Richman Charting His Own Course

He’s a political newcomer, in office just two years.

But that’s two years longer than almost everyone else seeking seats in the proposed San Fernando Valley city, making Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge) the secessionists’ marquee player as the campaigns spin toward November.

Richman, a moderate Republican who practiced medicine for 22 years before being elected to the Legislature, was the first to announce his bid for Valley mayor. He remains the likely front-runner in a field of relative unknowns as Friday’s filing deadline approaches.

But in the weird world of secession, it’s possible to win the race but still lose the office. That might be one reason more high-profile candidates aren’t running. If voters reject Valley cityhood, the mayor’s post and 14 city council seats would be stillborn.

Richman appears unfazed by the prospect. So what, the beefy doctor with a booming voice asks, if some polls showed that voters outside the Valley are leaning against secession? Who cares if secession opponents have raised 25 times the amount collected by Valley separatists?

Breaking off from Los Angeles, he is certain, is the best cure for what ails the Valley.

“I’m absolutely convinced we can make the San Fernando Valley a better place to live and work,” he said. “I’m not making my decisions based on political expediency. This whole movement for a Valley city is about not doing politics as usual.”

Richman, 48, is accustomed to charting his own course: He’s a Republican in a city dominated by Democrats. A fiscal conservative who champions health insurance for the poor. The lone physician in a Legislature awash in lawyers.

He’s so proud of a wooden giraffe he won from Planned Parenthood--a “Stick Your Neck Out” award honoring his work as a Republican who supports legal abortion--that he keeps it in his office between framed photos of his daughters.

The secession campaign, however, doesn’t carry much political risk for Richman. Even if the breakaway bid flops, he would probably hang onto his Assembly seat--he’s running for reelection even as he campaigns for Valley mayor. If he wins both races and secession passes, he plans to resign from the Assembly.

Moreover, Richman has little to fear from the municipal unions and other Democratic allies who oppose a breakup.

“It’s a win-win for him, even if secession fails,” said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political strategist. “He risks absolutely nothing, but he enhances his reputation within the San Fernando Valley.”

That wasn’t the case with state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar). He initially voiced enthusiasm for running for Valley mayor, but under pressure from unions he decided against it. Alarcon declared his opposition to secession the week after a Times poll showed that voters citywide were inclined to reject it.

While Richman’s moderate politics could help him in the heavily Democratic Valley, his stance on one of the area’s most controversial developments--Ahmanson Ranch--puts him at odds with many of the people he seeks to represent.

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Rethinking Ahmanson

He has supported the proposed 3,050-home project just across the Ventura County line. Most Los Angeles politicians and many Valley residents vehemently oppose the development, which would funnel its traffic through the West Valley.

“It definitely shows he’s not in step” with the community, said Dorothy Smith, a Woodland Hills homeowner who supports secession. “If Ahmanson Ranch goes through, I shudder to think what the consequences would be. Anyone who is for it, I’m afraid, will not get my vote.”

Richman, who recently met with a group of Ahmanson Ranch opponents, said this week he is reconsidering his position.

In Sacramento, Richman is generally well-regarded on both sides of the aisle. The California Journal recently named him “Rookie of the Year,” a title bestowed after the magazine polled lawmakers, aides, lobbyists and the media about the talents of various legislators.

“He’s been honest and straightforward and not concerned about partisan politics,” said Assemblyman Joseph Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg), who teamed with Richman to find solutions to the state’s energy crisis. “That’s real refreshing up here.”

So far, none of Richman’s bills have made it into law. But he has swayed the debate on several fronts, particularly health care, several colleagues said. He has pushed for HMO reform and expanded health coverage for California’s 7 million uninsured patients.

“Keith Richman, in my view, marches to his own drummer,” said Steven Thompson, a lobbyist for the California Medical Assn. “In health care, he’s been a strong progressive voice, a voice not usually heard from a Republican.”

His willingness to go his own way has raised eyebrows within his party’s caucus, Thompson added.

