Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American
investment banker
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...
, businessman, lawyer, and former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politician who was the 39th
Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in
New Rochelle, New York, he served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
before becoming a lawyer and investor in Los Angeles, eventually specializing in
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
.
In
1993, he was elected mayor of Los Angeles and was re-elected in
1997. In
2002, he ran unsuccessfully for
Governor of California, losing the Republican primary. After leaving politics, he continued to work in business. , he is the most recent Republican to have been mayor of Los Angeles.
Early life, education, and career
Riordan, an Irish-American, was born in
Flushing, Queens, and raised in
New Rochelle, New York. Riordan graduated with an A.B. in philosophy from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 1952 after completing a senior thesis titled "A Study of the Thomistic Faculty Psychology." He then received a J.D. from
Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...
in 1956. He moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to begin work as an attorney for the
downtown law firm of
O'Melveny & Myers in 1956, leaving in 1959 to become a partner of Nossaman LLP. Riordan was a founding partner of the law firm Riordan & McKinzie in 1975. In 1982, Riordan was a founder of the private equity firm
Riordan, Lewis & Haden
RLH Equity Partners is a private equity firm based in Los Angeles that focuses on making investments in growing businesses. Sectors of particular investment interest to the firm include business services, healthcare, and government services.
H ...
.
Mayor of Los Angeles
![Bill Clinton and Richard Riordan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Bill_Clinton_and_Richard_Riordan.jpg)
When
Los Angeles Mayor
The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all j ...
Tom Bradley announced his retirement, Riordan's interest turned to the
1993 mayoral election. On election day, Riordan won, 54%–46%, becoming the first Republican mayor in over 30 years. Many of his proposals were blocked by the heavily Democratic City Council or proved simply unfeasible in reality; for example, the police academy did not have enough classroom space and instructors to train as many new police officers as Riordan had initially promised. He streamlined certain business regulations and established "one-stop" centers around the city for functions such as permit applications. He feuded with police chief Daryl Gates' successor, former Philadelphia
police commissioner Willie Williams, but oversaw a general decline in crime. (In 1997, Riordan replaced Williams with
LAPD veteran
Bernard Parks
Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
.) That year, he was
re-elected against California State Senator
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring t ...
.
Riordan's tenure was marked by a controversy over the massive cost overruns occurring during the construction of the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angel ...
's Red Line subway. At the same time, a previously little-known group called the
Bus Riders Union sued the city – on the basis of racial discrimination – over diversion of funds from buses to Red Line construction, and managed to force it into a ten-year
consent decree in 1996 that eviscerated MTA funding for the construction of subway and
light rail projects. Riordan has publicly regretted having signed the consent decree and counts it as the biggest mistake of his mayoral tenure.
Riordan was succeeded in 2001 by
James Hahn
James Kenneth Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Hahn was elected the 40th mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. He served until 2005, at which time he was defeated in his bid for re-election. Prior to his term a ...
after becoming the first
Mayor of Los Angeles to be term-limited out of office; it was Riordan who spearheaded the city's
term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
ballot initiative, prior to becoming mayor. In the
mayoral primary election that year, Riordan had endorsed his advisor and friend
Steve Soboroff
Steve Soboroff (born August 31, 1948) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, who has been serving as a Los Angeles Police Commissioner since August 2013. Soboroff previously served as President of the Los Angeles Recreatio ...
. Soboroff came in third in the nonpartisan race, and Hahn and former California State Assembly Speaker
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...
advanced to the runoff. In the runoff election, Hahn defeated Villaraigosa, whom Riordan endorsed for the second round of balloting. Villaraigosa would go on to beat Hahn in a 2005 rematch for Mayor.
2002 California gubernatorial race
In
2002, Riordan, a
moderate Republican, decided to seek the
governorship
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. He was opposed in the Republican
primary election by
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
businessman
Bill Simon and former
California Secretary of State Bill Jones. Although he led early in the race by over 30%, he eventually lost to Simon by 18%. Riordan was hampered by a conservative Republican party base that rejected his appeal to move the party toward the center.
Governor
Gray Davis' campaign spent millions of dollars running attack ads against Riordan, essentially helping the Simon campaign. Davis felt that he had a much better chance against the conservative Simon than the moderate Riordan and that the move was worth the risk. Riordan lost the primary, and Davis went on to defeat Simon 47%–42% in the general election.
