Riordan Hopes Petition Exhibition Is a Good Sign for Reform

With one week left before petitions are due to place a measure on the April ballot, Mayor Richard Riordan and Studio City attorney David Fleming made a final call Thursday for support for the creation of a government reform panel.

At a news conference on the steps of City Hall, Riordan and Fleming stood before 32 boxes of petitions, totaling about 240,000 signatures in support of the reform panel.

Fleming said more people have signed the petition than participated in the last municipal election. But he said many petitions are still outstanding and need to be returned.

To qualify for the April ballot, boosters must collect 197,000 valid signatures. But Fleming and Riordan are trying to build a hefty margin to cover any that may be ruled invalid.

Voters are asked to create a reform panel to rewrite the city’s 71-year-old governing charter. A separate measure on the ballot would include a list of candidates for the 15-member panel.

“It’s about having a citizens charter reform commission that is independent of elected officials,” Riordan said.

But one unanswered question remains: How will the 15 panel members be elected? Will voters chose one candidate from each of the 15 council districts, or will they elect 15 candidates from throughout the city?

Because state and federal law is unclear, Riordan said he believes a group of supporters plan to file a lawsuit, asking a judge to clarify. The mayor hopes the City Council will support the lawsuit.

But that is wishful thinking. The council has already created its own reform panel and is skeptical of the motives behind Riordan’s campaign.

Last week, the council voted to ask the state Legislature to clear up Riordan’s election problem. But because it may take months for the Legislature to get to it, Fleming and others believe the council is simply trying to delay the matter until after the April ballot comes out.

To Debate or Not

After snubbing more than a dozen candidate forums, Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) finally joined state Senate opponent Adam Schiff on stage this week in Burbank.

Why this forum, sponsored by the Glendale Business Assn., after spurning other debates sponsored by the likes of the League of Women Voters?

The answer may lie in the controlled format, which allowed candidates to give two five-minute speeches and answer two questions submitted in advance. In other words, there was no give-and-take between candidates, no surprises and apparently no love lost either, at least on Boland’s part.

After the debate Tuesday, she shook hands with Libertarian candidate Bob New and walked off the dais and out of the room without turning to shake hands with Schiff.

Not surprisingly, given the format and the weeks of anticipation about whether Boland would ever show up at a debate, the event was anticlimactic.

Boland stressed her legislative experience, especially her work as chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, which included welcoming victims to hearings about crime legislation.

Schiff stressed his experience as a former federal prosecutor, whose mission in Sacramento would be the complete overhaul of the juvenile justice system--an issue Boland has already worked on, she noted.

He closed by promising to focus on policymaking, not partisan politics.

“If you’re interested in the same strident partisanship, I urge you to support someone else,” Schiff said.

When it was her turn, Boland blasted Schiff, characterizing him as just another liberal with an agenda. Her evidence: He is the protege of Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward).

“We’re not dealing with Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento,” Boland said. “‘We’re dealing with liberals and Republicans in Sacramento.”

The two are expected to have at least one more confrontation, a cable television debate on Nov. 2 moderated by a Boland supporter, Glendale City Councilman Larry Zarian.

Paula Explains It All

In the months when Boland was preoccupied with her Valley secession bill, pundits wondered how, aside from spreading her name, the issue would play in her new district.

After all, what did residents of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena care about the woes of Los Angeles?

At a candidates forum, Boland took a stab at explaining what a detachment bill would do for Burbank.

Giving voters an out from an unresponsive city would lead to more municipal efficiency, Boland said.

“Those cities would be so efficient, they would bring business to them,” said Boland. Jobs too.

Los Angeles city government, by contrast, doesn’t care about the people, she said. “That was why we decided it was time to break [it] up,” Boland said.

One flaw in the argument about keeping Burbank on its toes: The secession bill, which was sidetracked in the state Senate, only applied to Los Angeles. And Boland steadfastly refused to consider suggestions that it should apply to cities statewide.

Then There Were 3

When Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude announced last week that he would not seek a ninth term in office, it appeared that two woman would vie to succeed him.

Cindy Miscikowski, Braude’s former chief of staff, and Georgia Mercer, a former aide to Mayor Riordan, appeared to be the top contenders.

But this week another hopeful has surfaced: Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, director of Riordan’s community relations unit.

Glassman, wife of Jeff Glassman, a former Riordan law partner, has told associates in City Hall that she is considering a run for Braude’s seat. She did not return calls Thursday.

Braude’s district stretches from the west San Fernando Valley to Pacific Palisades.

If Glassman enters the race, she will put Riordan in an awkward position. Does he endorse Mercer, who worked as his San Fernando Valley liaison for several years, or Glassman, a top aide and the wife of a close partner?

City Hall insiders say Riordan is unlikely to endorse anyone in the race. The mayor may have learned his lesson last year, when he endorsed Barbara Yaroslavsky over Mike Feuer in the race to succeed Yaroslavsky’s husband, Zev, who left the council to become a county supervisor.

Feuer won and Riordan had to make amends with Feuer when he came to City Hall.

As for Braude, he has yet to decide whom to endorse.