SOUTH BAY NEWS : Svorinich Grapples With Exodus of Staff Members : Government: Former aides air criticism of freshman councilman. But he dismisses barbs as acts of reprisal.

Barely seven months after winning election, Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. finds his office in upheaval with the departure of six aides, including his chief deputy and longtime friend, John Vidovich.

While the long-term impact of the firings and resignations is uncertain, what is clear is that the paint-store-owner-turned-politician must spend the coming weeks repairing an office that has seen the biggest City Hall exodus in recent years. And that alone could make his next few months as bumpy as the last ones, especially with once-loyal former aides now airing sharp criticism of their former boss, whose district stretches from Watts to San Pedro.

“I feel very betrayed,” said Brian Hannon, who had been Svorinich’s field deputy in Harbor City and Harbor Gateway. “I truly believed in him, believed he was the common man--the man with grass-roots support--who could make a difference at City Hall.”

Now, Hannon said: “I don’t know what to believe. I have lost all respect for him. I have lost all trust in him.”

Said another former aide, John Barbieri: “We have all reached the same conclusion that Rudy has a problem: He is simply unable to tell the truth.”

In an interview this week, Svorinich dismissed the criticism as predictable reactions to his decision to overhaul the office.

“Don’t you think if you were the person who was asked to leave that you would be very ashamed that your employer no longer had confidence in you (and) that you were going to rationalize any way you could that you . . . are not the bad guy?” Svorinich said.

He also sought to discount any long-term consequences to his office stemming from the departures.

“When all else is said and done, I have to do what is best for people of the 15th Council District. That’s my job. And I will continue to do that,” he said, predicting the staff positions--almost half his office--would be filled within 30 days.

The turmoil began Jan. 20 when Vidovich resigned with a biting four-page memo to Svorinich.

“Rudy, we have been friends for a long time, and I feel that this position I’m in is on the verge of seriously damaging a 20-year friendship,” wrote Vidovich, an L.A. city fire captain who took a leave from that job to join Svorinich’s office.

Vidovich, 33, intended to work in the office up to two years. But his memo portrays his tenure with Svorinich as an exasperating experience. Among other things, the memo claims, Svorinich often ignored his staff, was indecisive on important issues and had alienated both staff and other council members with his actions.

“Rudy, you have to get your act together. You have to stop canceling meetings, stop lying to your staff, and spend more time developing relationships with your colleagues,” Vidovich wrote. “Basically, you have to mature and grow up.”

Hannon, 29, who left teaching to become a field deputy, said he decided to leave after a frustrating two-hour meeting with Svorinich the same day Vidovich resigned. During that meeting, Hannon said, he confronted Svorinich over the councilman’s refusal to follow recommendations of his staff.

Barbieri, an aide to former Rep. Glenn Anderson (D-Long Beach) and a congressional candidate himself, charged that Svorinich had undermined his staff and its ability to serve the public.

“Your compulsive lying, lack of personal integrity and outright bumbling of your official duties does great harm to the community that has placed its trust in you, and diminishes the value of the office you hold,” Barbieri wrote in a resignation memo submitted after a meeting with Svorinich.

Svorinich insisted that such criticism was news to him--proving, he said, the attacks were motivated by reprisal.

“In my first seven months in office, I never had a harsh word, a reprimand or any significant disagreement with any member of my staff. Ever. Nor did a staff member, until the resignation of John Vidovich . . . ever come up to me and say, ‘I have a problem with you.’ ”

Nevertheless, there was additional criticism involving Svorinich’s office that is unlikely to disappear in the near future.

Several former aides, for example, have alleged that political contributions were accepted by staff at a San Pedro field office--a practice that violates the city’s ethics laws.

In one instance, the date of which is unclear, an envelope containing contribution checks to Svorinich were delivered to the office and taken by a council aide who later reported the incident to the city’s Ethics Commission. And though Svorinich said the matter was closed, an Ethics Commission official, as is common practice, refused to confirm or deny whether an inquiry is under way.

Meantime, as Svorinich confidently announced his search for new staff, some former aides predicted his quest would all but cripple his political agenda.

“I think the whole district is going to suffer,” Hannon said, “(because) Rudy is going to become so consumed with dealing with this one problem--all the resignations--that he is not going to be able to do anything else in the district . . . He won’t be able to do his job effectively.”