Riordan Focuses on Safety, Schools as New Term Starts

With a speech that laid out new public safety goals and signaled his determination to play a role in educating Los Angeles children, Mayor Richard Riordan on Monday officially launched his second term, four years that the mayor hopes will leave his mark on the city he governs.

“We have traveled a long way, but we have much further way to go,” Riordan said during his second and final inaugural address, held on a bright warm morning outside City Hall. “Despite our success, too many Angelenos live in fear of violent crime. Too many Angelenos do not have access to quality jobs. Too many people are alienated by a government that is often stuck in bureaucratic red tape. Too many of our kids dream of success, but awaken to the nightmare of guns and gangs.”

Riordan’s speech was one of the longest and most detailed of his political career, and it was warmly received by a packed crowd on the south lawn of the 70-year-old structure. He was interrupted eight times by polite applause and once by his 3-year-old granddaughter Nicole Farrel, who called out to him from the audience by yelling “Hi Baba!” Riordan waved and called back, smiling broadly.

Even a group of demonstrators who boisterously marched before the speech ended up in Riordan’s camp. The group came to the event chanting for more attention to be devoted to fighting child pornography. After hearing Riordan’s speech, with its heavy emphasis on protecting and helping children, the same demonstrators worked their way toward the stage chanting “Riordan, Riordan, Riordan.”

*

Riordan’s speech was the capstone of an event-filled day and a crisply organized, 90-minute ceremony, which also saw seven council members, the city controller, the city attorney and 15 members of the new charter reform panel take their oaths of office.

As he did in his first term, Riordan leaned heavily on public safety. He said he would hold the next chief of police responsible for improving LAPD technology and police productivity, areas in which departed Police Chief Willie L. Williams struggled, often without success.

At the same time, Riordan, whose philanthropy has been devoted to educating children but whose office gives him little authority in that area, said he intended to inject himself into the effort to improve Los Angeles schools.

“Some will say that education is not in the purview of city government,” Riordan said. “I disagree. Schools are everybody’s business.”

Riordan did not detail what specific steps he would take to amplify his role in educational issues, but in the speech and in a news conference later, he cited a few recent instances in which he believes he already has played a constructive role. Just last week, Riordan said, he and incoming school Supt. Ruben Zacarias met to discuss improving the use of computers in school classrooms. “I will join Ruben in working to see that by the year 2001, every child has access to a computer in school . . . and is making the best use of them,” he said.

The mayor also cited recent discussions with Zacarias on trying to create a number of “primary centers,” small schools for young children that would be easier to manage and give students a better learning environment. And, as he often has in recent months, Riordan publicly urged the school district to take stern action against educators who do not perform.

“We must have the courage, backbone and commitment to hold people accountable,” he said. “This means consequences for those who fail our children.”

The twin goals of public safety and education reflect Riordan’s most deeply held political values and put him neatly in step with the electorate that overwhelmingly elected him to a second term. According to a Times exit poll of those casting ballots in the April mayoral election, two of the top three issues identified by voters were education and crime. The third was the state of the economy, which shows strong signs of recovery and which Riordan said will benefit by improvements in education and law enforcement.

*

In addition, Riordan’s fascination with public safety and education has been fueled by his observation of the experiences of two other large city governments: Chicago and New York.

Early in his first term, Riordan visited New York and came away impressed by the accountability systems employed by that city’s Police Department. Known as “comstat,” the NYPD’s computerized model of holding police captains responsible for crime in their areas is one that Riordan would like Los Angeles to emulate. Chief Williams never adopted the New York model, which is based on quick turnaround of crime statistics and stern measures for police captains who fail to suggest improvements. On Monday, Riordan said he would hold Williams’ successor responsible for making it happen now.

“Captains, sergeants and officers must be accountable for decreases in violent crime,” the mayor said. “They must also be accountable for field interviews, arrests and quality-of-life crimes like abusive panhandling, illegal dumping, abandoned buildings, prostitution and drug dealing.”

In the educational field, meanwhile, Chicago’s recent experience offers Riordan another tantalizing example. In that city, the educational system deteriorated so badly that the state Legislature gave Mayor Richard M. Daley responsibility for the entire school program. Riordan insisted Monday that he is not trying to grab similar authority for himself, but he warned that failure would not be tolerated.

