She Watches Out for the Mayor, the City

Like other Angelenos, Noelia Rodriguez felt the Northridge earthquake at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. However, it was more than her house that shook that Monday. Something jolted inside of Rodriguez as well.

That same morning she left a message at City Hall--where just the week before she had interviewed, with reservations--for a job on the mayor’s staff. The televised scenes of destruction convinced her that she and City Hall would be a good match, after all. She thrives in hectic situations, she says, staying calm and getting things done.

Although City Hall never called back that day, eight weeks later she got the job. Rodriguez, 40, who has a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Cal State L.A., has now worked for Mayor Richard Riordan for five years--rising from press secretary to deputy mayor for communications. Earlier, she spent 15 years at Southern California Edison, working her way up from secretary to press secretary and, finally, director of corporate advertising.

After her family moved here from Texas in 1963, Rodriguez grew up in L.A. and Rosemead. She learned responsibility early on--baby-sitting for her three siblings as well as translating for her Spanish-speaking father. She started work at 18, after a high school counselor urged her to take typing and shorthand instead of thinking about college.

Question: So, that being 1974, you took typing and shorthand, right?

Answer: That was all I needed to hear. It was hard enough for me even to be sitting there in front of him, this person of authority. Consequently, I did well in typing and shorthand--140 words a minute--and business English. Then I went to work at Security Bank. I would take the bus to downtown L.A. for 35 cents, for the grand sum of $428 a month. I did that until ’78 when I went to Southern California Edison. The headquarters was in Rosemead, a mile from my house, so I went there for $822 a month.

Q: And saved on bus fare.

A: I know. We had a family car by then so my mom would take me. And, of course, I was still very shy, but I was a very good secretary. I think that’s where I learned the basics of my writing skills. I would do all the writing for the engineers.

Q: What was your first interview like with City Hall?

A: I came to City Hall and had lunch with somebody who was looking for a press person, and after I left, I thought, ‘I definitely don’t want to work at City Hall.’ It was so chaotic. People were running down the halls. It was all so new even to them. He’d been in office only six or seven months. I had come from an environment where everything was pretty well structured.

Q: When you interviewed with the mayor, what were you thinking?

A: Toward the end of the interview, I said that I was excited about being part of a team that is going to turn Los Angeles around.

I mean, this little Mexican American girl who came years earlier to a really hard part of town, not speaking a word of English, to be the spokesperson for the mayor of the second-largest city in America.

And always in the back of my mind, the impression that I would leave on women and Latinos and other people in Los Angeles, who didn’t have the traditional road to success that we all think is the only way to go in America.

Q: Let’s hear your job description.

A: I’m part of the strategy team--what we’ve already accomplished and then looking forward to the next two years. I’m in charge of the press office and basically the manager for the mayor’s schedule. I’m his major speech writer. I write a State of the City speech every year. This year’s was probably the one I’m most proud of. It focuses on what is in the best interests of the poor.

Q: Where do you think women should be striving and concentrating next?

A: I think every woman has to figure out for herself what strengths she brings to the table and how she can improve the organization or, in my case, make a difference for the greater good, for the community. If we continue to focus on women in a positive way versus how much of a struggle it is, I think we probably can accomplish more.

Now having said that, we also need to keep reminding people that there’s still a disparity between what men and women earn in the workplace, and I think we have a long way to go there. It’s not just because we feel that way. The numbers are there. My focus is “pay for performance.” Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a certain pay, but just because you’re a man shouldn’t entitle you to a greater pay.

Q: Do you have any political aspirations now?

A: I don’t know. I’m a deputy mayor and proud of my accomplishments and have shed a few tears to get the things done that we wanted to get done and always knowing that we were doing, I think, what was in the best interests of the people of Los Angeles and just proud to be a part of that team. I’m really serious. But in the future, I don’t know.

Q: So you have some opportunities ahead?

A: The thing that I think is really terrific is that I have not just one door of opportunity in front of me, but many doors, and now the choice is mine, not somebody else’s. When I think back to that meeting with that high school counselor, that’s pretty phenomenal.

Q: Do you have a personal life with a job like this?

A: To say that I have sacrificed my personal life would be an understatement. It’s pretty much been on hold for the last five years. I’m too embarrassed to say, but I can count the number of dates on one hand. And people say, “Oh, you must meet all kinds of you men.” I do, but they’re interested in the mayor.

Whatever Works runs every Monday. Send e-mail to socalliving@latimes.com.