Riordan, Chief Appear Cordial Together but Fallout Persists

Making an effort to get back to business as usual, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Willie L. Williams made some cordial joint appearances Thursday, but there were signs it will be a long time before City Hall can put the recent reprimand controversy behind it.

Riordan and Williams began their day with the first in a planned series of biweekly meetings with LAPD command staff, then, trailed by reporters and TV news crews closely monitoring their demeanors, appeared together at two public functions.

Smiling and exchanging pleasantries, the mayor and chief sat shoulder to shoulder at the head table during a Los Angeles Women Police Officers’ Assn. luncheon. It was their first joint public appearance since the City Council on Tuesday overturned the Riordan Administration’s reprimand of the chief for allegedly lying to the Police Commission about getting free hotel accommodations in Las Vegas. Williams angrily denied that he had lied and appealed to the City Council, which, eager to end the controversy, quickly overturned the reprimand without looking at the record.

But while Riordan and Williams were chuckling politely at the luncheon emcee’s joking reference to the dispute and giving joint interviews during the grand opening of a multicultural service center for the LAPD’s Rampart Division, Riordan’s staff was scrambling to distance him from remarks by the mayor’s top deputy.

The day before, Chief of Staff William Ouchi, addressing a breakfast meeting of a business association, speculated that some council members dropped the reprimand because they did not want anyone looking into their own gambling activities. The Daily News reported the remarks in Thursday’s edition, and Deputy Mayor Robin Kramer and Riordan’s press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez, started telephoning council members to apologize.

“What you have is a council . . . acutely aware of the warning that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. I think council members were all too aware of their own glass houses,” Ouchi was quoted as saying.

Ouchi was not available for comment, but several council members said they got calls from Rodriguez or Kramer offering apologies and disavowing the remarks, saying they were inappropriate and did not reflect the mayor’s views.

There were other signs that the reprimand fallout is still echoing at City Hall. A City Council debate, scheduled for today, on Riordan’s controversial request to replace Leslie Song Winner on the Fire Commission was abruptly canceled, touching off speculation that the mayor wanted to avoid the possibility of losing a second showdown in less than a week. Councilman Marvin Braude, who chairs the committee that was to take up the Winner matter, could not be reached for comment. Rodriguez, the mayor’s press secretary, said she did not know whether the mayor’s office requested the postponement.

And there was privately expressed suspicion from some quarters over the mayor’s naming LAPD Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker to head the city’s effort in a high-profile AIDS fund-raiser. Some of Williams’ supporters took that as a snub to the chief. They believe that Riordan wants the chief to leave and is positioning Kroeker as Williams’ eventual successor, allegations the mayor’s office has denied.

Rodriguez said the decision to make Kroeker head of the city’s part in AIDS Walk Los Angeles was made weeks ago, adding that people were reading too much significance into the choice.

Acknowledging the tensions surrounding the reprimand controversy, Rodriguez said, “There are connections being made that don’t exist.”

There even was a sight gag. At a press conference, Police Protective League President Cliff Ruff wore a tie with playing cards, dice and slot machine fruits, quipping: “I borrowed this from the chief.”

Times staff writers Hugo Martin and John M. Glionna contributed to this story.