Former Mayor of Los Angeles Discusses Power of Local Politics

Six days after the conclusion of a weeklong shutdown of the United States government, former mayor of Los Angeles Antonio R. Villaraigosa spoke about the power of local political institutions to bring about effective and efficient change.

Villaraigosa, one of this year’s visiting fellows at the Institute of Politics, spoke Wednesday night in Kirkland’s senior common room as part of the “Conversations with Kirkland” series. The former mayor detailed his experiences in politics and answered questions posed by Kirkland House residents and other undergraduates in attendance.

“Cities are able to get things done, and mayors in particular do not act as partisans,” said IOP Fellows and Study Groups Programs Director Eric R. Andersen, explaining why he felt that Villaraigosa would be an inspiring speaker. “That resonates with students who are tired of government bickering.”

The former mayor of Los Angeles recalled the opposition he faced when trying to pass environmental reforms that would move the state away from coal dependency.

“There was a lot of pushback, but we just moved forward,” said Villaraigosa. “I didn’t blink. I didn’t let the cacophony of criticism or the editorials get in the way. I just said that we’re going to do it.”

The Democratic mayor also noted points in his career when he opposed members of his own party, such as when he pushed to establish charter schools to ameliorate overcrowding in public schools. At the time, Villaraigosa, who first entered politics through union organizing, spoke out against the powerful California teachers’ unions.

“I said, ‘Hey, you want more money—you have to show you that you’re doing more with the money,’” Villaraigosa said. “I feel very strongly that you’ve got to fund our schools, but you have to tie funding to success and accountability.”

The former mayor also spoke of breaking with the others in his party on immigration issues.

“There were a lot of Democrats voting for a wall,” Villaraigosa said. “While they were voting for that wall I went to Mexico and I said, ‘We don’t need walls, we need bridges.’”

Ken Liu ’14, visiting fellows student coordinator at the IOP and an L.A. native., said that he sees Villaraigosa as an inspirational figure in politics.

“For me, it’s incredibly exciting that this is someone I grew up admiring and seeing on TV,” Liu explained. “At Harvard, his energy and passion have been infectious.”

Villaraigosa’s fall fellowship will conclude on Friday, after which he will join Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, as a senior advisor.

At last night’s event, the former mayor shared an anecdote that exemplified his refusal to back down from a challenge. Villaraigosa said that every morning before his son left for school, he would ask him “Do you believe in you?”—a ritual his son found “corny.”

One day, when his son left the house without answering, Villaraigosa caught up to him and shouted out the question in front of the teenager’s friends.

“After that, he always answered right away,” Villaraigosa said.