''The Los Angeles Examiner''
In early 2003, Riordan began circulating a prototype of a weekly newspaper he intended to begin publishing that June. ''The Los Angeles Examiner'' was intended to be a locally focused, sophisticated, and politically-independent publication. It was never published. Riordan put the project on hold when he was appointed as state secretary for education by Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, a position he held from 2003 until his resignation in 2005.
Involvement in city politics since 2000
In the
2001 Los Angeles mayoral election, Riordan endorsed his friend and advisor
Steve Soboroff
Steve Soboroff (born August 31, 1948) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, who has been serving as a Los Angeles Police Commissioner since August 2013. Soboroff previously served as President of the Los Angeles Recreatio ...
in the primary and
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...
in the general election. In 2005, he backed former State Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg in the primary and Antonio Villaraigosa in the general election. In both races, he chose not to endorse
James Hahn
James Kenneth Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Hahn was elected the 40th mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. He served until 2005, at which time he was defeated in his bid for re-election. Prior to his term a ...
.
Riordan has played a role in City Council elections, becoming a supporter of candidates
Bill Rosendahl
William Joseph Rosendahl (May 15, 1945 – March 30, 2016) was an American politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council, representing Council District 11 from 2005 to 2013. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
Prior to being a coun ...
in 2005,
Monica Rodriguez
Monica Rodriguez is an American politician in California. She currently serves as a Los Angeles City Council member, and represents the 7th district. The district is located in the San Fernando Valley, and includes the neighborhoods of Pacoima ...
in 2007, and Adeena Bleich in 2009. Rosendahl won the election in the Eleventh District; Rodriguez lost to Seventh District Councilman
Richard Alarcon
Richard Anthony Alarcon (born November 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1993 to 1998 and again from 2007 to 2013. A Democrat, he previously served in the California State Senate and ...
and Bleich lost to Paul Koretz and David Vahedi who advanced to the runoff election. In
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, Riordan endorsed mayoral candidate
Wendy Greuel
Wendy Jane Greuel (born May 23, 1961) is an American politician. She served as Los Angeles City Controller from 2009–13. Greuel was the second woman elected to citywide office in Los Angeles, after her predecessor Laura Chick.
Previously, sh ...
. Greuel was ultimately defeated by then-Council member
Eric Garcetti
Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 election, and reelected in 2017. A fo ...
.
Personal life and legacy
Riordan & McKinzie merged into
Bingham McCutchen
Bingham McCutchen LLP was a global law firm with approximately 850 attorneys in nine US offices and five international offices. It ceased operations in late 2014, when several hundred of its partners and associate lawyers left the firm to join Phi ...
in 2003. Riordan is the owner of the
Original Pantry Cafe in Los Angeles, which has been in operation since 1924. He also owns
Gladstones Malibu
Gladstones Malibu is an American seafood restaurant located on The Pacific Coast Highway (California) in Pacific Palisades, California. The original restaurant was opened in 1972.
History
The original Gladstones was opened by Robert J. Morris on ...
which has been open since 1972. The
Richard J. Riordan Central Library
Richard J. Riordan Central Library, also known as the Los Angeles Central Library, is the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan.
It consists of two ...
is named after him.
References
Sources
* "Still at sea: PLC Global Counsel law firm review 2003
Practical Law UK Signon 18 November 2003.
* Taub, Daniel.
Riordan made his fortune backing start-up ventures" ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', June 30, 1997
* Wood, Daniel B.
" ''
Christian Science Monitor
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
'', August 5, 2003
* Zwiebach, Elloitt "The LBO maker (leveraged buyouts, Riordan Freeman & Spogli merchant bank)", Supermarket News, July 1987
* Ard, Scott
I know you are, but what am I?" ''
CNET News
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
'', July 9, 2004
* Murphy, Jarrett
Furor Over 'Stupid Dirty Girl'" ''
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
'', July 9, 2004
"Biography of Richard J. Riordan 39th Mayor of Los Angeles (1993-2001)" Los Angeles Almanac. © 1998-2019 Given Place Media, publishing as Los Angeles Almanac. 2 Jan. 2019
*External links: https://www.laalmanac.com/government/gl12_riordan.php
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Richard
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American businesspeople
American military personnel of the Korean War
American people of Irish descent
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
California Republicans
Candidates in the 2002 United States elections
Mayors of Los Angeles
Military personnel from New Rochelle, New York
People associated with O'Melveny & Myers
People from Flushing, Queens
Politicians from New Rochelle, New York
Princeton University alumni
State cabinet secretaries of California
University of Michigan Law School alumni