Burke Takes Title of L.A. County Mayor

Los Angeles is once again home to two mayors--or it will be at least part of the time.

The full-time mayor is, of course, Richard Riordan, Los Angeles’ chief executive.

The other mayor is Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who succeeded to the chairmanship of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday and promptly announced that she would assume the title scorned by her immediate predecessor, Zev Yaroslavsky, but fulsomely embraced by the previous chairman and the county’s first “mayor,” Mike Antonovich.

Actually, Burke, as is her custom, adopted a middle course: She will be county mayor, but only when representing the board on official business in Sacramento, Washington and elsewhere outside its borders.

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Burke said she wants to assume the mayoral mantle on occasion because of her concerns that dignitaries both domestic and foreign historically have failed to grasp the importance of the county board chairman as chieftain of the elected body that runs the nation’s largest county.

“No one really knows what the term county supervisor means,” Burke said. “I’ve always thought we should have a county mayor.”

The undisputed city mayor, Riordan, seemed unfazed by the renewed competition Tuesday.

“The basic point is that . . . Yvonne and I get along very well and I really look forward to working with her; so many of the challenges ahead involve the city and the county,” Riordan said. “She is incredibly capable.”

Riordan’s aides were less charitable.

“It’s so L.A. to proclaim yourself something. Fortunately for our mayor, thousands of Angelenos proclaimed him mayor, so he didn’t have to do it himself,” said Riordan spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez. “The mayor’s feeling is . . . that there’s not enough room in this town for two mayors. It’s sad to think the [county board] chairman needs another title for self-validation.”

Besides, Rodriguez said, “In the circles the mayor travels in, chairman of the [county] board carries quite a bit of clout.”

Some of the supervisors obviously disagree.

The chairmanship of the board rotates among the five members on a yearly basis. The chairman presides over weekly meetings and acts as the county’s chief representative on business trips and when greeting official visitors. The title county “mayor” confers no additional powers or responsibilities.

Then-Chairman Antonovich put the idea of a “county mayor” before the board in October 1996, saying at the time that people “get confused about what is a mayor and what is a supervisor.”

The term “mayor,” he said, “would better reflect the executive role the board has and the responsibility that the chairman has.”

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The supervisors adopted the motion 3 to 2, with Burke and then-lame duck Supervisor Deane Dana siding with Antonovich and against Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Burke told her colleagues Tuesday that she would probably have some “mayor” business cards printed up for her visits.

But her intentions are far less ambitious than those of Antonovich, who went so far as to change the title etched into his office doors and to redo the county’s World Wide Web site on the Internet to reflect his new status.

When Yaroslavsky took over as chairman, he flatly rejected the title.

Nevertheless, Burke said it will help clear up any misconceptions about the role the supervisors play in overseeing health and welfare issues for the county and its 88 cities.

In addition, she said, the 1 million county residents who live in unincorporated areas deserve their own mayor. “We’re the only government they have,” Burke said.

But some, like Richard Cardona, said Tuesday that having two mayors simply confuses things.

Walking past the Hall of Administration with his wife, Lorie, Cardona described the county supervisors as “those people who go out in the field and supervise workers, right?”

When told of the true responsibilities of the supervisors--who are among the most powerful politicians in the state--Cardona said it doesn’t matter. The supervisors, he said, “should just stay as supervisors.”

“I don’t think they should be above the mayor,” said Cardona, a salesman for Warner Bros. Animation.

Besides, he added, “How are they going to explain it to the kids” in school?

“They’ll have to get new books,” said Cardona, 30, of Echo Park. “You’ll have to change everything.”