GOVERNMENT WATCH : Litmus Test, No

Mayor Richard Riordan’s nominees to city commissions, including routine reappointees, are being quizzed on their views of affirmative action by some members of the Los Angeles City Council. The council is within its rights when it determines whether a nominee is qualified and willing to enforce city policy, including affirmative action, but asking how he or she would vote on a proposed anti-affirmative action state initiative is going too far.

Perhaps the council and the mayor can take a break from their sparring now that a narrow council majority has approved a Riordan nominee, Jeff Brain, for the little-known productivity commission. This happened Wednesday, despite Brain’s endorsement of the proposed controversial “California civil rights initiative,” which would forbid the state government to take race, gender or ethnicity into account in hiring or awarding contracts.

Riordan brought some of this on himself when he refused for months to remove Joe Gelman from the Civil Service Commission.

Gelman was a leader of the campaign for the initiative, which some members of the City Council believe would nullify Los Angeles’ sound and necessary affirmative action policy. He eventually quit in a controversy over whether he had misrepresented the affirmative action views of a city commission nominee.

The mayor has the authority to appoint and dismiss commissioners. The council has the authority to confirm or reject the mayor’s nominees. Hard questioning, yes. Litmus test, no.