By HOWARD FINE

Staff Reporter

The L.A. City Council was in the midst of a contentious, closed-door session involving the proposed ouster of Police Chief Willie Williams over using city funds for trips to Las Vegas.

Council President John Ferraro wanted Williams out and was looking to push through a $375,000 severance package to send the chief packing. But there was council opposition to the size of the payout, and Councilman Nate Holden, a Williams ally, was against firing the police chief altogether.

When Holden tried to leave the chamber in protest, Ferraro called for a vote. But because Holden was intent on leaving the chamber, he didn’t vote “no.” Parliamentary rules specify that his presence in the chamber be counted as a “yes” vote, so the package was approved on an 8-7 vote.

“Ferraro did it so fast that nobody knew what happened,” said a former City Hall staffer. “He brought the gavel down and Williams was gone.”

It was vintage Ferraro, arguably the most powerful elected official in Los Angeles and certainly one of the most skilled wielders of political power the city has ever known.

Whether it’s putting council members on key committees (or pulling them off), closing deals like the Staples Center, or pushing through crucial policies like business tax reform, Ferraro has had a crucial hand in shaping today’s Los Angeles.

He has been on the City Council since initially being appointed to the body in 1966, longer than many Angelenos have been alive (including this writer). He’s been president of the council for 16 of those years, longer than anyone in L.A. history.

“If anybody represents the spirit of L.A., it’s John Ferraro. He loves Los Angeles with every bone in his body,” said Mayor Richard Riordan. “Despite of a lot of disputes you may see in the paper, we actually agree 98 percent of the time.”

Adds Ann D’Amato, deputy mayor of community and government affairs, who was a longtime City Council aide before joining Riordan’s staff: “His leadership skills are second to none. He holds the council together.”

In fact, City Hall observers agree, there is probably no one else who could have managed to survive as council president as long as Ferraro. He has done so primarily by keeping an extremely low public profile, choosing to let others take the credit, and keeping fellow council members in line.

“He has such a kindly nature that he can screw you and you still love him,” said one former City Hall staffer.

Busy agenda

At age 75 and to be termed out of office in 2003, Ferraro might be expected to coast on his laurels. But that’s hardly been the case. Just this year, Ferraro:

? Flew twice to Washington to help the city secure the 2000 Democratic National Convention;

? Pulled Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas from the increasingly powerful post of Information Technology Committee chairman, installing newcomer Alex Padilla in his place;

? Salvaged some reforms out of Mayor Richard Riordan’s business tax reform plan, which in early March was going down in flames on the council floor;

? Put $110,000 of his own money into the unsuccessful effort to sink charter reform, setting him up against Riordan; and

? Tried to secure a five-year extension for the Nederlander family’s contract to run the Greek Theatre.

“He’s not one for grandstanding,” said lobbyist, Democratic Party activist and longtime Ferraro friend Joe Cerrell. “He couldn’t do it and he never really wanted to. Now he doesn’t have to.”

In fact, neither Ferraro nor his staff could remember the last time he actually called a press conference. “There are people who know how to act in front of television cameras, and I don’t,” Ferraro said. “I know my limitations and I get used to them.”

In fact, Ferraro sees his role as more of a supporting player. He uses an analogy from his other lifelong passion: football. In the 1940s, he was a football star at USC, playing in three Rose Bowls and twice being named an All-American. His office wall is lined with photos and magazine covers from those days.

“I was a lineman in football,” he said. “The linemen do much of the work but don’t get the credit. And I consider myself a lineman in the sense of politics. I let others take the credit.”

Saves the Olympics

That was the case with the 1984 Olympic Games, which have gone down in history as one of former L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley’s greatest triumphs. But it was Ferraro, in his first full year as council president, who gave city officials extra maneuvering room to cut a precedent-setting deal to have the private sector finance the set-up for the Games.

“I actually saved the Olympics,” Ferraro now says. “The mayor was ready to give up because of all the negative press we were getting. He sent a letter to the council to withdraw the application for the Olympics.

“But instead of letting the full council vote on it, I sent it to committee,” Ferraro said. “That gave us time to work out the financial details and to reach an agreement with the International Olympic Committee.”

Yet at the press conference announcing that Los Angeles had been awarded the 1984 Games, it was Bradley who got much of the credit.

