Mayor’s Still Mum: Leadership’s Loss : So now Proposition 187 comes along and Riordan says nothing. When I punched the spot next to his name, I expected better.

Bill Hughes of Newhall writes:

Shame on you! Have you forgotten that the mayor has the right to a secret ballot just as you and I have? He is free to share how he is going to vote or not share how he is going to vote. And when you resort to calling him “chicken” you remind me of a little kid who hasn’t gotten his way. . . .

Here it is Election Day, and I still haven’t gotten my way. Or at least I don’t think so.

By my deadline Monday, Mayor Richard Riordan, to my sincere chagrin, still hadn’t announced a position on Proposition 187, the most important and volatile issue on today’s ballot. Not a peep since my column last week urging him to take a stand. Maybe I should have held my breath until I turned blue.

Mr. Hughes apparently doesn’t think so. He says that it was childish of me to suggest that Hizzoner, by dodging 187, is exhibiting all the moral courage of a candidate from Zacky Farms. Well, I can live with that. He’s chicken and I’m childish.

But actually, many people seem to share my dismay, if not my disgust. As I mentioned Sunday, the Riordan column has generated plenty of reaction. Mr. Hughes, in fact, was the first person to defend the mayor’s silence on 187.

No, Mr. Hughes, I haven’t forgotten that Mayor Riordan has the right to remain silent, but it seems to me that Mayor Riordan has forgotten his responsibility to lead. The mayor is acting like a criminal suspect exercising his Miranda rights, knowing that anything he might say can and will be used against him in the court of public opinion.

All I’m saying, as emphatically as I can, is that the mayor is wrong to exercise that right--that he has a duty to speak out on the important matters of the day. He is wrong because we didn’t elect him to sit on the sidelines when confronted with an issue that has sowed such anger and suspicion.

He is wrong because many people--especially those still wrestling with how they’ll cast their ballots today--were hoping to find something helpful in the opinion of the mayor of America’s No. 1 destination for immigrants. They agree that it’s odd that Mayor Riordan would endorse Wilson for governor, Feinstein for senator and None-of-Your-Business on Proposition 187.

Perhaps I should check the wires. Perhaps, as I type these words, the mayor is faxing a press release, unequivocally endorsing Proposition 187--or denouncing it. Please hold on--it will just take a second. . . .

Nope. All I found on the city wire at 5:41 p.m. Monday was some stories marked Simpson, Fleiss, Reagan, box office, honeymoon murder and satanic abuse. Nothing on Riordan or Proposition 187. The state wire is similar but also has something about an I. Magnin lawsuit, a tribal riot and a Navy sex investigation.

Wouldn’t you rather read a story about Mayor Riordan’s bold last-minute declaration on 187?

Some people, like Mr. Hughes, may think I’m making too much of Riordan’s silence, but I voted for the man, figuring he was the best candidate to heal our riot-torn city. I was part of that small percentage of voters who opted for Mike Woo in the general election and switched to Riordan in the runoff.

I remember my reasoning well. The thought of a non-traditional politician appealed to me, as did the thought of a hardheaded businessman. But I also grew increasingly offended by the message from the Woo camp that a city as diverse as Los Angeles should be led by a member of a minority group. The implicit suggestion that a white guy--that is, my kind--simply wouldn’t do, annoyed me. Such racial rhetoric can widen the divides in our city; Riordan was reaching out to broaden his appeal.

So now Proposition 187 comes along and Riordan says nothing. When I punched the spot next to his name, I expected better.

And when Proposition 187 came up, I expected him to do as Sheriff Sherman Block, LAPD Chief Willie Williams, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and City Atty. James Hahn have done. They say Proposition 187 would do far more harm than good. Riordan could have followed the lead of other Republicans of national standing, such as former Education Secretary William Bennett and former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, who summoned the courage to just say no.

Tonight, I expect the vote tallies to show that Proposition 187 will win, but I don’t expect Los Angeles to erupt in flames.

But if there’s trouble, I do hope the mayor loses plenty of sleep.