Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan speaks about the proposed El Toro airport Monday at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Mayor Riordan says the poor should be considered when making decisions and that is why he favors an airport. He thinks the it will bring new jobs and help the economy. Photo by: Mindy Schauer
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Those three words, spoken by City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez on Thursday, April 20, embodied former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who passed away Wednesday evening at the age of 91, a moderate Republican who brought the city together to focus on rebuilding amid some of its bleakest days.
A venture capitalist before that moniker was coined, an adopted Angeleno who saved a beloved local eatery from the wrecking ball and a problem-solver who helped guide the city after the Rodney King riots and the Northridge earthquake. He surprised even longtime colleagues when, already past 60, he abandoned his private sector success in 1993 to run for mayor as an outsider. He served eight years before term limits forced him out, but he continued to dabble in politics and served 17 months as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s secretary of education.
Riordan, a successful lawyer and businessman who came to politics late in life, spurned the job’s six-figure salary and accepted only $1 to run the city. He valued results and did not care for bureaucratic excuses for why certain things could not be achieved, Rodriguez said.
“His leadership style was ‘get things done,’” she recalled. “He allowed everybody the freedom to do what we needed to do to make the city work. He was interested in moving things along expeditiously and not making excuses.”
PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS Mayor Richard Riordan is sworn into office by Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, left. At center is Nancy Daly. [970701 CA 3B 1] 7/01/97 3bmo LA Mayor Mayor Richard Riordan, right, raises his hand as he takes the oath of office for his second term as mayor of the nation’s second-largest city administered from Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, left, in Los Angeles, Monday, June 30, 1997. Seen in center is Riordan’s long-time companion Nancy Daly. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan smiles while saying goodbye to members of the media after giving a speech at Siebel Systems in San Mateo Wednesday. Riordam announced on Tuesday his plan to seek the Republican nomination for governor of California.
July 1993: Mayor Richard Riordan and Rep. Maxine Waters, left, greet Nelson Mandela as he gets off a plane at Los Angeles International Airport. Daily News file photo
Left to right, unidentified LAPD officer, LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and LAPD Commander David Kalish survey the scene around the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California, Tuesday, August 10, 1999, where five victims, three male children and two female adults, were shot.
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan picks up a tip from a customer at his restaurant “The Pantry,” Friday, June 29, 2001 in downtown Los Angeles. Riordan will be handing over control of the nation’s second largest city on Saturday after serving eight years as mayor. He started his first term by turning down the mayor’s three-figure salary and accepting $1 a year to do the job. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
ST. PATRICK PARADE–Grand Marshall of the St. Patricks Day Parade in Los Angeles monday, Richard Riordan, waves to crowds. Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News
At LAX, dignitaries gathered to open the new Tom Bradley International Terminal. L to R: Former Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and James Hahn with Mayor Eric Garcetti and former Mayor Dick Riordan. (Wed. Sept 18, 2013 Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger chats with Education Secretary Richard Riordan as he gestures while listening to FAME Academy students sing at Mt. Diablo High School on Monday, February 7, 2005 in Concord, Calif. Schwarzenegger visisted Mt. Diablo High School to promote vocational education. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Contra Costa Times)
President Bush puts on a cowboy hat given to him by Mayor Richard Riordan as he arrives at Los Angeles International Airport, Monday May 28, 2001. Bush will meet with Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday to discuss California’s energy crisis. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who was paired with PGA Pro Geoff Ogilvy,puts his ball on the 3rd green while during the Pro-Am at Riviera Country Club for the 2008 Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles CA 2-13-08. John McCoy /staff photographer LA Daily News
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Bill Jones, center, Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, left, and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, right, wave after their GOP debate at San Jose State University, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan speaks about the proposed El Toro airport Monday at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Mayor Riordan says the poor should be considered when making decisions and that is why he favors an airport. He thinks the it will bring new jobs and help the economy. Photo by: Mindy Schauer
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Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, left, shows his support for mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa at the Kindergarten Learning Center in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles Friday, April 1, 2005. Riordan officially announced his endorsement of Villaraigosa during their visit. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
FILE — Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan shakes his fist in the air in jest as he talks to a crowd of supporters after riding on a bicycle to the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Aug. 6, 2001, part of a statewide tour. Riordan said he would be “ready to fight” if he decides to run for governor. He may be the Republican Party’s best hope to become California’s governor, but things so far look a little shaky from the inside. Riordan has not decided whether he will run, and even if he does, some party members say his lack of political experience, blunt personal style and occasionally liberal record may hurt his chances in the GOP primary next March. