Mayor Nominates Activist for Seat on Library Board

Julia Simmons, leader of a neighborhood organization that won Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s support in its failed but vigorous fight to stop a mixed-use development in South Los Angeles, has been nominated by the mayor for a seat on a city’s Board of Library Commissioners. If confirmed by the City Council, she will fill a vacancy for a term ending June 30, 1997.

Simmons, a retired Pacific Bell employee who is taking part in a Coro Foundation neighborhood leadership program, is president of the Vermont Knolls/Vermont Manchester & Vicinity Assn.

The organization recently spearheaded a drive to kill a housing and commercial revitalization project for 81st Street and Vermont Avenue, campaigning for an all-commercial development instead.

Praising the neighborhood organization for pressing its cause despite the project’s support from Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, a political foe of Riordan, the mayor vetoed the project. The City Council unanimously overturned the veto.

Also Wednesday, the mayor’s office announced the nomination of Brentwood attorney George Kieffer--a partner in the politically connected firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips--for a five-year term on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Export Terminal, which operates a facility at the Port of Los Angeles.