Female Workers at City Hall Praise Chick

One day after Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick accused some of her male colleagues of perpetuating a sexist environment, female workers at City Hall on Friday praised Chick for “breaking the code of silence.”

Anne Dunn, assistant executive director for the city’s Commission on the Status of Women, said she expects that having a high-ranking city official such as Chick speak out on sexism will make other female workers more comfortable in discussing the problem.

Chick, who made the remarks Thursday during a luncheon honoring female police officers, said she received 30 to 40 congratulatory calls Friday from constituents and some female city workers who have felt uneasy about discussing sexism in the workplace.

She and other council members were inundated with requests for interviews.

“I was surprised by the reaction,” Chick said. “I’m hopeful that it will have a long-term impact” in increasing the sensitivity of men at City Hall.

Chick lashed out at sexism in City Hall, calling it the “most sexist, good-old-boys work environment” that she’s ever been in. In an interview, she accused some of her male colleagues of passing around “dirty pictures and dirty cartoons” and making off-color jokes during council meetings.

Chick, who represents portions of the west San Fernando Valley, is one of four women on the 15-member City Council.

Judith Hirshberg, a longtime city worker who is now a deputy for Councilman Marvin Braude, was one of the women who praised Chick on Friday for her comments.

“Maybe it’s a wake-up call for some of our friends of the other gender who don’t understand what is going on,” she said, adding that her own boss, Braude, is not guilty of sexist behavior.

In recent years, charges of sexism in the police and fire departments, among others, has focused attention on gender conflicts in the workplace. But Chick’s comments were the first allegations that the problem extended to the city’s elected leaders.

Chick suggested all council members be required to take “gender sensitivity” training, similar to courses given to top police and Fire Department administrators.

In response to Chick’s charges, Mayor Richard Riordan said: “There is no room for that kind of activity anywhere, and if it’s happening in City Hall and in the council chambers, we should be looking at it.”