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, left, foregound, talks to bus rider Isidro Sanchez, 31, right, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000, in downtown Los Angeles. Riordan rode one of the first buses to run Wednesday to welcome riders back after the resolution was reached ending the bus and rail operators strike against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, right, listens as Jean Rosone, owner of Costume Collection, which supplies costumes for movie and television shows, describes how runaway production and now the threat of a writers’ strike has driven her company out of business, at a news conference held by representatives of several entertainment-related businesses April 27, 2001, at 20th Century Props in Los Angeles’ North Hollywood district. Riordan urged the writers and producers to reach an agreement before a scheduled May 1 deadline. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Los Angeles Police Department’s new chief Bernard Parks takes oath of office administered by City Clerk Mike Carey, left, during ceremonies Tuesday, Aug. 12, 1997, at Los Angeles City Hall. The chief’s wife, Bobbi Parks, right, holds her husband’s arm as Mayor Richard Riordan, left of center, members of the City Council and visitors look on. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Ken Lubas)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, center, flanked by Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metropolitan Transit Authority Board chairperson Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, left, and mediator Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, addresses a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000 in Los Angeles. The press conference was called to announce an agreement in contract talks between Metropolitan Transit Authority and United Transportation Union members. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Clarence Williams)
Richard Riordan speaks in the third and final GOP gubernatorial debate in Long Beach, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2002. With the March 5 primary less than three weeks away, Riordan joined fellow candidates Bill Jones and Bill Simon in the one-hour debate at California State University, Long Beach. (AP Photo/Lucy Nicholson)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, center, is flanked by California Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and actress Jayne Meadows as they join a parade of celebrities dishing out the makings of a complete Thanksgiving turkey dinner in a food line at the Los Angeles Mission in downtown?s Skid Row on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1997. The mission planned to serve some 4,000 meals to the needy and homeless. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan holds up type written copy of the Gettysburg Address before he read it. Riordan recited the speech while standing behind a podium with a bronze plaque that contains the entire speech. The 19th annual Abraham Lincoln Remembrance was held at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood, CA. 2-12-2011. (John McCoy/staff photographer)
Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Kevin James campaigns with former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan at the Los Angeles Farmers Market Monday. Elections are Tuesday. Photo by David Crane/Staff Photographer
Architect Frank Gehry, left, talks with former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan during a dedication ceremony for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, middle, receives the endorsement of the former Los Angeles Lakers star and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, left, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and former Los Angeles mayor, and former California Secretary of Education Richard J. Riordan, Monday April 11, 2005, at news conference at the 24 Hour Fitness Sports Club in Sherman Oaks, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
(NYT15) LOS ANGELES — Nov. 6, 2001 — CALIF-GOV-RIORDAN-2 — Former Mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles entered the race for governor of California on Tuesday, joining the field of Republicans seeking the nomination to unseat Democrat Gray Davis. Riordan, center, is kissed by a supporter after announcing his candidacy on Tuesday at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. (Monica Almeida/The New York Times)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, second from right, joins musicians Phil Ramone, David Foster and Quincy Jones, left to right, in a rendition of Randy Newman?s ?I Love L.A.? after announcing that the Grammy Awards are returning to Los Angeles during a news conference in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday, June 16, 1998. The announcement comes four months after New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani got in to a public spat with the head of the awards show. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, left, gubernatorial hopeful, greets fellow bicyclists following a charity bike ride before the LA Marathon, Sunday, March 3, 2002, in Los Angeles. According to recent polls, Riordan is trailing behind Republican businessman Bill Simon for Tuesday’s primary. (AP Photo/Lee Celano)
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan recited the speech while standing behind a podium with a bronze plaque that contains the entire speech. The 19th annual Abraham Lincoln Remembrance was held at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood, CA. 2-12-2011. (John McCoy/staff photographer)
Former Mayor Richard Riordan, back left, talks with L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich at a forum of exhibits and workshops presented by the Valley Economic Alliance at CSUN commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, January 17, 2014. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)
397552 08: Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan (L) and talk show host Larry Elder attend the “Thanksgiving Day Meal” for the homeless at the Los Angeles Mission November 21, 2001 in Los Angeles, CA. The Mission serves an estimated 4,000 Thanksgiving Day meals to the homeless each year. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan arrives for the Funeral service for Nancy Reagan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA March 90, 2016. (Photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)
Congressman Brad Sherman, left, former Mayor of L.A. Richard Riordan, center, Mayor Eric Garcetti meet at a forum of exhibits and workshops presented by the Valley Economic Alliance at CSUN commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, January 17, 2014. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)
left to right Dr. Marlene R. Bane, Justice Armand Arabian, Gloria Pollack and Richard J. Riordan, back row, Deputy Chief Michael R. Moore, Dr. Keith S. Richman and Mike Curb on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, at the Hilton in Woodland Hills for the Armand Arabian Awards. (Tina Burch/staff photographer)
Former Mayor Richard Riordan arrives at the United Chambers of Commerce of San Fernando Valley & Region’s 10th Annual Mayor’s Luncheon, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, at the Warner Center Marriott. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker/Los Angeles Daily News)
