Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan releases memoir focusing on his legacy

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Former Los Angeles City Mayor Richard Riordan released a memoir reflecting on the eight years he spent leading the city.

The book, titled "The Mayor," focuses on his two terms from 1993 until 2001 and how he approached his role as mayor of the city as a businessman rather than a politician.

"How do you run a city like Los Angeles? We have over 40,000 public employees, we're 50 miles long and wide. You have to do it by hiring the best and brightest people and then empowering them to do things," Riordan said.

While he was mayor, Riordan was pragmatic. He was a Republican with liberal social views and he left partisan politics at his office door.

As the city's only Republican mayor in a generation, he formed an unlikely friendship with a Democrat who held a higher office at the same time.

Two days after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, former President Bill Clinton came to Los Angeles and the two men formed a long-lasting partnership. Clinton also wrote the forward in Riordan's book.

While rebuilding of the city defined Riordan's legacy, he said education has always been the cornerstone of his policies.

Shortly before he left office in 2001, he said he wanted Los Angeles residents to remember him as a man who loved the city and that he had a passion for helping poor children.

Riordan says the biggest challenge the city faces today is education.

"We are not educating the young people to be able to compete with other countries and also to even give them jobs that take them out of poverty," he said.

In his book, Riordan also writes about faith and says if he could sum God up in one word it would be fairness. He said the word reflects his view on ethics.

"We talk about ethics. What's ethical? But I think what's ethical is what's fair," he said.

Riordan kicked off his book tour Tuesday at his restaurant, The Original Pantry, located off S. Figueroa Street.

The multimillionaire venture capitalist still spends considerable time at the restaurant and he said it's been the best investment he's made.