’s performance. Nearly a quarter disapproved and 42% said they did not know.

Esther Diaz, 61, of East Los Angeles said she “may be judging too rashly” but is disappointed that Riordan has not moved more swiftly and dramatically to turn the tide of drugs and violence infecting neighborhoods like hers. “I don’t think we have accomplished anything this far,” she said. “I want to see what he can do about stopping crime that’s on the street so openly.”

THE TIMES POLL: Rating City Hall and the LAPD

Four months after he took office, nearly half of Los Angeles residents approve of the way Mayor Richard Riordan is handling his job. Only about one in six disapprove. A sizable minority still cannot rate the new mayor. By contrast, in Tom Bradley’s final months in office, more disapproved than approved of his job performance. Los Angeles Chief of Police Willie L. Williams’ popularity has increased since he took office, and the Los Angeles Police Department’s job approval rating has risen since the Rodney G. King beating in March, 1991, and riots last year.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Richard Riordan/Tom Bradley is handling his job as mayor of the city of Los Angeles? Riordan / Oct. ’93 Approve: 45% Disapprove: 17% Don’t know: 38% Bradley / Late May ’93 Approve: 38% Disapprove: 50% Don’t know: 12% *

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Willie L. Williams is handling his job as police chief of Los Angeles?

Oct. ’93 Feb. ’93 Oct. ’92 Approve 72% 67% 52% Disapprove 13% 9% 4% Don’t know 15% 24% 44%

*

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Los Angeles Police Department is handling its job? March ’88 Early March ‘91, King Beating Late March ’91 April ’91 July ‘91, Christopher Commission Report Early May ’92 Riots Late May ’92 Chief Williams takes office (June 26) Oct. ’92 Feb. ’93 King Beating Guilty Verdicts Oct. ‘93, Denny Beating Verdicts Source: Los Angeles Times polls of the residents in the city of Los Angeles. The most recently conducted poll surveyed 1,276 adults citywide Oct. 22-24, 1993. The margin of sampling error is plus 3 percentage points.