At LAX, dignitaries gathered to open the new Tom Bradley International Terminal. Current Mayor Eric Garcetti, center, chat with former Mayor Dick Riordan. Former Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and James Hahn seated beside. (Wed. Sept 18, 2013 Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze
California Secretary for Education Richard Riordan reads the book “The Napping House” to second-graders at La Primaria Elementary School in El Monte on Tuesday, June 8, 2004. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Staff photo by Bernardo Alps/SVCity)
California Secretary for Education Richard Riordan picks a student to answer one of his questions while reading the book “The Napping House” to second-graders at La Primaria Elementary School in El Monte on Tuesday, June 8, 2004. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Staff photo by Bernardo Alps/SVCity)
Deputy LAPD Chief David Gascon and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan inspect the first graduating class of the Los Angeles Police Academy Magnet Schools, held Thursday at the Police Academy in downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Brad Graverson 6-1-00
Azusa: State Education Secretary Richard Riordan speaks to Superintendents from the San Gabriel Valley about the state of education in California at the Azusa Unified School District office in Azusa,Calif., April 23,2004.
(SGV Tribune Staff Photo Keith Birmingham/City)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan reviews new officers of the Los Angeles Police Recruit Class of March 1999 during their graduation exercices ceremony Thursday, Sept. 23, 1999 at the Los Angeles Police Academy. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
NHRA founder and chairman Wally Parks, right, receives a proclamation from Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan during 50th anniversary celebration in front of Parker Center in Los Angeles on Monday, January 29, 2001. (SGVN/Staff photo by Bernardo Alps/Sports)
At LAX, dignitaries gathered to open the new Tom Bradley International Terminal. L to R: Former Mayors Dick Riordan and Antonio Villaraigosa with Mayor Eric Garcetti. Lorraine and Phyllis Bradley and former Mayor James Hahn. (Wed. Sept 18, 2013 Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze
385121 01: Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan arrives to the scandal-wracked LA Police Rampart Station to address officers during their mid-day roll call and announce “significant police reform measures”, February 2, 2000, in Los Angeles, CA. In the end, many police officers and members of the media were left wondering what the mayor had tried to convey. Officers at the Rampart Division are the subjects of investigation and prosecution in the biggest police scandal case in Los Angeles history. (Photo by David McNew/Newsmakers)
Britain’s Prince Charles looks at his wristwatch to check the time of his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on October 31, 1994. At center is Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Prince Charles is to spend five days visiting the Los Angeles area. – traitement cc (Photo by Carlos SCHIEBECK / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS SCHIEBECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan, left, laughs with Richard Riordan, Mayor of Los Angeles, left, during a ceremony outside the Mayor?s residence in Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 29, 1999. (AP Photo/E.J. Flynn)
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: Los Angeles Mayor-elect Richard Riordan raises his fist and shouts thanks to his supporters 08 June 1993 after he defeated opponent Michael Woo, a Democratic city councilman. In the nonpartisan runoff election, Riordan, a Republican businessman, took 54 percent of the vote. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
403856 04: (L-R) Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) Chair Frank Colonna, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, California Governor Gray Davis, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and an unidentified dignitary throw mock railroad switches during the finale of the grand opening ceremony of the Alameda Corridor railway April 12, 2002 in Los Angeles, CA. The $2.4 billion freight rail expressway links the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with transcontinental rail yards near downtown Los Angeles. It is the biggest public works project in southern California history. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
FILE – Academy Award-nominated actress Cicely Tyson reacts to the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Aug. 21, 1997. Honorary Mayor of Hollywood and chairman of the Walk of Fame committee Johnny Grant, left, and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan joined Tyson for the unveiling. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” has died. She was 96. Tyson’s death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Accompanied by California Department of Transportation workers and Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan, second from left, President Bill Clinton squats as he surveys a crater on Balboa Avenue in the Northridge area of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 1994, caused by Monday’s earthquake in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)
El-Maati Chaham of Morocco, reacts as he crosses the finish line of the 12th Annual Los Angeles Marathon Sunday, March 2, 1997, in as Mayor Richard Riordan cheers him on in the background. Chaham’s unofficial time was 2:14:16. (AP Photo/John Hayes)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan officially announces his re-election campaigns in the Studio City area of Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 1997. Riordan kicked off his re-election bid with a speech indicating that fighting crime will be his top issue. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
SUN VALLEY, ID – JULY 10: Richard ‘Dick’ Riordan (R), former mayor of Los Angeles, attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 10, 2014 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Many of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful executives from media, finance, and technology attend the annual week-long conference which is in its 32nd year. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, right and City Councilman Richard Alatorre, left, comfort fire dept. Deputy Chief Davis Parsons after chief broke down following a news conference at the scene of a department helicopter crash that killed four and injured two 5-mile northwest of downtown Los Angeles on Monday, March 23, 1998. The Airship was transporting an 11-year-old traffic accident victim to Children?s Hospital when it went down killing three firefighters and the accident victim along with injuring two crew members. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Riordan “passed peacefully this evening at his home in Brentwood, surrounded by his wife Elizabeth, family, friends and precious pet dogs,” his family announced Wednesday night. Riordan was 92.
