Riordan Shows Savvy--and Naivete--at State Capitol

Richard Riordan’s journey to the perilous halls of the state Capitol on Thursday revealed a lot about the new mayor’s strengths and weaknesses.

Riordan, who is a Republican, was smart enough to surround himself with Democrats when he met with the Democratic leaders of the Legislature. The meetings were to discuss state plans to slash aid to cities and counties.

Republican Gov. Pete Wilson has proposed taking $2.6 billion from local government to balance his budget. Legislators expect to modify the plan. But the proposed revisions would still inflict severe cuts on Los Angeles, other Southland cities and Los Angeles County.

Two Democrats, City Council finance committee Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky and attorney Kim Wardlaw, a veteran of the Clinton presidential campaign, are representing Riordan in the fight against the cuts. Joining them is budget expert Ron Deaton, the city’s nonpartisan assistant chief legislative analyst.

Giving Yaroslavsky such an important job demonstrates Riordan’s political astuteness.

As a Westside-San Fernando Valley Democratic power, Yaroslavsky has good contacts among Democratic legislators. By enlisting Yaroslavsky, the mayor-elect also gets help in maintaining good relations with the City Council.

Riordan’s determination to cultivate the council also was evident in his warm words for two other council members on the trip, President John Ferraro and President Pro Tem Marvin Braude.

Ferraro had backed Riordan in the mayoral campaign, but Braude had supported Michael Woo. Yaroslavsky was neutral.

Riordan was smart enough not to place himself completely in the hands of the City Hall Establishment. With outsider Wardlaw on the budget team, Riordan has a representative loyal to him. Wardlaw, a partner in the big downtown O’Melveny & Myers law firm, is married to William Wardlaw, head of Riordan’s transition team.

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On the negative side, the new mayor has a lot to learn.

That was evident at Riordan’s news conference with Wilson. A reporter asked him to spell out details of the city’s budget crisis. “I think that is getting very complicated,” he said. “One thing is when you are running for office, the public thinks you know everything. You see through walls. You walk on water. But Zev Yaroslavsky has been living this day and night for a long time. Let me put him up here.” He then turned the podium over to Yaroslavsky.

I was intrigued by how little he knew. I’d covered Ronald Reagan, who avoided details of anything, and he was a pretty successful politician. On the other hand, President Clinton and his aides pride themselves on knowing everything. And look what’s happening to them.

Riordan and I talked about his unfamiliarity with government details as we flew back from Los Angeles at the end of the day. He came down on the Reagan side.

“These budgetary considerations are so complicated that almost nobody understands everything,” he said. “I’ve listened to them and I have been impressed with people nodding and pretending that they know it and I found out today that I don’t know it and they don’t know it, either. Therefore, to some extent, we’re all starting from scratch and that gave me the confidence factor to jump in even though I am not that knowledgeable.

“I’ve been in meetings when . . . a salesman is getting up there with the most complicated scenario and everyone is nodding like they understand it and two-thirds of the way through, I’ll raise my hand and say ‘I don’t understand a word you said’ and all of a sudden people are nodding and saying ‘I wanted to say that, too.’ ”

Has he found it difficult to be in charge when he is unfamiliar with details?

“No,” he said. “In fact, in some ways it’s good. I’ll tell you some of my secrets. It’s good when people want to feel that you need them. By saying: ‘Look, I’m over my head, can you help me on this,’ all of a sudden, they want to help you.”

I asked if it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to ask Yaroslavsky to help him out at the news conference. No, he said, he had decided to rely on him Tuesday afternoon, while the polls were still open. On Thursday, he said: “We drove to the airport together and I told him I was going to rely on him, he was going to be my point person on all this. Why should I reinvent the wheel by becoming the leading (budget) expert in the city when you have the leading expert?”

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The day was full of the applause and handshakes politicians accord big winners. Riordan’s sizable victory also brought him much television coverage. So, for a brief time at least, the city’s budget fight with state government made it to the TV news, a medium usually resistant to Capitol coverage.

That made the day a success. But the Capitol is a dangerous place, especially for a rookie.

Fellow Republican Wilson showed no signs of backing down from proposals that would hurt both Los Angeles city and county. Legislative Democratic sources told me it will be up to Riordan to get the governor to make a deal. Sounds as if the Democrats will sit on the sidelines until Riordan gets results.

The message Riordan brought back from Sacramento is “produce.” Although it may have been refreshing to hear him candidly admit his ignorance of budget details, Riordan’s new-kid-on-the-block act will grow tired soon. In the end, he’ll have to be able to hold the stage himself.