Foreign Policy at City Hall

After the Los Angeles City Council voted to support the war against Iraq, a mean little joke circulated through City Hall.

Saddam Hussein, so the joke went, surrendered after hearing the news.

The joke reflected the oddity of our council having a foreign policy. But why not? We’ve got a shuttle diplomat for mayor. If Tom Bradley can swap strategies with officials in Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, England, France, West Germany and Monaco, shouldn’t council members stretch their vision outside their jurisdiction?

Conservative Republican Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is well known for his resolutions attacking the Soviet Union and supporting the government of Taiwan, the longtime foe of the Peoples Republic of China. At least the Antonovich foreign policy is consistent. Headline-loving Supervisor Kenny Hahn’s resolutions are shaped by whatever strikes him as hot when he listens to news radio stations KFWB and KNX on his way to work.

No matter how far from county business Antonovich or Hahn stray, their colleagues generally give their resolutions an aye vote. It’s called supervisorial courtesy.

As you can see, these foreign policy resolutions are an irresistible chance for people in my business to take a cheap shot. That’s probably why council President John Ferraro’s tone was so chilly when I called to talk about the Gulf War resolution. Why, I asked, does the council venture so far afield when its hands are full with terrible problems at home? There was silence, a distinct contrast to the usual Ferraro banter.

“It’s important,” he finally replied, “to show support for our troops.”

After I’d thought about it, I conceded that Ferraro had a point. Granted, these resolutions are not related to city business and have about as much legal impact as a letter to the editor. But they can have a serious role in the political process. Lawmakers are mirror images of the majority of their constituents. They have to be to stay in office. So when they bring seemingly extraneous matters such as the war to the council chamber, they are reflecting what’s happening in society.

For example, 11 years ago, the City Council appropriated $104 for a ceremony raising the Peoples Republic of China flag at City Hall on Chinese National Day. The ceremony had been promoted by the Los Angeles-Guangzhou Sister City Assn., a State Department-backed outfit boosting friendship between L.A. and that Chinese city. But Chinese-American supporters of the Taiwan government rebelled. Then-Councilman Art Snyder took up their fight and didn’t quit until the council agreed to also raise the Taiwan government’s flag at the same time.

That event illustrated something important going on in Los Angeles in that era--the emergence of Chinese political power at City Hall, particularly among the community’s pro-Taiwan leaders.

I talked to Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky about the phenomenon. I picked him because he takes a great interest in worldwide events. Such an event, in fact, helped elect him to the City Council.

In the early ‘70s, the now conservatively dressed, deliberative Yaroslavsky was a long-haired, sloppy-looking organizer for the movement to force the Soviet Union to permit Jews to emigrate. He helped propel the movement into the news and won respect and affection in the Westside’s heavily Jewish Beverly-Fairfax district. It was an enormous help to him on Election Day.

Yaroslavsky said the city’s diversity and large number of immigrants push foreign affairs onto the council. “This is a city of immigrants,” said Yaroslavsky. “While they live in the city and the country, they still have roots in the homeland.” When they or the old country is under attack, the immigrants feel isolated. Council support helps end their isolation.

That is why he introduced a resolution, approved 14 to 0, denouncing wartime discrimination against Muslims and Arab-Americans. In the same way, the council supported requests from immigrant groups for expressions of support for Armenians a few years ago and for the Baltic states just recently.

The war resolution wasn’t as narrowly based. As Ferraro said, the intention was to express hometown support for the troops in the field, many of whom come from Los Angeles. Yaroslavsky said, “The city and the country is obsessed with the idea of supporting our troops, particularly in view of the Vietnam experience.”

The resolution was the council’s yellow ribbon, posted to show this generation of armed forces they won’t come home ignored or scorned. And, said Ferraro, if it took time away from city business, “we can stay later to make it up.”