While the Olympics turned out to be one of his greatest triumphs, Ferraro was not able to enjoy its fruits. At the time, he was in the midst of several setbacks. In 1981, he lost his council presidency after then-Councilwoman Pat Russell mounted a challenge. He was, however, able to thwart Russell, throwing his support to Councilman Joel Wachs, who was then elected council president.

Then, in 1985, he ran for mayor, taking on Bradley at the height of his popularity. Predictably, he lost big. His main campaign issue, to stop pouring dollars down the drain of the Metro Rail subway, was a decade premature.

“I wish Tom Bradley had retired when I ran for mayor,” Ferraro now says. “I think I would have been a good mayor.”

Ferraro turned his attention back to the council and, in 1987, won back the council presidency.

But the unsuccessful race for mayor, observers say, changed him. “He lacked the ambition to move up,” Cerrell said. “He could have gone higher in fact, I went to him in the early ’90s and suggested he run for mayor. But he said he was happy where he was.”

Revives tax plan

Deciding to stay put, Ferraro set about honing his already formidable political skills, using the powers of the president’s post. “I watched Willie Brown operate and I have watched John Ferraro operate,” said one former City Hall staffer. “And I can tell you that Ferraro has 100 times Brown’s political skill.”

For his part, Ferraro said he doesn’t like to intervene very often.

“If I did that on every issue, then they wouldn’t pay attention to me,” he said, referring to his council colleagues. “When I do take a stand on something, they do sit up and listen. Sometimes I come in to break the deadlock and move ahead with the subject.”

This was demonstrated last March when he stepped in at the last minute to salvage Riordan’s business tax plan. The package was about to be defeated by the council, as members attacked its arbitrary nature and the short period of time they were given to deal with the issue. (The council was under a March 4 deadline to place the reform proposal on the ballot.)

In what was later referred to as “the huddle,” Ferraro came down from his traditional president’s chair onto the floor and gathered with Councilman Mike Feuer, then-Councilman Richard Alatorre and representatives from Riordan’s office to sketch out a compromise that ultimately won council approval. (As it is, Riordan won only a partial victory; the meat of his proposal is still in bureaucratic limbo.)

“He is an expert in knowing how and when to use power,” said former City Councilwoman Joy Picus. “He knows who is likely to switch sides and has good things to offer them. It’s all done quietly and non-intrusively, with wit and humor.”

Lobbyist and former Chief Legislative Analyst Ken Spiker Sr. says much of it comes down to being a judge of character. “I’ve sat with John in numerous discussions on major city issues,” Spiker said. “He has the ability to figure out when someone is not telling the whole story. He sees right through them.”

What’s more, Spiker said, Ferraro knows how to assuage any hurt feelings that lawmakers may have when things don’t go their way.

“His greatest attribute is his sense of humor. He is able to calm people down with it. He controls those people who might get out of line temporarily when they are losing an issue on the floor,” said Spiker, who has known the councilman for 45 years.

He also makes a special effort to call when council members are suffering through personal crises. “When (Mike) Hernandez and (Richard) Alatorre had their problems, he called them up several times to let them know he would be there for them,” a Ferraro aide said.

Devotion to wife

Ferraro knows about personal misfortune. Just six months after he married his second wife, Margaret Hart, she suffered an aneurysm that left her paralyzed on her left side. (He and his first wife, Julie Luckey, divorced in 1970. They have one son.)

“Many people, given the responsibilities that John has, would have put a spouse in her condition in a rest home,” Cerrell said. “But not John. He has dutifully cared for her.”

In the evenings, Ferraro often can be found at his Hancock Park home with his wife, watching the History Channel or the Arts & Entertainment Network. He also occasionally escorts her to social events.

“I don’t know what people expect of me,” he said. “What was I supposed to do after she had the aneurysm? Dump her? I can’t understand why people have such respect for me simply because of the way I treat her. She’s my wife and I love her and she’s a great individual.”

Picus said the powers of the council presidency naturally lend themselves to behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Ferraro can and does cut off debate on issues. He can also send items to committee unilaterally, as he did to great effect with the Olympics contract.

But perhaps his greatest power is doling out committee assignments, which are made every two years, following council elections.

“Committee assignments can make a difference in members’ careers,” said one former City Council staffer. “They can determine the extent of media coverage and the amount of contributions that a member receives.”

