In L.A., It’s Hail to the Figurehead

It was born in the 1920s, a classmate of Art Deco styles and Good Humor ice cream.

Part studio gimmick, part salute to local community spirit, the “honorary mayor” concept has endured across Southern California’s political patchwork in a way that few other throwbacks to the Roaring ‘20s have.

Legend has it that Hollywood press agents concocted the idea to generate buzz for actors and films. In any case, local chambers of commerce quickly picked up on it and began naming their own honorary mayors as a photogenic way to get media mileage out of their growing cadre of celebrity residents.

With no official powers or pay, the “mayors” nonetheless can be counted on to attend the occasional community breakfast and business groundbreaking. Some chambers have shed the practice as they attempt to position themselves as more business-minded organizations, but others cling tenaciously to the concept of the mayor next door.

“Do you think that Richard Riordan gets out to chamber activities on a regular basis?” asked Sondra Frohlich, executive director of the Sherman Oaks chamber, which recently named actor Dick Van Patten (“Eight is Enough”) as its honorary hizzoner.

“Los Angeles is such a large city,” she said, “that we can’t expect to have our publicly elected officials show up at our events at the drop of a hat.”

At least 20 communities within the Los Angeles city limits have honorary mayors, according to an informal survey of chambers, which typically make the selections.

In addition to Van Patten, the list includes television actor Bruce Weitz of “Hill Street Blues” (Reseda), and radio personality Charlie Tuna of KBIG-FM (104.3) (Tarzana). Pacific Palisades once had Chevy Chase as its honorary mayor, and Paul Moyer of KNBC-TV Channel 4 was installed March 24 as the honorary mayor of West Los Angeles. The late Steve Allen served as honorary mayor of Encino.

More often than not, the honor goes to an entertainment celeb, as opposed to a sports figure or, shudder, a real politician. In some cases the chosen one is a pillar of the local community--someone who’s walked the extra mile for the hometown folks or who’s raised large sums for charity.

City Understands the Power of Fame

The fact that Los Angeles--seen by many as a collection of communities in search of a center--clings to the notion of a local mayor does not surprise some observers, especially because many of the anointed come equipped with a good dose of star power.

“It goes with the Hollywood-ization of Southern California and how much we like to have people shine,” said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

“It’s part of the strategy of selling a product. You associate the celebrity with a specific product or a specific place, and that helps that place shine.”

Dave Kilby, vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce, who serves as liaison with the local chambers, said he sees more honorary mayors in Southern California than in any other part of the state. And that’s particularly true, he said, for the San Fernando Valley, where more than a dozen communities continue a tradition that dates back to the early days of talkies.

The Valley offers the perfect nexus of celebrity homesteaders and ordinary homeowners who identify more with their local community than with Los Angeles as a whole.

“You’ve got 1.3 million people living here and they’re cloistered in 23 identifiable communities,” said Bruce Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, describing the region his organization promotes. “Even though they’re not cities--they’re just clusters of zip codes--people still have a very strong sense of community identity.”

Regalado said that just as such traditions as having an honorary mayor can boost both community pride and a region’s profile, they can also “help to breed a separate reality or a perception of separateness. It’s all about creating the perception of that separate identity. ‘We need to be distinct from the city of L.A.’ ”

In fact, the Valley is among the regions where some have pushed that quest for a separate identity to the point of a possible divorce from Los Angeles.

Secession No Threat to Honorary Mayor

Johnny Grant, onetime honorary mayor of the Valley and “mayor for life” of Hollywood, said he supports ongoing studies to test the stand-alone viability of the various regions within Los Angeles, including his hamlet.

“I’ve spent 20 years bringing tourists in here and I’d like to know where that money [tourism dollars] is spent,” said Grant, a longtime radio and TV personality.

But what if the citizenry elects a real Hollywood mayor?

“I’ll be just as heavily involved,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be the generalissimo.”

Ackerman sees the central issue as one of community pride rather than a passion for partitions.

“Does this help foster a sense of identity for those communities? Absolutely. But I don’t know that I’d use the word ‘separateness.’ I think it’s more a sense of boosterism and community identity than a separatism or secession issue.”

Jay Handal, president of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, notes that celebrity mayors help raise funds for community goals.

“The honorary mayor is one piece of a very large puzzle,” said Handal. “They come out and do things for the community and with the community. We believe that community identity is what people really want to hold onto.”

Old Concept Seems Dated to Some

Handal and others were aware that some chambers are moving away from the honorary mayor tradition.

“There are a lot of the larger chambers in the state that don’t have them,” said Nancy Hoffman, executive director of the Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce, which hasn’t had an honorary mayor in more than a decade. “This is a business organization and we’re trying to lean more in that direction.

“We’ve broken a lot of rules [and] traditions,” she said, “because we don’t think they’re relevant to today’s times.”

OK, so perhaps the notion is a tad old-fashioned, concedes Van Patten, who played the ever-wise dad in the 1970s TV series “Eight Is Enough.”

“But that’s nice,” he said. “It’s nice that they hang onto the tradition. Sometimes the old-fashioned things are best.”

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Honorary Mayors Past and Present

Part studio gimmick, part salute to community spirit, the “honorary mayor” concept was born in the Roaring ‘20s and endured across Southern California. Some who have held the post:

HOLLYWOOD: Johnny Grant, onetime honorary mayor of the Valley, is “mayor for life” of Hollywood.

PACIFIC PALISADES: Actor Chevy Chase was honorary hizzoner.

ENCINO: The late Steve Allen once served the community in which he lived.

RESEDA: Actor Bruce Weitz is one of at least 20 current honorary mayors in Los Angeles.

TARZANA: Radio personality Charlie Tuna of KBIG-FM now serves as honorary mayor.

WEST LOS ANGELES: KNBC-TV anchor Paul Moyer was installed in the ceremonial post March 24.,