Top Mayoral Aide Gets Vote of No Confidence

Escalating the worst political crisis of Mayor Richard Riordan’s three-year administration, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday declared it had no confidence in top Riordan aide Michael Keeley, who publicly apologized for “some errors in judgment” in sending confidential city documents to lawyers involved in litigation against the city.

The 10-3 vote followed a closed-door council session in which Keeley tried to explain his action for nearly two hours. Councilmen John Ferraro, Joel Wachs and Rudy Svorinich dissented, but Councilman Richard Alatorre, the mayor’s strongest ally among the lawmakers, sided with the majority.

Although the council has no power to remove Keeley, it puts Riordan in the position of having to sell his 1996-97 budget, released just as the crisis flared Friday, to a council that says it cannot work with the very aide that engineered the package. Hearings on the $4-billion proposal are scheduled to start Thursday.

“The reality is the majority of the council members 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.

Yet Keeley defended his surreptitious decision last September to send papers on the city’s legal strategy to an opposing lawyer in a contract dispute.

Keeley said he had hoped to resolve the matter 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.

“Did I make mistakes? Yes. Did I break any laws? No,” said Keeley, an attorney, adding 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 crisis touched off when City Atty. James Hahn angrily released documents revealing Keeley’s actions. The dramatic disclosure by Hahn--who long has 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.

Keeley--often described as brilliant but arrogant and sometimes accused of ignoring others’ views and authority--released copies of a letter he had given to Riordan on Sunday, in which he apologized to his longtime friend and law partner for “any embarrassment my actions have caused.” He also offered to resign but said the mayor urged him not to make a decision until the investigations are completed.

Riordan and some other administration staffers accompanied Keeley to the afternoon council session, walking him past a swarm of reporters and TV cameras encamped in the hallway.

“I’m looking forward to my conversation with the council,” said Keeley, about to get his first chance to tell his side of the story.

Riordan put his arm around Keeley and said he supports his aide.

“Mike is a great asset to the city of Los Angeles,” the mayor said. “I respect him.”

The day before, Riordan, saying Keeley had made errors in judgment, assigned another top deputy to work with the city attorney’s office on legal matters until the probes are completed.

The administration is trying to find a way to quiet the storm and keep Keeley, considered by many to be crucial to Riordan’s success.

In reacting to the no-confidence vote, Riordan was careful not to exacerbate his increasingly bruised relations with the council.

His office issued a brief statement calling the vote “a disappointment” and signaling Riordan’s intention to lobby council members individually on Keeley’s behalf. The statement offered this olive branch:

“I appreciated the time the City Council took considering this issue today and their general recognition that Mike Keeley both took responsibility for his actions and that they were made in the city’s best interest, even if some were mistaken.”

The tone formed a sharp contrast to the atmosphere during the closed session, which some who attended said consisted mainly of self-indulgent speechmaking by various council members. Councilman Nate Holden, a longtime political ally of Hahn’s, was among the most aggressive, one source said. But Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the mayor’s leading political foe, remained uncharacteristically quiet.

In addition to the no-confidence vote, the council took several other steps, including:

* Asking the mayor’s office to “cease and desist” communications with Morrison & Foerster, the firm Keeley sent the documents to and which has big contracts with the city’s Airports Department.

* Asking city staffers to review all contracts and projects with the Department of Water and Power and the two other semi-autonomous departments Keeley oversaw, Airports and Harbor.

* Directing the city attorney to provide a legal analysis of who among city officials can be considered the client in legal matters.

* Expressing confidence in Hahn for bringing the breach to the attention of the mayor. That is sure to gall many of the mayor’s supporters, who see Hahn’s disclosure mainly as a political ploy.

Even Keeley’s departure might not undo the damage to the administration, several council members said.

“It’s not clear to me whether [that] would change the level of confidence or lack of it that people have in the mayor’s office,” Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said. “One has to assume that he guessed the mayor would have approved of his action. . . . A majority of the council feels distinct anxiety about sharing any significant confidential information with the mayor’s office.”

Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this story.