Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has died at age 92.
FILE - 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, the moderate Republican multimillionaire who won two terms as mayor in Democrat-friendly Los Angeles and ran unsuccessfully for governor, died Wednesday, April 19, 2023. He was 92.
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 soon faced another major challenge when the Jan. 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake struck the city, causing numerous deaths and extensive destruction. “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,” Krekorian said in a statement.
He was credited with playing a leading role in changing the City Charter to strengthen the power of the mayor's office, something he contended was necessary to create accountability in Los Angeles' decentralized system of government. He also helped elect reformers to the school board, a body over which he had no direct control.
Sometimes his behavior struck the wrong note, like the time he greeted hunger strikers while eating a hamburger. Another time he drew criticism for bicycling through France while transit workers at home were striking. "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 considered running as a candidate in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election until Schwarzenegger, his friend and fellow centrist Republican, got into the race.
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