Riordan, the only Republican to hold the nonpartisan position since 1961, when Norris Poulson lost a bid for a third term, was elected in 1993, succeeding Tom Bradley, who held the position for a record 20 years.
Riordan took office slightly more than a year after the rioting that followed the verdict in the state trial of the Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the beating of motorist Rodney King, then had another challenge to face in his first year in office — the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Rodriguez also said Riordan cared deeply about the city’s youth – and was often moved to reach into his own pockets to provide for them. Once, she recalled, he was invited to tour a school in downtown L.A. Upon seeing that the school’s computer lab lacked updated equipment, he immediately got on the phone, called the foundation he had started and demanded they send over new computers.
He spent $6 million of his own money on his first campaign. “He ran on a theme that he was ‘tough enough to turn L.A. around,’” said Rodriguez. “The truth was, it wasn’t tough. It was love, it was care … to give back to the people of the city.”
As mayor, Riordan gained a national reputation as an affable, accessible municipal leader who was dismissive of big government. He was sometimes faulted for poor relations with the City Council, where his scorn for bureaucracy was not well received.
Riordan himself loved to tell the story of how his administration had circumvented bureaucracy to help downtown business owners who had complained that “No Parking” signs were cutting sales. A mayoral aide went out and simply tore the signs down.
“Needless to say, I promoted him,” Riordan said. “And we came up with an axiom: that in government, it is much easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.”
He was sometimes prone to verbal gaffes, but they seemed to endear him to many residents of a city often indifferent to the scrum of local politics.
Riordan turned back a challenge by state Sen. Tom Hayden, the former student radical and ex-husband of Jane Fonda, to win a second term in 1997.
Riordan was socially progressive but fiscally conservative. And he aimed to keep his adopted hometown whole, even amid efforts to split off the San Fernando Valley during his terms.
“One of his main legacies was fending off not only Valley secession but secession of Hollywood and San Pedro-Wilmington,” said Tom Hogen-Esch, chair of political science department at Cal State Northridge.
Current Mayor Karen Bass praised her predecessor: “Mayor Richard Riordan loved Los Angeles, and devoted so much of himself to bettering our city,” she said in a statement. “He always had a place in his heart for the children of L.A., and worked to improve how the city served our youth and communities as a passionate member of the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners.
“Mayor Riordan’s legacy includes our city’s iconic Central Library, which he saved and rebuilt, and which today carries his name.”
“Before Oprah had a book club,” added Rodriguez, who described the mayor as an avid reader with an extensive personal library, “Mayor Riordan had a book club.”
The Flower Street entrance through the Maguire Gardens at the Richard J. Riordan Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library in Los Angeles on Sunday, December 4, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“I served alongside Mayor Riordan during my first two years on the Los Angeles City Council and am proud of the work we did together on behalf Los Angeles families,” said Sen. Alex Padilla. “Mayor Riordan cared deeply about the city’s children and prioritized the modernization of parks, libraries, and recreational and cultural opportunities for kids. He was instrumental in bringing the Children’s Museum of Los Angeles—now known as the Discovery Cube Los Angeles—to the San Fernando Valley. His legacy has left a lasting mark on our city, and his loss will be deeply felt by all Angelenos.”
Riordan owned multiple restaurants but had a soft spot for the Original Pantry, an old-school downtown diner that Riordan bought as an investment property and couldn’t bring himself to shutter.
Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian said Riordan loved the city and his contributions to the city were extraordinary and lasting.
“He drove the long-delayed completion of Disney Concert Hall, presided over the restoration of City Hall, and rebuilt a library system that had been ravaged by budget cuts and the catastrophic Central Library fire.”
