Padilla Adds 2 Council Blacks to Key Panels

Hoping to end the controversy over the racial makeup of his committee assignments, Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla on Wednesday announced that he will include two of the council’s three black members on panels dealing with economic, housing and social service issues.

Padilla said he is expanding the council’s Housing and Community Development Committee to include council members Nate Holden, who is African American, and Janice Hahn, a white who represents parts of Watts.

He said he is also placing black Councilwoman Jan Perry on the Economic Development and Employment Committee, giving her a spot intended for Councilman Joel Wachs. Wachs will instead take Perry’s position on the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

Padilla, however, opted to leave Mark Ridley-Thomas’ committee assignments unchanged--a move some City Hall officials attribute to a deepening rift between the two men.

The shuffles announced late Wednesday represented a significant turnabout for Padilla, who at first resisted calls to reconsider his assignments. The young council president, who defeated Councilwoman Ruth Galanter for the top job, was harshly criticized for his handling of the assignments. Some interpreted them as slighting the council’s African American members and others saw them as political payback for the vote that secured Padilla’s victory over Galanter.

The split also resurrected the mayoral politics in that recently concluded election.

While Padilla strongly supported James K. Hahn for mayor, Ridley-Thomas backed Antonio Villaraigosa. Holden and Perry both backed Hahn.

Moreover, when Padilla announced that he was running for council president, Ridley-Thomas sought to solidify support for Padilla’s opponent, Galanter.

And when nearly 300 African American leaders and community members crammed into the council chambers Tuesday to urge Padilla to change his committee assignments, Mayor Hahn’s council supporters noted that the group included many of the people who stood with Ridley-Thomas in support of Villaraigosa.

Padilla, however, says he harbors no political ill will against Ridley-Thomas. If anything, he said, he was hoping that his decision to change the committee assignments would send a message to his colleagues that he was willing to address their concerns and work with them.

“It’s time to come back together, get down to work and move forward,” Padilla said.

Perry welcomed her new assignment, but Ridley-Thomas and Holden, expressed mixed feelings about Padilla’s moves.

“It speaks for itself and the message is clear,” Ridley-Thomas said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Holden said he hopes Padilla will consider giving Ridley-Thomas his seat on the housing committee.

“I’m going to tell him I’m willing to step aside for Mark Ridley-Thomas to be appointed to that committee,” Holden said. “He should be the one to serve.”

But Padilla scoffed at that request. “Now they are being ridiculous,” he said.

Perry, by contrast, expressed satisfaction with Wednesday’s outcome.

“I am glad that the needs of my community and my constituents were met,” Perry said. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the council president, the mayor and the City Council on improving our communities.”

The entire episode has been a politically difficult one for Padilla, who was elected with a 9-5 vote last month to serve as council president. At 28, he is the council’s youngest member and faces the challenge of winning his colleagues’ respect in a job that was held for years by Councilman John Ferraro until his death in April.

Word of the changes came to the three council members in a letter from Padilla late Wednesday. The council president made it clear he was influenced by the turnout at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“After further consideration of your concerns, and especially after having heard directly from residents of your district, I have come to share your sentiments,” Padilla wrote in the letter.

That marked a turnaround, but Padilla’s supporters on the council praised him for his handling of what they described as a difficult matter.

“Under the circumstances, Alex did the best he could with what he had to work with,” said Councilman Nick Pacheco, one of Padilla’s strongest allies on the council. “The dynamics that were created by the three council members were unfortunately tough. He did a good job of finding a way to accommodate the community that felt it had been shut out.”

Councilwoman Hahn said she was also was pleased by the changes.

“Clearly, when the issue was brought to our attention, it was a concern that some areas of the city that most needed to be represented on these committees were left out,” said Mayor Hahn’s sister. “The way he did the assignments today, he has successfully resolved those concerns.”

She said Padilla’s action also signaled that the dispute was not over ethnic issues.

“By putting me on the housing committee, he showed this really wasn’t about race,” Hahn said. “This clearly was about areas of the city that need economic development.”

However, some community activists were not satisfied by the changes.

Rev. Norman Johnson, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he was “profoundly disappointed,” that Ridley-Thomas did not get an appointment.

“My reaction is bittersweet,” he said. “I am pleased Mr. Padilla has listened to the council members’ concerns. But I am profoundly disappointed that the council member who had a half-billion dollars in development in his district would not be appointed. I find that unconscionable.”