Top Mayoral Aide Gets Vote of No Confidence

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday that it had no confidence in top mayoral aide Michael Keeley, who publicly apologized for “some errors in judgment” in releasing confidential city documents to lawyers involved in litigation against the city.

The 10-3 no confidence vote followed a closed-door session in which Keeley spoke before the council for nearly two hours. Councilmen John Ferraro, Joel Wachs and Rudy Svorinich Jr. dissented. The vote has no power to remove Keeley from office but puts Mayor Richard Riordan in the position of trying to push his proposed budget, released last week, with a council that says it cannot work with the aide who engineered the proposal.

“The reality is the majority of the council members cannot trust Mr. Keeley and cannot work with Mr. Keeley,” Councilman Mike Hernandez said of the vote.

After emerging from the Tuesday council session, Keeley apologized for leaking the papers and promised not to release confidential city attorney’s office documents in the future.

But Keeley also defended his surreptitious decision to sent papers on the city’s legal strategy to the opposing lawyer in a contract dispute.

He said he had hoped to resolve the matter last fall and avoid costly litigation. And he said he had made some progress before negotiations ultimately fell apart and the city was sued in January.

“My motivation throughout my involvement in this case was to get the best deal for the taxpayers of Los Angeles,” Keeley said. He added that he believed he had the authority to disclose the documents based on his role as chief operating officer for the mayor, the city’s chief executive officer.

“Did I make mistakes? Yes. Did I break any laws? No,” said Keeley, an attorney, who added that he did not believe his actions have jeopardized his license to practice law.

Both Keeley’s apology and his appearance before the council were aimed at defusing the administration crisis touched off Friday, when City Atty. James Hahn angrily released documents revealing Keeley’s actions. The disclosure by the city attorney, who has long feuded with the administration and now faces an election challenge from Riordan confidant Ted Stein, rocked City Hall.

Administration critics, which include a growing number of council members, demanded an investigation. A stunned Riordan promptly opened one of his own, even as he denounced Hahn’s methods of disclosure as a “cheap trick” and defended Keeley’s integrity.

An assured but seemingly humbled Keeley--often described as brilliant but arrogant and sometimes denounced as ignoring others’ views and authority--said he had apologized to Riordan in a letter Sunday and had offered to resign. Keeley, who released the letter, said the mayor told him the offer was premature and urged him to wait until the investigations are completed before deciding what to do.

Riordan and some other administration staffers accompanied Keeley to the council session, leading him past a swarm of reporters and TV cameras. The mayor briefly addressed the council before leaving Keeley and his attorney, Chris Caldwell, to face the council. Hahn and two of his deputies also were present, sources said.

Riordan stayed in the secret meeting about 20 minutes, then emerged to reiterate his total support for Keeley remaining at City Hall, regardless of the council’s response.

“What I told the council was that Mike Keeley is a . . . hard-working person of the highest integrity,” Riordan said. “He has been an incredible asset to the city. An error was made, but I’m convinced the error was made with the best interests of the city at heart.”

Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this story.