As City Hall Santa, Riordan Leaves Some Off His List

‘Twas the time before Christmas when all through the Hall

The mayor’s employees were having a ball.

But council staff members weren’t even invited

And so they felt humbugged, belittled and slighted.

To its current friends--and those it would like to have--Mayor Richard Riordan’s administration is playing a jolly Santa, hosting parties Monday for the city’s press corps at the posh Getty House and another for city employees at fun-filled Dodger Stadium.

But to members of the City Council’s staff, Riordan is a grinch who has invited to his bash only a handful of city employees while pointedly excluding those his office doesn’t like and everybody who works for a council member.

The slight was the talk of the council offices Thursday, and rather than decking the halls, the lawmakers’ aides were ready to deck Dick.

“First we laughed about it,” said one council staff member, who, like nearly everyone else interviewed for this story, refused to be identified by name. “Now, we’re pissed.”

So plans are half-jokingly being made for aides and deputies to crash the Stadium Club affair, wearing scarlet Cs on their chests.

Even council members are weighing in on the Christmas party scandale: “When you say publicly at every opportunity that your goal is to work out a better way to get along with the council, I don’t understand this at all,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. “It must be a gaffe, and it should be corrected.”

Riordan’s spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez responded with good cheer: “It’s hell trying to do good.”

The reception, she said, is designed to recognize city department employees who went above and beyond the call of duty for the mayor’s office. “We wanted to show our appreciation to these people.”

So the mayor’s staff compiled an A-list of about 100 employees--from firefighters to secretaries to department managers--who helped “get the job done” in 1997, Rodriguez said, diplomatically avoiding comment on what the mayor’s office thinks the council staffs did this year.

Besides, she said, a party was held in the mayor’s offices Monday for council chiefs of staff and a few others. Bah, humbug, say council staffers; even Rudolph’s red nose would be out of joint.

“Have you heard about the party?” they are asking one another in hallways, offices and city parking lots. “Were you invited?”

Five members of chief legislative analyst Ron Deaton’s staff were. Deaton--whose relationship with the mayor might discreetly be described as distant--was not. One of the three peace officers assigned to the council chambers was invited. A few people from the city clerk’s office made the cut, including the calligraphers who inscribe city scrolls and resolutions. Not a council staffer on the list.

“I think it just reflects how he sees people here,” said another council aide. “But by these little stupid things . . . he makes unnecessary problems for himself.”

Chimed in another: “It’s actually not all that surprising. But it certainly doesn’t create the impression of bringing people together.”

And another: “This does nothing to smooth feathers over here.”

If all this sounds a trifle immature, just wait:

“They [Riordan and his staff] don’t know how to play well with others,” said a top council deputy. “Most people learn sometime in their elementary school years: You invite the whole class--not just your special friends. They need a basic lesson in good manners.”

Said another: “Whether you’re 5 years old or a grown-up, who likes to be treated like this? Nobody likes being excluded.”

So Riordan’s tense relations with the council continue. (One aide said the only thing that unites this council is its antipathy toward the mayor.)

Why doesn’t the council throw its own party, mayoral aides suggest, adding that they won’t be miffed if they are stiffed.

So while the mayor of Los Angeles will spend Monday evening feting, the rest will be fretting.

And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight:

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight.”