In July, it was Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas who felt the sting. In a move that one City Hall observer said was “like a quick slap of the wrist,” Ferraro stripped Ridley-Thomas of the chairmanship of what was rapidly becoming one of the hottest committees: Information Technology. Instead, Ferraro assigned him to chair the environment and solid waste committee.

Observers say the move was part of a long-running feud between the two men that stemmed from Ridley-Thomas’ indirect challenge to the council presidency in 1995. As a result, Ridley-Thomas was assigned to the Information Technology Committee, which at that time was a backwater.

Ironically, that committee turned into a plum assignment, with responsibility for the city’s telecommunications policies, most recently dealing with the issue of high-speed Internet access. Ridley-Thomas grew to like the powerful post and wanted to keep it when the committee assignments were up again this year.

Ferraro said it’s his job to match the best council members with the best positions, and that MIT graduate and engineer Alex Padilla was the best candidate for the information technology post.

But Ferraro supporters privately say that his removal of Ridley-Thomas was in part a payback for Ridley-Thomas’ refusal to endorse Ferraro this time around for president. “He was in the building, but he didn’t come in and vote,” one supporter said.

Ridley-Thomas was out of town last week and unavailable for comment. But his chief of staff, Teresa Wallette, said there has been no feud between the two.

“Councilman Ridley-Thomas and Council President John Ferraro do have their differences of opinion,” Wallette said. “He thought that other candidates should be examined for council president, in addition to Ferraro. But that does not mean that they have a tense relationship.”

Voters satisfied enough

All this political maneuvering inside City Hall, while crucial for the overall direction of the city, is only part of Ferarro’s job. He has been elected to represent the concerns of the Fourth Council District, which cuts a swath through largely residential areas, from Hancock Park on the south, over the Cahuenga Pass and into Studio City and North Hollywood.

Overall, voters have been satisfied enough to send him back nine times, making him one of the longest-serving council members ever.

“There is always a longing for a more direct presence, but when we need him, Ferraro is there for us,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Association, which has been pushing for limits on the expansion of Universal Studios. “We are able to meet with him and get our points across. We are pleased with his votes.”

Not everyone is pleased. In nearby North Hollywood, neighborhood activist Mildred Weller says Ferraro has not listened to residents’ concerns about redevelopment.

“He’s been missing in action,” Weller says. “No one from his office has attended a CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) project area committee meeting in over a year. He seems to have forgotten about the people he represents. The job of council president is enough for him. Community issues are just not his concern.”

It is such discontent that has fueled the secession and charter reform drives. In fact, it was votes from the San Fernando Valley that helped push charter reform over the top, handing Ferraro one his biggest defeats of recent times.

Ferraro, who said he vigorously supported the previous charter reform effort in the early 1970s, opposed this measure, putting $110,000 of his own money toward the campaign to defeat the proposal.

Critics called the contribution an attempt to keep power at City Hall and block any reforms.

“I was not opposed to charter reform in principle,” Ferraro said. “I just thought this particular proposal went too far. While it did give some more power to the mayor and I supported that it also took away the power of people to appeal directly to the City Council.”

Cordial ties with Riordan

But passage hardly ended Ferraro’s involvement in charter reform. Ironically, the new charter empowers the council president to select council members for the committee charged with implementing the document. And Ferraro came under some additional criticism for appointing charter reform opponents to that implementation panel.

The issue also set him at odds with Riordan, charter reform’s biggest backer. The two leaders who have a cordial, if not close working relationship clashed repeatedly on the issue, going back to the initial struggle over which panel would write the new charter. Riordan sought from L.A. voters a commission elected by the voters; Ferraro and a majority of the council wanted a commission appointed by the council. Both sides got their wish and there were ultimately two charter commissions.

Nonetheless, Ferraro and Riordan have worked together on a number of key issues, from the Staples Center and Playa Vista to the successful effort to win the 2000 Democratic National Convention. The convention award was particularly satisfying for Ferraro, a lifelong Democrat who has pictures of himself with all three of the Kennedy brothers (JFK, RFK and Teddy) on his office wall. In fact, he worked on JFK’s 1960 presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, with Ferraro termed out, some politicos are beginning to wonder who is going to take his place as council president. “The big question around City Hall now, besides who the next mayor is going to be, is whether Ferraro is going to anoint an heir,” said one recently departed City Hall staffer.

Ferraro said it’s too early to even think about who his successor should be.