After devastating Northridge quake, Richard Riordan’s response was ‘a shining moment’ – Daily News

January 17, 1994: Earth shook like never before in populated Los Angeles. Six months have passed since Richard Riordan became mayor, and now he’s a leader. He shook from his bed in his West End home in the darkness of early morning Los Angeles.

There it was, in the midst of the city’s greatest natural disaster up to that point, the city’s new mayor, running to his phone (a landline at the time), which of course wasn’t working. The phone was not in his car.

Related: In Their Own Words – Quotes on Former Mayor Richard Riordan

But eventually, after an 80- to 90-mph ride in his car to City Hall, he walked to the emergency operations center downtown to deal with the chaos created by the Northridge earthquake.

It was a defining moment in a period with many, from the earthquake to dealing with the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, to trying to break up the city, to charter reform.

As Riordan puts it, and as many will remember, it was also a very urgent moment to cut through the overwhelming red tape between and within agencies at the city and state levels. Swift action would define the style of leadership he has always aspired to as a businessman and as a leader — an aspiration that has drawn voters during his two terms as the city’s top elected official.

Immediately on that chaotic, unkempt, uncombed-haired but busy day, Riordan launched a swift response that relied on cutting red tape to open up major transportation lanes and rebuild collapsed stretches of highway.

Accompanied by California Department of Transportation workers and Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan, second from left, President Bill Clinton crouches as he surveys a crater on Balboa Street in the Northridge area of ​​the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 19, 1994, caused by Monday’s earthquake in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcie Nijswander)

When he learned that the only detour around a truncated portion of the Santa Monica Freeway consists of three intersections that pass through neighboring Culver City, “Okay, well, just pick them up,” Riordan said in his 2015 reflection on driving at the Brookings Institution.

“Another thing I learned through all of this is that perceived power can turn into real power. People think you have power,” he said. “For example, in the event of an earthquake, it was such a natural disaster that the state constitution stipulated that the county should take control of the emergency. I ignored that.”

When Riordan ran to become mayor of Los Angeles, in the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots, his campaign slogan was “Strong enough to change Los Angeles.”

Related: Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan Dies; He provided friendly, bipartisan leadership during times of turmoil

Little did he know at the time that Los Angeles would soon face more unrest, due to a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that would bring down highways, do an estimated $49 billion in damage to homes and businesses and kill dozens of Angelenos.

Known for his desire to approach government through a mercantile lens—Riordan wished to cut red tape and appreciative expediency—he would often repeat the mantra of asking for forgiveness rather than permission in the name of getting things done, say those who knew him.

As devastating as the earthquake was, it was a triumph for Riordan in the still nascent mayoralty.

“His big shining moment was the response to the Northridge earthquake,” said Joel Fox, who served as policy director for Riordan’s gubernatorial campaign when he ran for state office in 2001.

“Instead of waiting for the bureaucracy to rebuild (the Santa Monica Freeway), he went and did it,” Fox added. “He was a pioneer in solving problems.”

Frustrated by his early confrontation with emergency operations in the city, Riordan pushed for the creation of what became the Department of Emergency Management, and voters approved a massive bond proposal that led to the creation of the new high-tech Emergency Operations Center.

From Governor Pete Wilson, Riordan was able to get engineers and architects to determine damage to the bridges on day one and developed a reward program for completing repairs on the Santa Monica Freeway.

Work on this section of Interstate 10 was completed in 66 days.

“This response got off to a good start for the mayoralty, or at least the perception of the response — the kind of CEO responsible for this natural disaster. It was an opportunity for what was a rather weak office,” said Tom Hogan-Esch, chair of the political science department at California State Northridge. Something to do was lurking.”

The response to the earthquake — and its lessons for current and future leadership — resonated Thursday, as power brokers across town, even on the other side politically, reflected on Riordan’s legacy in the wake of his death.

“When the Northridge earthquake devastated the city, he threw every ounce of his energy and management skills into the city’s recovery, rebuilding critical infrastructure in record time,” Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krikorian said in a statement.

That same promptness in the face of the emergency has not escaped Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

“In the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, Mayor Riordan set a standard for emergency action,” she said. “He reassured us and responded with a strength that continues to drive us all faster and stronger in the midst of the crisis.”

One aftermath of the Northridge earthquake ended, in a complicated but swift way, in the building of the Catholic cathedral in the town Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, noted the key role Riordan played in the construction of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral beginning in 1998, after severe damage to the Cathedral of St. Vibiana that preceded it, in the Northridge earthquake.

“Not only did he mobilize the private sector to help rebuild I-10 and other buildings, but we also helped when the city red-flagged the former St. Vibiana Cathedral downtown,” Mahoney said in a statement.

He was instrumental in working with County Superintendent Gloria Molina in acquiring the property on Temple Street between Grand Avenue and Hill Street. As he did with all major construction in the city during his eight years, he streamlined the process of obtaining permits. and inspections, which shortened the construction time. Both were key to the success of the construction and dedication of our new cathedral.”

He was instrumental in working with County Supervisor Gloria Molina in acquiring the property on Temple Street between Grand Avenue and Hill Street. As he did with all major construction in the city during his eight years, he streamlined the process of obtaining permits and inspections which shortened construction time. Both were key to the success of the construction and dedication of our new cathedral.

Of course, none of that was easy in Los Angeles which was still reeling from the riots and simmering social and economic tensions of the era. Riordan, in his memoirs, admitted this.

“If my parents had told me as a child that I would lead one of the world’s capitals through these very trying times, I would have thought them crazy,” he wrote in his book The Mayor: How It Turned Around Los Angeles After the Riots, the Earthquake, and O.J. Simpson…the Murder Trial. I just wanted to play baseball for the New York Yankees.”

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