Riordan Calls for Hernandez to Quit Council

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on Monday ratcheted up the political pressure on Councilman Mike Hernandez to resign, arguing that the embattled lawmaker’s admission to cocaine possession sends a “terrible, terrible message” to the city.

The mayor’s call, which was immediately rejected by Hernandez, came hours after the two-term councilman pleaded guilty in court to one count of cocaine possession. At a morning hearing, a Municipal Court judge immediately assigned Hernandez to a drug-diversion program that would allow him to hold onto his office if he stays clean but could mean up to three years in state prison if he does not.

“Mike Hernandez should resign from office,” Riordan said at a City Hall news conference that followed a 25-minute closed-door meeting with the councilman. “It is in his best interest, it is in the best interest of his constituents and in the best interest of the whole city.

“Here we are preaching in the DARE [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] program and other programs to young people that drugs are bad and should not be tolerated, and for an elected official to plead guilty to this is a terrible, terrible message,” Riordan said. “Elected officials must be positive role models. We cannot have a double standard.”

The mayor’s statement dramatically altered the political dynamics facing Hernandez at City Hall, where the councilman’s arrest had already begun to polarize a lawmaking body traditionally forgiving of colleagues during times of personal crisis.

While the peccadilloes of council members in years past, from drunken driving arrests to campaign finance scandals, have often been met with public indifference, Hernandez’s drug addiction has touched a political nerve among lawmakers as well as some of his 1st District constituents.

Last week, two council members--Laura Chick and Mike Feuer--broke ranks with their colleagues and called for Hernandez’s resignation. They were joined Monday by Councilman Rudy Svorinich, who said in a letter to Hernandez: “I cannot condone, excuse or any longer support actions that you have taken that led to your guilty plea . . . these actions are offensive and have caused irreparable harm to the reputation of the City Council as a body.”

Hernandez’s continuing defenders include Councilman Nate Holden, who last week accused Chick and Feuer of acting “like Westside Ku Klux Klansmen” for what he described as a “racist” attack on the Latino lawmaker.

Riordan, during his news conference, said that Holden’s comments about racism should be “ignored,” adding, “I think everybody of every race, creed and color, religion and sexual orientation ought to be judged the same.”

The mayor drew a distinction between the Hernandez case and his own admission, during the 1993 mayoral race, that he had twice been arrested years previously, for drunken driving and interfering with an officer during an arrest. Riordan entered guilty pleas and was fined in both cases.

“First of all, we’re not talking about me,” Riordan told reporters. “And I think we can learn from our experiences as I’ve learned.”

Hernandez, under the drug-diversion program, can avoid the felony record that would allow for his removal from office under provisions of the City Charter.

After his early afternoon meeting Monday with Riordan, Hernandez acknowledged the “political pressure” on him but said he would remain in his job. He said he believes he can effectively represent his district while continuing his recovery program.

In an interview, Hernandez said the city has dealt with worse problems. “We’ve had worse battles,” Hernandez said. “The reality is we have one vote and we continue to work together.”

The new calls for his resignation came hours after the 44-year-old councilman made a brief appearance at the downtown Criminal Courts Building, where he told reporters he is as determined to remain in office as he is to continue a sobriety that has lasted 66 days.

Even in the courtroom, where he stood with defense attorney Charles English before Municipal Judge Dale Fischer, Hernandez was surrounded not by supporters but by a handful of detractors who are seeking to recall him from office.

“I came here because I wanted to see him have some shame,” said Barbara Gonzalez, president of Grupo Latino Echo Park. “He has humility in front of the judge, but not his constituents. It hurts me to see that.”

Added Pico Union resident Pedro Hernandez: “The system has to be changed. Justice isn’t working when an individual like this can be set free. This isn’t the same system the rest of us have.”

That contention, that Hernandez has been given special treatment, was strongly denied again Monday by both his attorney and the district attorney’s office.

“This program is . . . available to anyone,” English told reporters. “I have heard call-in shows and things where people say, ‘Oh, Mr. Hernandez is getting some special deal.’ He is not. He has not sought to get any special deal.

“The settlement that was reached with the district attorney and the court is the same settlement that would be available to any citizen with a clean record and a simple possession [charge],” English added.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Feldstern said Hernandez’s assignment to a diversion program was in keeping with his lack of a felony record and the charge of simple drug possession. “He is not getting special treatment,” Feldstern said.

Under the law, Hernandez must complete at least 18 months and as long as three years under the program, which will be monitored by authorities and the courts. Already, he is taking drug tests at least three times a week--two of those at the request of the city--with the results available for public review at the city clerk’s office.

Although Hernandez was eligible for the diversion program based on the circumstances of his case, his assignment to that program was not decided until Judge Fischer acted Monday after reviewing a Probation Department report on the councilman.

In that report, Hernandez said that his alcohol use began when he was 15 and that he began using marijuana during college. While saying he had been clean for about 20 years after college, Hernandez said he later began drinking hard liquor before returning to marijuana and also using cocaine.

Hernandez said his alcohol abuse reached a quart of tequila each night “for some time” before the death in June of his mother, with whom he was very close. Later, he said, he began using cocaine.

In an interview with probation officers, Hernandez “indicated that he was fortunate that he was arrested at this time.”

And, the report says, Hernandez believes that the officers who arrested him in a Pacoima carport Aug. 21, after a weeks-long investigation, “probably saved his life.”

It was a similarly grateful and contrite Hernandez who met with reporters Monday at the courthouse.

Sitting on a wooden bench in the arraignment court, Hernandez waited patiently for his case to be called. “It’s a good day today, a beautiful day,” he said. “I’m putting this chapter behind me. I’m moving on.”

Later, Hernandez made no excuses for his conduct. “I don’t want you to believe that I don’t have . . . guilt,” Hernandez said. “But the reality is this is something I have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.”

When asked by a reporter about calls for him to resign on the basis that he had violated the public’s trust, Hernandez was unyielding.

“I believe I breached my own personal trust because of this disease,” Hernandez said. “I understand what addiction can do to somebody, and I have to defeat that. And my focus is my program. My focus is basically working on myself.”

But even as he sought to dismiss the controversy surrounding his council tenure, Riordan’s call for his resignation only served to heighten it.

While Riordan offered no comment about ongoing recall efforts against Hernandez, organizers claimed that they are gaining “tremendous” support for their goal of forcing him from office. A kickoff gathering is scheduled for Wednesday, the start of the drive to collect signatures on recall petitions. About 6,400 signatures of 1st District residents are needed to force an election.

Meanwhile, council offices reported a deluge of mail and calls about Hernandez.

Holden said his office received a mixture of comments, with most of the negative calls coming from outside his district.

“One guy came up to me on Saturday and said, ‘The only problem is that you always tell the truth,’ ” Holden said. “What they [Chick and Feuer] probably did was help unite his community behind him.”

Chick’s staff reported receiving more than 650 calls, letters, faxes and e-mail messages, all but about a dozen supporting her call for Hernandez to step down.

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Times staff writer Matea Gold contributed to this story.