Riordan Visits Senior Citizen Center to Court Votes, Raise Mayoral Profile

Courting the senior citizen vote and continuing to raise his public profile, Mayor Richard Riordan toured the East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center Wednesday, stopping by a luncheon for about 60 seniors.

Noting that he also is a senior citizen, Riordan quipped: “I’m going around [to senior centers] to see where the most beautiful women are so that--after I’m mayor--I’ll know where to have lunch every day.”

After touring the center, which offers health screenings, meals, legal assistance and classes ranging from Spanish to quilting, Riordan said he has made a habit of visiting a senior center each month.

Riordan said he will try to lend his clout to repairing earthquake damage at the center’s offices and ruts in the parking lot.

The mayor didn’t specifically talk politics, instead posing for photographs, signing autographs and telling jokes, including the one about the politician who wanted to be buried in Chicago so he could continue to be active in politics.

Attendee Ada Wecksler, 89, said she just had a good feeling about Riordan, confiding that “he’s a lot better-looking in person than he is on the television.”