<Begin Segment 18>

MN: You know, I was looking at your resume. You started in the office in June '74, and then by a year later, you were the director of the Criminal Justice Office.

RO: Yeah. I was Legislative Program Director, I developed a whole array of... I'm interested in making change, and whether it's domestic violence, gang, juvenile justice, just prolific. [Laughs] And so when they're older and more experienced male managers and all, and yet Terry Hatter... Terry Hatter, actually, is my mentor. His mother in Chicago is an attorney, so he really believed in the ability of women. And he, I always joke, I said that, "Yeah, he'll hire a few men if they're capable. But when he left to become a judge, he recommended to Tom Bradley to have me succeed him.

MN: So wasn't it unusual for someone like you to come and be promoted so fast?

RO: Yeah, it was a very fluid time in the mayor's office. A new administration, and there were just new opportunities that if you, if you deliver, it was fluid, then it was wide open.

MN: And around this time, you were --

RO: But I will say this: Tom Bradley always had a very strong connection with the Japanese American community. When he decided to run first as a council member and then for mayor, he always reached out to that base, and they were all there from the beginning.

MN: And why do you think he has that affinity with Japanese Americans?

RO: I think that one reason is he went to Poly High School, probably had a lot of classmates.

MN: Now, around this time, when you're in the mayor's office, you were recommended for a judgeship and you turned it down. Why did you turn it down?

RO: I'd been active in the bar, created the Japanese bar and was the first Japanese American on the board of trustees of the county. I was active politically in many campaigns, including Jerry Brown. And so it was sort of like a natural progression. But when it was offered to me, I went to lunch with a friend of mine, and he asked me, being a judge would... he asked me to answer the question. And I said, "Put me in a cage." So I went back and called him up, and I had an opportunity to... I had ties in the governor's office. So recommend someone for that appointment, but previously, when governor first took office, we were able to help Judge Bernard Jefferson elevate to the circuit court, Bob Takasugi from muni court to superior court. I was, we were able to sit there and name names because we had people in the governor's office. And then throughout his term, then, we were able to create a pipeline and have a lot of talented people. Interesting, one of the individuals that we named, someone who did not have political ties or bar ties to judgeship was one of the individuals who tried to, via Tommy, discourage my going to law school.

MN: Does he know this at all?

RO: Hmm?

MN: Does he know this? Is he aware of this, this person that was recommended?

RO: Yeah, yeah. Definitely.

MN: I'm gonna change tracks --

RO: And the reason is because he'd be a good judge, and he is a good judge.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.