Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan dies at 92
LOS ANGELES — Richard J. Riordan, the take-charge venture capitalist who as mayor shepherded Los Angeles’ rebound from the 1992 riots, expanded its Police Department and masterminded its recovery from the Northridge earthquake, has died at his Brentwood home.
The last Republican mayor of what became a liberal city, Riordan was 92. Relatives said he died shortly after 7.30 p.m. Wednesday with family, friends, caregivers and his beloved dogs around him.
A moderate, pro-choice Republican, Riordan made a fortune as an investment broker and became a civic and political donor before emerging as a first-time, outsider candidate at the age of 62.
He promised voters a better business climate, more cops and improvements in basic services when he took office in July 1993. By the time he departed eight years later, forced out by voter-imposed term limits that he himself had advocated, much of his vision for a cleaner, safer, better-functioning city had been realized. Crime was down, the local economy had rebounded, and although the Los Angeles Police Department remained short of his goals, it had grown to a record number of officers.
He also played a key role in revamping the City Charter to require more accountability from department heads and give residents more voice in city government through a new system of neighborhood councils, helping defuse efforts by San Fernando Valley activists to split from
