Greuel May Launch Bid for Council Presidency

City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel is gathering support to challenge council President Alex Padilla for his post, a move that would upend the dynamics in the Los Angeles City Council and threaten a key ally of Mayor James K. Hahn.

Greuel, who replaced Councilman Joel Wachs in a special election last year, has been meeting with her colleagues and asking for their backing, four council members confirmed.

The 41-year-old councilwoman would only say that she is thinking about running for the presidency after being recruited by other council members.

“I’m listening to people and talking to people and considering that opportunity,” she said. “I’m obviously going to do what’s in the best interest of my council district and the city as a whole.”

Padilla, who enjoys a close relationship with Hahn, has held the presidency since July 2001, when he beat Councilwoman Ruth Galanter for the job in a 9-5 vote. At 30 years old, he is the youngest council member to hold that seat, and the first Latino.

“I feel good about garnering the support I need to stay on as president,” he said. “I’ve never taken it for granted. This is a reminder to continue daily to maintain and earn my colleagues’ support.”

Eight votes are needed to secure the seat, and Padilla and Greuel each have the support of five or six colleagues, according to several City Hall sources. Two council seats will be decided in the city’s May 20 runoff election, further complicating the equation.

Endorsement

On Friday, 12th District candidate Julie Korenstein sent Greuel a letter endorsing her bid for president. Her opponent Greig Smith, who has been endorsed by both Padilla and Greuel, has not taken a position on the presidency.

Greuel’s interest in the job comes three months before four new members take office and the 15-member council votes on the presidency, which comes before the body every two years.

However, Greuel could make a bid for the post before then by submitting a motion to call for a vote on the issue. The councilwoman, who is pregnant, is scheduled to give birth to a baby boy at the end of June.

The question of who would challenge Padilla, if anyone, has been discussed at City Hall since the March 4 election, with speculation increasing in the last week.

“I don’t think that change is a bad thing,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who said she has told Padilla she will back Greuel. “I have a lot of respect for Wendy, and I think she’s extremely intelligent.”

Councilman Jack Weiss, who said he is not committed to Padilla but has not endorsed Greuel, said he believes it will be healthy for the council to debate the matter.

“No one in politics ought to believe they have an entitlement to any position,” said Weiss, who supported Padilla for president two years ago. “You have to earn it, not just through politics, but through vision and policy.”

While few outside City Hall may be familiar with the job of council president, the post can carry significant clout beyond the functional duties of running council meetings, doling out committee assignments and serving as acting mayor when the mayor is out of state. The late Council President John Ferraro used the position as his base of political power for much of his 35 years on the council and brokered significant deals in the job, from salvaging the Staples Center development to convincing LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates to retire after the 1992 riots.

Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said that while Hahn has a “great” relationship with Greuel, the mayor will continue to support Padilla as president.

“Alex has been a friend and an ally and a strong council president, and has worked closely with the mayor to advance our agenda and the city’s agenda,” Middlebrook said.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, whose title of president pro tempore makes her nominally the second most powerful council member, said she respects Padilla’s work and will support his reelection.

“I was one of Alex’s supporters two years ago, and I’ve seen nothing to persuade me that he’s not doing a great job,” Miscikowski said. “I think he has the stature and capability to do the job.”

Some critics have said that Padilla has not demonstrated the political finesse and statesmanship that characterized Ferraro’s tenure.

In one of his first moves as president, Padilla removed several veteran council members -- including the three African Americans -- from key committees in favor of newcomers who supported his presidency. He initially defended the decision, then was forced to reverse himself after angry citizens packed the council chamber, accusing him of racial bias.

Some of Padilla’s colleagues have also expressed disappointment at what they call his passive style and cautious behavior. Rather than corral support around a controversial issue, the president often waits to announce his position after the outcome is clear.

“I think there is substantial dissatisfaction with the leadership that the council has received over the last two years,” said one council member supportive of Greuel’s candidacy who did not want to be named.

Padilla said he has focused on getting the council to work as a team, and cited last year’s redistricting process and the defeat of secession as accomplishments.

“I think the council has done well in these last years,” he said.

But questions about whether Padilla would keep his post have circulated since last spring, when he campaigned for former Assemblyman Tony Cardenas in his race against Greuel for the 2nd District seat. Her victory sparked speculation that Padilla’s critics had enough votes to oust him. But no one stepped up to challenge him.

A former film studio executive who also worked as an aide for the late Mayor Tom Bradley and at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Greuel spent much of her first year in office focused on delivering basic services to her constituents.

Sometime Allies

While she and Padilla have had a cool relationship since her election, they have collaborated on issues that affect their Valley districts, such as an effort to get the Army Corps of Engineers to clean up a lake at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

Still, some said they need to be convinced that Greuel is not seeking Padilla’s post simply as payback for his opposition to her council bid.

“Wendy has to make a case of why this isn’t a grudge match,” said one council member who is backing Padilla’s reelection.

For the last few weeks, both have been buttonholing fellow council members and taking them out to lunch, hoping to line up support.

“Alex isn’t sitting around saying, ‘Take your run at me,’ ” said lobbyist and political consultant Harvey Englander. “But I don’t know that either one has stood up with seven letters from their colleagues. Anything is possible.”