Dodgers on Agenda

The best place to find a Los Angeles elected official Monday was not at City Hall, but a few miles away at Dodger Stadium.

The team’s opening day game against the San Diego Padres was such a hallowed event to some City Council members that they shut down their offices and switched on the answering machines. Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes the stadium, bought tickets for his employees.

Others, such as Mayor James K. Hahn, kept their staff working at City Hall while they basked in the aroma of Dodger dogs.

In all, at least 10 of the city’s 15 council members as well as Hahn and City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo attended the game.

While blue skies and an afternoon start time proved an irresistible draw, many officials insisted that they were still doing the city’s business from the stands.

Instead of stretching during the seventh-inning break, Councilman Eric Garcetti took the time to give an interview on housing policies.

“They love my quote,” he joked as he expounded on Los Angeles zoning policies while the crowd exploded into a roar in the background.

Other elected officials said they too were working while at the game -- which provided some comfort when the Dodgers lost 8 to 2.

“You know, the game was disappointing,” said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who attended with a friend. But she said she had discussed “everything from inclusionary zoning to the relocation of the Harbor Police.”

“We never miss an opportunity to do city business,” she said.

A spokesman for Delgadillo said the city attorney invited several staff members and would probably be discussing his office’s budget, among other issues, between at-bats.

A few city officials could not attend. Councilman Tom LaBonge was out of town with his family.

Council President Alex Padilla was in Texas, where, among other things, he attended a fundraiser for his reelection effort. But he did find time to attend another sporting event: the NCAA basketball finals.

Councilman Tony Cardenas was among the few in City Hall who did not attend the game because of work commitments.

“Going to opening day is pretty cool, but I’ve got work to do,” he said.

The ritual of Los Angeles elected officials in the stands at opening day has a long tradition. And it’s an important one, said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

“It’s not only a sporting event, it’s also a cultural, civic and political event,” he said.

Lobbyist Joe Cerrell, a fixture in Los Angeles city politics who represents the team’s new owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, said he had fond memories of attending games with the late council President John Ferraro.

On Monday, Cerrell held forth in one of the McCourts’ luxury suites.

Chef Wolfgang Puck dropped by, as did so many council members that Cerrell said some worried about violating the state’s open-meetings law.

Cerrell pointed out that politics and baseball have a lot in common. In both, he said, “winning isn’t everything, but losing is nothing.”