Rodriguez Opts to Not Run for City Controller

Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez, one of Mayor Richard Riordan’s closest and most trusted aides, announced Wednesday that she has decided not to seek the city controller’s office, a campaign that she has publicly weighed for several months.

Rodriguez’s decision takes her out of a contest that already has at least one relatively well-known candidate, City Councilwoman Laura Chick, and could open the door to other contenders, including City Treasurer J. Paul Brownridge.

It also extricates Rodriguez from an increasingly dicey situation, in which she was attempting to run for office with the backing of both Riordan and lawyer Bill Wardlaw at a time when the two men are feuding over the mayor’s race and related political issues.

On Wednesday, Rodriguez acknowledged the tensions between her boss and his longtime friend and political advisor, but said they were not what convinced her to pass on the campaign.

“Certainly, I’m very sensitive to what’s going on around me, and I’m sensitive to the fact that I’m in a pivotal role,” a relaxed, reflective Rodriguez said in an interview.

Her real reasons for opting out of the campaign, she said, were that she was worried about the toll on her personal life, that she wanted to pursue her career in public and media relations, and that she concluded after much reflection that she was not gripped by the idea of becoming controller.

“No matter what I do in life, I want to be passionate about it,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t feel passionately about this.”

During her six years in the Riordan administration, Rodriguez has emerged as one of its most visible public figures, second only to the mayor himself. Outspoken and willing to debate her boss over strategy and issues, she has risen from a press deputy to an integral member of the mayor’s team.

Her interest in the controller’s race, however, surprised some observers. The controller is responsible for handling city money and auditing city agencies, while Rodriguez always has focused more on press and public relations matters.

Still, even those who wondered why Rodriguez was considering the campaign conceded that she would have made a formidable candidate. Poised, at ease with reporters and familiar with the city campaign trail, which she traveled with Riordan in 1997, Rodriguez seemed to many observers a natural candidate.

Riordan himself said in an interview last year that he was prepared to do anything she wanted to help Rodriguez in the campaign.