Ferraro Retains Reins on Council; Wachs Is Pro Tem : Politics: Valley member achieves leadership position after liberal bloc’s failure to gain a more powerful role.

John Ferraro easily won election Wednesday to his fifth consecutive term as Los Angeles City Council president, but it took a sharply divided council three ballots to award its second leadership post to veteran San Fernando Valley lawmaker Joel Wachs.

The election put two white males generally friendly to Mayor Richard Riordan’s Administration at the helm of a 15-member City Council that has three black, three Latino and four women members and has proved itself at times to be independent of the mayor.

“Most of the city and the council doesn’t look like this anymore,” said Councilwoman Ruth Galanter of the Ferraro-Wachs team. But as more than one observer noted, Ferraro has long been the only member who can bridge the gaps between the council’s factions.

The presidency gives Ferraro the power to shape City Hall’s agenda through appointments to the council’s working committees and to act as chief executive when the mayor is absent or disabled.

Ferraro, a 71-year-old moderate Democrat with an easygoing style, was elected after one ballot. He has served on the council since 1966.

But it took Wachs, a surprise candidate, three ballots to secure the post of president pro tem. He finally won nine votes, compared to six for Councilman Mike Hernandez, the last of four candidates for the job. Wachs, 56, has served on the council since 1971.

The voting for the pro tem post became the focus of bitter fighting after the failure of a liberal-progressive bloc’s bid to wrest the presidency away from Ferraro.

Led by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the faction sought to install Councilman Marvin Braude, a member with liberal credentials, in the top spot. They complained that Ferraro is too close philosophically to Riordan and asserted that the council’s leadership should more accurately reflect the city’s diversity.

“It was said that it was time for a change of leadership to include more women and minorities,” Galanter said.

But, according to some sources, the coup fell apart after Ferraro learned of it before it could fully mature. Others noted that Braude was not the strongest candidate to lead the effort and that his irascible and sometimes imperious manner have offended some colleagues.

By Wednesday, with his bid for the presidency a shambles, Braude’s goal was simply to keep his position as president pro tem, which he has held for the past four years.

The other candidates for pro tem were Galanter and Councilman Nate Holden--both of whom complained that they were betrayed after colleagues they believed were backers voted against them.

“It all goes to prove that almost everybody’s word around here is good for only about five minutes,” Galanter said.

Finally, Galanter and Holden bowed out and Braude threw his support--and that of his supporters--to Wachs.

Councilman Rudy Svorinich, who stuck by Holden for two ballots and then switched to Wachs, said of the winner: “He’s a nice guy who can embrace the wide-ranging philosophies and personalities around here.”