“My job is to work with Ruben Zacarias,” he said at his news conference. “If we don’t give the education that kids need, there will be a revolution.”

Although Riordan’s day was celebratory and his speech well-received, the coming term presents him with a daunting set of challenges. He cannot run for a third term, so he may see some of his influence diminish as the end of his tenure comes in sight. Several members of the Los Angeles City Council are considering running for mayor in 2001, so politics may hamper Riordan’s initiatives, particularly in the latter half of his term. And Riordan today inherits the chairmanship of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, a difficult and time-consuming responsibility.

What’s more, the educational and public safety initiatives that he alluded to in his speech do not reflect his entire program. Among other things, Riordan staffers are already working on a tax reform proposal, a neighborhood revitalization program and a sweeping attempt at development reform. They also are faced with a slew of top city vacancies and are bracing for the impact of electric power deregulation, which could have profound economic and political effects on the city.

Even as those new challenges are upon the mayor, his top staff is struggling for cohesion. Deputy Mayor Gary Mendoza, who oversees economic development for Riordan, is expected to leave his job early next month, and sources say a recent staff retreat was a contentious, divisive affair, with some Riordan aides complaining about a lack of common vision for the second term. Other gripes, aired during a testy session near the end of the retreat, included complaints that staffers are not communicating well with one another.

Steve Soboroff, a top Riordan aide who is occasionally mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate in the next election, acknowledged that some aspects of the second term would undoubtedly be more difficult, particularly as staff changes take their toll.

*

“Everything’s going to be harder,” he said. “But we know the things that we need to do. Our job now is to do them.”

But Robin Kramer, the mayor’s chief of staff and a veteran of Los Angeles politics, said she believes that staff frictions are not serious and that the mayor’s lame-duck status is not likely to hinder him much.

“You’re a lame duck if you don’t have a plan,” Kramer said. “We have to have continuity and innovation. The challenge is to remain buoyant, enthusiastic . . . to continue to reach.”

Riordan said he did not believe the changing political circumstances would limit his ability to govern effectively in the second term. “I haven’t heard myself quacking or limping yet,” he told reporters, adding that he has no intention of seeking higher office. Riordan has been courted by a number of Republicans to consider a run for governor, but he has consistently said he is not interested, and he reiterated that Monday.

“I’m flattered by the interest,” he said, “but my answer is no.”

Monday’s inauguration was part of a personal and emotional day for the mayor, one that brought together family, old friends and longtime supporters in a trio of events. The oath was administered by U.S. District Judge Kim Wardlaw, a longtime friend and the wife of Riordan’s closest confidant, lawyer Bill Wardlaw. When Riordan at first muffed the oath, Judge Wardlaw started it over. Once Riordan had recited it correctly, she said “congratulations, Mr. Mayor,” and kissed him on the cheek.

Before the ceremony began, Riordan, a devout Catholic, gathered with a small group of friends and family for a private Mass at the Chapel of Perpetual Adoration. There, about 50 of the mayor’s closest advisors and friends--as well as his companion, Nancy Daly, his three daughters and his granddaughter--attended service. The Mass was said by the monsignor from Riordan’s parish church, who opened his remarks by noting that it was a rare pleasure to see Riordan in church on time.

Guests--including council members John Ferraro, Richard Alatorre and Richard Alarcon, as well as supporters such as businessman Dave Fleming, lawyer Michael Keeley and former Police Commission President Enrique Hernandez--laughed and applauded. During a break in the service, Riordan walked up and down the aisle, hugging some guests and shaking hands with others.

Late in the day, some of the same guests, along with more than 200 others, joined Riordan for a celebration at the mayor’s official residence, the Getty House. Congratulations poured in there, as they did all day, most from local, state and federal officials. But one stood out, a message of “greetings and cordial good wishes” from Pope John Paul II.

“His Holiness prays that Mayor Riordan will be helped by God’s gifts of wisdom and strength as he strives to carry out the duties entrusted to him by the people of Los Angeles in the service of the common good,” the message concluded.