Commissioners Confirmed After Grilling on Affirmative Action : Government: City Council members give ‘litmus test’ to candidates. But one official calls proceedings on the issue ‘an inquisition.’

Subjecting four of Mayor Richard Riordan’s choices of city commissioners to the promised “litmus test” of affirmative action, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday solicited views on the divisive issue from the appointees before unanimously confirming them all.

Harbor Commissioner Carol Rowen, up for reappointment, underwent an especially tough grilling but won over her questioners when she promised unequivocally to do nothing that would undermine the city’s policies to widen hiring, promotion and contracting opportunities for women and minorities.

Also Tuesday, the council considered a motion requiring all commission appointees to be prepared to discuss their affirmative action views when coming to the council for confirmation. While the mayor has the power to choose who will sit on the city’s 46 policy-setting boards and commissions, the appointees must pass muster with a majority of the 15-member council before they can be seated.

After a lengthy discussion about the propriety of seeking appointees’ views on a particular issue, the council voted unanimously to provide all nominees for city commissions with briefing material about the city’s affirmative action policy, and to require the nominees to educate themselves about the issues before appearing before the council for confirmation. The council’s Personnel Committee will review the briefing materials before the new policy is implemented.

Councilman Hal Bernson said he disliked “singling out one particular set of rules” in questioning commission appointees but said he voted for the new policy in hopes it would lend a less contentious air to future confirmation hearings.

“What I saw this morning was terrible. . . . It was an inquisition,” Bernson said of the intense grilling Rowen underwent.

Rowen, a longtime civic and political activist from Tarzana, said after she was confirmed that she did not feel picked on.

“I think the council members asked some very incisive questions,” Rowen said as she left the council chambers. “I felt everyone up there did what they felt was right.”

Besides her views on affirmative action, Rowen was asked about proposals to cut the Harbor Department work force and contract privately for some services now performed by city employees. She also was quizzed about the department’s budget, staffing and business volume.

“This is really awkward,” Rowen said at one point as one council member after another, some of whom she has known for a long time, peppered her with pointed questions. Earlier, when she could not provide a solid answer to Marvin Braude’s question about the department’s budget, she said, “I’m afraid I’m not particularly calm this morning and my recollection isn’t serving me well.”

But she firmly defended her record as commission overseer of the harbor’s affirmative action contracting policies and promised to look into various equity concerns raised about the department’s staffing. “I have always supported diversity,” Rowen said, and promised to keep working on equity issues at the department.

Several council members tried to sound her out on the proposed state ballot initiative, which she said she had not read. But she seemed to satisfy skeptics with her promise that she would not support a measure that ran counter to existing city policies.

When Mike Feurer asked if she could pledge that she would “not act to undermine city policies,” Rowen answered, “Absolutely, without qualification.”

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Also confirmed after assuring the council of their support for city affirmative action policies were Beverly B. Thomas, named to a term on the City Employees Retirement System board; Marcia F. Volpert, reappointed to the Department of Water and Power Commission, and Josephine Ramirez, reappointed to the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority.

On Friday, council members unanimously confirmed Robert Glushon to the Board of Zoning Appeals after getting his assurance of support for the city’s affirmative action policies.

Riordan could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but he earlier denounced the council’s affirmative action questioning.

After Airport Commissioner Michelle Park-Steel resigned amid controversy over her critical views of affirmative action policies, Riordan accused some council members of tainting the commission selection process with “political rhetoric.”

The mayor said in a prepared statement he would continue to appoint people “from all walks of life and backgrounds who have a genuine commitment to service Angelenos and our city. That’s my litmus test.”