Riordan Ally Seeks Candidates to Oppose 2 Council Members

During the months that Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s camp has been carefully oiling the campaign machinery for his reelection bid next spring, the mayor’s closest political advisor has been taking an interest in a couple of City Council districts as well.

Riordan’s longtime friend and political guru, Bill Wardlaw, has approached several people about running against at least two council members who have been thorns in the mayor’s side. Wardlaw appears to have focused mainly on sounding out prospects to run against Councilwoman Rita Walters, whose 9th District runs from downtown through South-Central Los Angeles, but he also has spoken to at least one mayoral ally about taking on West San Fernando Valley Councilwoman Laura Chick, sources said.

So far there have been no takers.

But word of Wardlaw’s activities soon zipped onto the hyperactive grapevine at City Hall, where eight of the 15 council seats--all those in odd-numbered districts--will be on the same April 8 municipal primary ballot as Riordan. All but 5th District Councilman Mike Feuer already have filed papers signaling their intention to seek reelection.

Wardlaw declined to answer questions about whom he has approached, saying he “won’t comment on private conversations.”

“But it is absolutely fair to say I have had some interest in the 9th councilmanic district. . . . I’ve had conversations with several people” about whether they were interested in running, Wardlaw added.

As for the 3rd District, about which Wardlaw purportedly sounded out a former Riordan aide, Wardlaw would say only that he is “not actively out looking” for someone to take on Chick “at this time.”

According to several sources, the people Wardlaw reportedly talked to about running against Walters included Assistant City Atty. Charles E. Dickerson, an aide to City Atty. James Hahn and a former chief deputy to Walters; Frank Cardenas, who recently resigned from the Riordan-appointed Board of Public Works to become chief of staff at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Chris Robert, another former Walters aide and a current member of the mayor-appointed Community Redevelopment Agency, and former Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, who has formed her own public affairs and communications firm.

All but Cardenas are African Americans, as is Walters. While the district’s Latino population has been growing rapidly, voters have continued to elect black representatives.

Walters has been critical of some of Riordan’s initiatives but particularly of his style; she has repeatedly said he needs to do a better job of including other groups and views.

Dickerson confirmed that Wardlaw had discussed the council race with him, and Moore said he “probably” asked her about running but “in a very offhand way.” Robert said “many people from the community” had asked her to consider running; while she said she has talked with Wardlaw on several matters, including her efforts to win council confirmation for the CRA board, she does not recall talking with him about the council district race. Cardenas could not be reached.

“I felt honored to have been asked,” Dickerson recalled of Wardlaw’s broaching the subject with him several months ago. But after talking with others and considering several factors, including his past association with Walters and a “desire to do what’s best for the African American community,” Dickerson soon decided not to pursue the matter.

Robert said she “did, for a brief moment, consider” it.

“But I worked for Rita; she wrote letters for me to get into graduate school, and I just wasn’t comfortable” with the prospect of opposing Walters, Robert said.

Moore called Wardlaw “an old friend” with whom she has “talked about a lot of things. . . . He probably mentioned it to me in an offhand way, but I never considered it. . . . I’ve always supported Rita.”

Moore said she is interested in running for Diane Watson’s state Senate seat when term limits force the Los Angeles Democrat to leave office in a couple of years.

“Rita cares a great deal about people and her district,” Moore added, “and I believe the mayor does too. It probably would be better for them to work together” than for the mayor’s camp to seek to replace Walters.

Walters said she believes efforts to find candidates to oppose her reelection are meant “as a tactic of intimidation.

“But there is really something sad about people who are in elective office themselves and don’t understand the process of government,” Walters said. She, along with some others, has accused the mayor of being too quick to see enemies in those who disagree with him on issues.

Regarding another seat held by a frequent Riordan critic, Wardlaw is said to have asked Georgia Mercer, a former Riordan liaison to the West Valley, to consider dropping her challenge to 11th District Councilman Marvin Braude and switching instead to Chick’s 3rd District.

Neither Wardlaw nor Mercer would comment on a “private conversation,” but Mercer said she is interested only in the 11th District, where she has lived and been active in community life for many years.

When asked, however, Chick said Mercer--a friend who helped Chick raise money for her successful council race four years ago--had told her Wardlaw had asked if she would consider making the switch.

Chick said she is “puzzled and concerned . . . about what the mayor is doing.”

She cited letters the mayor sent earlier this summer to some of her and Walters’ constituents. The letters criticized the two lawmakers for their voting with a council majority to slow the pace of Police Department expansion until their questions about the expansion plan’s affordability could be addressed. Riordan sent out letters praising some of the council members who had sided with him on that issue.

Chick also cited a verbal message she said was passed along to her from Wardlaw via a mutual friend, political consultant Steve Afriat. The gist was that the mayor and his friends have long memories and she should be aware of that if she is considering running for mayor some day. Neither Wardlaw nor Afriat would comment, each citing a personal rule against divulging private conversations.

“A lot of people have been wondering what this is all about,” Chick said. “The bottom line seems to be that it’s not acceptable . . . that I raised questions and concerns I have in public.”

Riordan usually has declined to respond to such remarks, saying he has a duty to remain above the fray, but sources close to him say a few council members, including Walters and Chick, have gone out of their way to pick fights with him.

A spokeswoman for Riordan said he would not consent to be interviewed about speculation that any of his close supporters are looking for candidates in council races.

But some sources close to the mayor said he likely will endorse several of the council members seeking another term next year and probably will stay neutral in at least a couple of races.

“I don’t see him actively opposing incumbents,” said one mayoral confidant, who asked to remain unidentified. Making overtures to possible council opponents “has not been a high priority.”

Getting involved in other people’s races is fairly common in politics. It is one of the ways for an elected official to maximize the chances of carrying out the political agenda he or she promised the voters to pursue.

Riordan himself did two years ago, when he endorsed--and in some cases raised money or walked precincts for--a number of council members, including Richard Alatorre, Ruth Galanter, Joel Wachs and Hal Bernson. He also backed Barbara Yaroslavsky over the eventual winner, Mike Feuer, for the open seat in the 5th District.

But veteran political consultant Joseph Cerrell noted that the practice of a mayor getting involved in a hotly contested or open-seat race is less common--and often ill-fated--in Los Angeles, where city races are technically nonpartisan. And it can be especially dangerous for a mayor who is running for reelection to actively oppose incumbents.

“Mayors in this city don’t have too good a track record” in ousting incumbents, Cerrell said.

“If I were advising the mayor, I’d tell him to stay out [of other races]. If I was Dick Riordan, I’d just worry about Dick Riordan. This is not the time to show you’re tough,” Cerrell said. “He’d be better off concentrating on how to improve his relationship with those who are already there.”