Inauguration Reflects District

There was a rabbi, a priest and a shaman, an Irish band, Japanese martial-arts-style drummers, Tongan dancers, a guy dressed like a strawberry and, just down the boardwalk, a place to have your palm read, your name written on a grain of rice and a dragon tattooed on your arm.

Los Angeles’ newest council member, Bill Rosendahl, played host to an inauguration ceremony in Venice on Saturday as eclectic as the 11th District he represents.

Rosendahl, 60, won the Westside district race to replace Cindy Miscikowski, who left office because of term limits. The scene of gridlocked traffic and battles over new development at Playa Vista and the expansion of LAX, the 11th District is one of the city’s most contentious.

A former cable television executive and host of a public affairs show who is openly gay, Rosendahl won the race largely by pledging to oppose new development until his district’s traffic problems could be resolved. He was endorsed by a majority of the City Council and defeated Miscikowski’s preferred successor, civic activist Flora Gil Krisiloff of Brentwood, by a 13-point margin in a sometimes acrimonious campaign.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in a short speech at the inauguration, commended Rosendahl for having the “courage of his convictions,” even when his positions were unpopular.

Rosendahl is “unabashedly a progressive -- that’s a good thing -- but a problem solver and a consensus builder, and that’s a good thing as well,” Villaraigosa said.

Liberal activists attending the event were thrilled by the dual inaugurations, of Villaraigosa on Friday and Rosendahl on Saturday.

“A good day, yesterday and today, for Los Angeles,” one supporter said, greeting the guests as they arrived.

There was little pomp and circumstance at the swearing-in ceremony, which was part of Venice’s 100th anniversary celebration. The morning began, predictably enough, with the Great American Yankee Freedom Band playing familiar patriotic songs. But then, with no transition, a group of Japanese-style drummers, the Venice Koshin Taiko, erupted into an invigorating, high-decibel presentation of what could best be described as musical martial arts.

When they finished, the patriotic band launched into a soft rendition of “America the Beautiful.” The freewheeling Venice Drum Circle ended the event with a jam session.

Instead of keeping the free spirits of Venice at arm’s length, Rosendahl welcomed them onstage.

Venice beatnik poet Philomene Long, shouting into the microphone in a crusty voice, read a poem she had written for the new councilman, telling him to “preserve and protect the body and soul of Venice” and let the light that created Venice a century ago “burn, burn, burn into a boundless luminosity!”

Rosendahl also shared the stage with a family member’s dog, a young nephew who held the Bible and former Mayor Richard Riordan, as well as Villaraigosa and other dignitaries

Such an all-inclusive style is what Rosendahl says he had in mind, not just for his inaugural event but for his council term.

He represents a disparate district, one that Rabbi Leonard Beerman, in the invocation, called “very riotous and crazy.”

In addition to Venice, dominated by renters, and the communities of Mar Vista and Playa del Rey, the 11th District contains the more affluent and staid neighborhoods of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

“It’s all about people and partnerships,” Rosendahl told the crowd of about 500.

Asked to describe Rosendahl’s strengths, most supporters repeated the same thing: He listens to us.

“He’s a people person, not a power person,” said Ken Marsh, a member of the Mar Vista Community Council.

Constituents on Saturday said they hoped Rosendahl would bring transparency to the decisions of the 15-member City Council, which currently has two vacant seats.

In his “Constituent Bill of Rights,” he pledged to answer all calls from people and keep his office open to drop-in visits. Some expressed doubt that he could live up to such pledges in a busy district, but they were pleased to hear it anyway.

“We’re not expecting any favors, just a little bit more of an open-door policy,” said Tony Navarro of Mar Vista, where Rosendahl lives.

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Times staff writer Steve Hymon contributed to this report.