LOS ANGELES (KNX) – Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan died Wednesday evening, his family announced. He was 92 years old.
His family said in a statement that he “passed peacefully this evening at his home in Brentwood, surrounded by his wife Elizabeth, family, friends and precious pet dogs.”
Riordan, the city’s last Republican mayor, served from 1993 to 2001. He is credited for helping the city rebuild from the 1992 Rodney King riots as well as the Northridge earthquake in 1994. He also expanded the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He’s also credited for helping with the completion of the Disney Concert Hall.
Mayor Karen Bass paid tribute to Riordan in a statement, writing, “Mayor Richard Riordan loved Los Angeles, and devoted so much of himself to bettering our City. He always had a place in his heart for the children of LA, and worked to improve how the City served our youth and communities as a passionate member of the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners.”
Mary Odell, who chairs the Riordan Foundation, told KNX News Riordan was a good man who loved the city and its resident.
“He had an ethical construct that led him to truly believe that it was his moral responsibility to share his wealth and he did that through his philanthropy and through his public service and what he leaves us is a legacy of hard work of philanthropy and public service,” she said.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who received Riordan’s endorsement for supervisor in 2015, told KNX News, “I’ll always be grateful for his vision of the city of Los Angeles and reforming our city charter. I think it made this city of Los Angeles better.”
Zev Yaroslavsky, who was on the City Council when Riordan was mayor, called him a “consequential mayor.”
“He was different,” he said. “He wasn’t corporate. He was venture capitalist. He had an old saying, ‘it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.’ If he thought he had a good idea, he’d run with it.”
Mike Feuer, former Los Angeles City Attorney who served on the city council when Riordan was in office, told KNX News Riordan cared about the city.
“The Dick Riordan that I knew, whether we agreed or disagreed- and there were moments of both - was an extremely authentic booster of the city of Los Angeles at every turn,” he said.
In addition to being mayor, he owned The Original Pantry.
He is survived by his wife, three children, three grandchildren, and his sister.
In honor of Riordan, Mayor Karen Bass directed the lighting of City landmarks Thursday. The following landmarks will be lit green, yellow and red:
- City Hall
- The Richard J. Riordan Central Library
- LAX Pylons
- LA Zoo
- 6th St Bridge
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