“They think he’s a cowboy,” he said. “That ain’t the party line, and Keith ain’t touting it.”

Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Richman has lived in the Valley since he was a toddler. He went to Birmingham High School in Van Nuys and then to UC Davis, playing baseball and cracking the books so hard that he won early admission to UCLA medical school. After he earned his M.D., the son of a Sun Valley doctor got a master’s degree in public health.

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Medicine in the Family

Richman went into practice with his father as an internist in a gritty industrial neighborhood in the northeast Valley. Many of their patients were poor, some lacking insurance. About a third spoke only Spanish, he said.

He also became a businessman, founding a health-care company that, after a series of mergers, is known as Lakeside Medical Associates. The Glendale-based group treats 100,000 patients, most of them in the Valley. Richman, who was board chairman before joining the Assembly, owns a small stake in the business and serves on the board.

Married with two grown daughters, he has lived in the same house in Northridge for more than 20 years. His wife, Deborah, is a homemaker and a former psychiatric nurse.

When he’s on a roll, Richman is equal parts bullhorn and broken record. It’s hard to get a word in edgewise, and he says the same thing over and over again.

“It’s clear that the San Fernando Valley doesn’t get its fair share of services. We need a more efficient, effective and accountable government,” he said. He frequently cites figures from a state report showing that City Hall takes more than $100 million in Valley tax revenue yearly than it gives back in services.

One of the first things he would do as mayor, he said, is slash the new city’s business tax in half to attract more jobs. He hopes to deploy more police officers and adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for even minor crimes, such as vandalism.

On the campaign trail, Richman loudly assails Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn for the “conceit and condescension” he shows the Valley. But among friends, the candidate displays a more relaxed side.

At a punch-and-cookies gathering last week at a friend’s law office, Richman mingled easily with about 30 people who had come to sign his nominating papers. He cajoled the real estate agents present into having a group picture taken, at one point whipping out a red plastic comb to style his silver hair.

“At least it’s not a Brad Sherman comb!” he joked, referring to the Democratic congressman’s penchant for handing out campaign combs.

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Switched Parties

The Valley isn’t a natural audience for Richman, who switched parties in 1992. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a wide margin, 51.4% to 28.7%, according to voter registration records.

When Richman won his Assembly seat in 2000, it was the more conservative Ventura County portion of the 38th district that carried him to victory. On the Los Angeles County side, his Democratic rival narrowly beat him.

Richman loaned himself $420,000 in that campaign. Special interests, such as insurance companies, medical groups and the building industry, also contributed heavily.

All the races in the Valley cityhood campaign are nonpartisan. So far, nine candidates--all men--have taken out nominating papers to run for Valley mayor, according to the county registrar-recorder.

The others are Benny Bernal of Mission Hills, Henry Divina of Chatsworth, David Hernandez Jr. of Valley Village, Gregory Roberts of Universal City, Leonard Shapiro of Tarzana, Scott Sobhani of Valley Glen, Marc Strassman of Valley Village and Johnny Walker of Woodland Hills. Several have also pulled papers to run for a council seat.

Secessionists are counting on a bumper crop of candidates to raise interest (and money) for the breakaway campaign.

But so far, most of the announced contenders are hardly household names.

The best-known council candidates are Paula Boland, a former assemblywoman; Richard Leyner, former United Chambers of Commerce chairman; and Scott Svonkin, chief of staff to Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood).

That makes Richman all the more vital to secession proponents, although he says he will contribute only a small amount, perhaps $1,000 or $2,000, to the cityhood campaign. He said he will not spend his own money on the mayoral race.

Some political strategists are doubtful that the efforts of a one-term assemblyman will make much of a difference.

“The dearth of credible candidates is a tremendous problem for the secession campaign,” said John Shallman, a Democratic consultant who plans to campaign against the breakaway measure.

“Keith Richman is standing up there by himself. It’s a Broadway play and all the headliners, all the key actors didn’t show up.”