Riordan was also instrumental in leading the drive for city charter reform that created the neighborhood council system, Krekorian said.
“The conflicts of that era resisted easy resolution, but Mayor Riordan always aimed for progress not perfection, and in the Riordan years the city saw very real progress,” Krekorian said.
Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, recalled Riordan as a driving force behind the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and a champion of Catholic education who helped found the Catholic Education Foundation in 1987. Today, more than 10,000 grants a year are made through that organization to families who could not otherwise afford tuition, according to the archdiocese.
“Dick Riordan was an Irish Catholic exuding the charm, creativity, and energy which led him ‘to raise our wings and soar,”‘ Mahony said. “He loved new ideas, he was passionate about moving beyond the past ways and methods, and he was bold in engaging in any new idea or plan which would help people across the city. … His legacies span an enormous spectrum of commitment to serving all people and their communities in every way possible.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore wrote on Twitter, “LAPD joins all of Los Angeles in extending condolences to the family of Mayor Richard Riordan. Mayor Riordan loved Los Angeles & believed in the men & women of LAPD. His Public Safety Initiative rebuilt the Department with critical staffing & technology. May God welcome him home.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said Riordan was the right mayor for the right time for L.A.
“He led us through challenging times and championed charter reforms that made our city better. I am grateful I could celebrate his 92nd birthday with him last year and thank him for everything he did for our city,” Hahn posted on Twitter.
City Councilman Tim McOsker said he worked with Riordan while serving as a deputy city attorney, calling him “passionate, determined and tough.”
“He knew charter reform was necessary and I was honored to be among those who worked to pass needed reforms and create a more accountable and efficient city government, including creating a citywide network of neighborhood councils to encourage community participation,” McOsker said in a statement. “Even in disagreement over policy, Mayor Riordan and the city family had the same goal of making Los Angeles a better place.”
Riordan’s unconventional approach translated less well in state politics than it did in the City of Angels. He failed to win over the GOP faithful when he ran for governor in 2002, losing to conservative businessman Bill Simon in his party’s primary election.
“As a candidate for governor, he wasn’t a great candidate, but he was a great guy,” said Joel Fox, policy director for Riordan’s gubernatorial campaign. “He was all over the map a little bit as a candidate, would seek a lot of advice from people, ignored a lot of advice. But as an individual, he was a great guy. He was good to work with.”
After his loss, Riordan announced plans to start a daily newspaper, but nothing came of it.
He considered running as a candidate in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election until Schwarzenegger, his friend and fellow centrist Republican, got into the race.
Riordan was born May 1, 1930, and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He was the youngest of eight children in an Irish Catholic family. He attended an all-male Jesuit prep school where both neckties and Latin were mandatory.
He attended Santa Clara University, where he played on the football team. After two years at Santa Clara, he transferred to Princeton. Following his time at Princeton, he served in the Army in Korea and graduated first in his class at the University of Michigan Law School.
Riordan married Eugenia “Genie” Warady at a resort in New York and moved to Southern California. They had five children and he built a law practice, eventually founding Riordan & McKinzie.
He emerged as a political player in the 1980s, lending $300,000 to Tom Bradley’s campaign for governor and served on the city’s Coliseum and Recreation and Parks commissions. He also helped lead a successful campaign to oust state Supreme Court Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird in 1986.
Two of Riordan’s children died during his rise in political circles. Billy, his only son, died in a scuba diving accident off the East Coast days before his 22nd birthday. His daughter Carol died from complications of an eating disorder when she was 19.
Riordan was married four times. He was married to Genie Riordan for 23 years before the marriage was annulled by the Catholic church. He married Jill Noel in 1990, children’s activist Nancy Daly in 1998, and Elizabeth Gregory, then head of admissions at Harvard-Westlake School, in 2017.
Riordan is survived by his wife; three children, Mary Elizabeth Riordan, Kathleen Ann Riordan and Patricia Riordan Torrey; three grandchildren, Luca, Jessica and Elizabeth; and a sister, Mary Elizabeth Riordan Hearty.
City News Service is a regional wire service covering Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Its reporting and editing staff cover public safety, courts, local government and general assignment stories. Contact the City News Service newsroom at 310-481-0404 or news@socalnews.com.
Linh Tat covers L.A. City Hall for the Los Angeles Daily News. Prior to that, she reported on the Los Angeles Unified School District for the paper. Linh’s previous stints also include working as a night cops, city hall and education reporter for Bay Area News Group; a municipal reporter for The Record in New Jersey, where she also covered state and federal courts and was introduced to the world of Superfund sites; and a K-12 and higher education reporter for POLITICO New Jersey. She returned to her home state of California in 2019.
