Mayor Richard Riordan Speaks on Education, Crime, Curfews, Jobs, Buses and More
A teen interviews Richard Riordan.
“I’ve never been a real big fan of politics. It seems the more I try to understand, the more puzzled I become. But now I had an interview with Mayor Richard Riordan and I had to try to get a grasp on some of the issues. I figured Riordan had a lot of power. I thought he had control of how much money my school would get for new supplies or better cafeteria food. I felt he had power over the school fine arts programs that were being cut off. I also thought that he could influence the passage of propositions such as 187 (regarding immigrants) or 209 (affirmative action). I found out that his power is less than I thought because he has to work with so many other people.
As I began to learn about Riordan, by reading through LA Times articles and browsing through a stack of pamphlets about the mayor, I began to get my own view of him and understood some of his proposals and ideas. Some things I read confused me like the campaign and finance issues. Tom Hayden, who is also running for Mayor, seemed childish, as he accused the mayor of accepting money from inappropriate sources. He seemed to be trying to corner Riordan to get votes. In contrast, Riordan seems confident and calm, focused on the issues facing Los Angeles.
I learned that he’s a Catholic, even though he has been divorced twice. He feels abortion is wrong, but he is pro-choice, according to the Times. He has a girlfriend, Nancy Daly. He had five children in his first marriage, two of whom have died. His son died at 21 in a scuba-diving accident in 1978 and his daughter at 18 from an eating disorder in 1982. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York, where he served as an altar boy, and he majored in philosophy at Princeton.
He said his faith helped him deal with his children’s deaths. “The beliefs I had had a lot to do with me keeping my sanity,” he told the L.A. Times. “Losing a child is literally like having somebody take a sledgehammer over your head. But you have… to say there are other people, other children out there that need me. I don’t have a right to wallow in my sorrow forever. Let the sorrow go, but then get on with it.”
With a fortune estimated at $100 million, he lives in Brentwood. Rather than adding more to his riches, as mayor he takes a salary of only $1 a year. He has his own foundation, the Riordan Foundation, which gives $4 million a year to schools and agencies to help kids learn to read, use computers and develop other skills.
And now the interview
I walked into City Hall and went up a very nice elevator, which smelled like cologne. As the doors of the elevator opened, I noticed the red carpet with a golden-colored design. I turned right and let the guard know I was there to interview the Mayor. “Why don’t you just interview me?” he said. I smiled, felt a little more comfortable and went down a very long hallway. I waited on a cushioned bench, after letting the secretary up front know my name and that I had an interview with the Mayor. I sat there for a while, watching as people with briefcases passed by, the men in sharp suits, with nice ties and shiny shoes, the women in business dresses, high heels, nice jewelry, well-groomed hair and natural make-up. When they saw me, their foreheads wrinkled. They seemed surprised to see a teenager at City Hall.
There’s the mayor
Finally Jason Greenwald, one of the Mayor’s press aides, stepped out and greeted me. He took me into another long hallway. From a distance I saw the Mayor, wearing a classy blue suit. After introductions, we went to a beautiful room, furnished like a living room, with couches and chairs. All around, there were many pictures of him with different people.
Riordan promised to add 3,000 police officers to the Los Angeles Police Department, and so far he has actually added about 1,800. But I wanted to know how he plans to prevent crime, because I think that’s more effective than just locking people up.
Riordan said he would like to expand existing programs, such as the Police Explorers, mentoring programs and police magnet schools, which exist at Dorsey, Monroe and Wilson. He talked about pursuing federal funding for more child care centers. He mentioned L.A. Bridges, a middle-school program.
But the main thing, he stressed, was to offer youth hope by making sure they were successful in school. “The bottom line is to hit kids early—at preschool age, so that as they grow older, they are reading, writing and problem solving,” he said. He said the school should be held accountable if a student receives an “F.” Just as a journalist or a doctor would be fired if they couldn’t do their jobs, teachers and administrators who can’t teach should be held responsible. He added that a child unable to read or belong to anything positive will soon turn to crime, doing things that will get them into trouble. For the same reasons, he favors reducing classroom sizes in high schools.
Because I’m concerned about cuts to the music program at my school, I asked what he could do to help arts programs. He said he didn’t have control of the budget cuts in schools. I was kind of upset at knowing that all he could answer me was that he didn’t have control. It wasn’t his fault, but I thought he had more power over issues like this. But he added that he has given money to the Cultural Affairs Dept., a city organization that funds everything from performances to art classes.
Riordan favors curfews for teens, saying young kids are on the streets late at night to cause trouble. He added that the communities themselves are the ones wanting curfews. They’re tired of crimes, they don’t want trouble. Since I was on the curfew topic, I began talking to him about the attitude given to many teenagers by police officers. “It’s wrong for police to treat teens unfairly but the department is doing a good job. It’s up to the leaders to make a change,” he said. I feel the department can easily make a change but they refuse to treat teens as young adults. If they give respect, I feel some teenagers will return that respect.
When I asked about the medicinal use of marijuana, I found I had something in common with the Mayor. “Geez, you have to bring that up. You have to look at the risks. Marijuana in San Francisco is being misused,” he said. He said he thinks too many people are taking advantage of the new law to smoke bud when they’re not really sick. I agree but wondered, what if a patient really needs it?
He opposes raising the minimum wage
What might seem surprising to many is Riordan’s opposition to raising the minimum wage to $7.50 per hour, a proposition raised by the City Council. He said many jobs will be lost because of companies going elsewhere where there is cheaper labor. He added, though, that if the minimum wage does go up, he thinks teens will still be able to get jobs.
Riordan’s staff started a summer program, LA Youth At Work, which offered 3,000 summer jobs. He has also fought to protect the Summer Youth Employment Program, which has 12,000 jobs for youth.
Riordan wants to improve bus service
When it came to the improvement of buses, he would like more resources to go to buses rather than the subway system, since more people ride the bus. “What we need is a much more creative and expanded system of buses,” he said. He proposed having “smart shuttles” that would link existing bus lines, relieving overcrowding and making more destinations accessible by bus. He didn’t say for sure where he would get the money to do this, simply, “We must come up with funds.”
Finally the Mayor’s press aide interrupted our discussion, saying the Mayor needed to get on to other business. He then got up and shook my hand. “Let’s take a picture,” he said. The camera wasn’t working and while they went to get another one he asked me “So where do you want to go to school?” I named a couple of universities and he said “Good, that’s very good. Everything’s possible, just give it your all.”
Even after researching and interviewing Mayor Richard Riordan, I couldn’t tell you exactly what he does. It was at the interview that I realized what a large staff he has and how many people he needs to talk to before what he proposes can actually be put into effect. But now when I watch the news and I hear about Riordan, I know, more or less, what they’re talking about.”