By Karen Ocamb

"I always keep my promises," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told IN Los Angeles magazine on July 14 in MacArthur Park shortly after naming his nominees to the L.A. Police Commission. One of his five nominees, Shelly Freeman, is president of Wells Fargo's Los Angeles Metro Community Bank and an open lesbian.

The appointment of an openly gay person to the Police Commission has always been a strong demand of the LGBT community. Republican Mayor Richard Riordan appointed openly gay police commissioners during his two terms in office to reflect the city's diversity. However, Democratic Mayor Jim Hahn refused to make such an appointment, despite continued criticism.

Villaraigosa, on the other hand, scoffed at Hahn during the ANGLE candidates' forum in December 2004 for only making 10 gay appointments out of 364 slots. "That's offensive," Villaraigosa said. "The gay community supported me by more than 72 percent the last time I ran for mayor because I have an unparalleled track record and commitment to civil rights," Villaraigosa said in an IN interview in August 2004. "I would appoint commissioners who reflect the diversity of Los Angeles, and the gay community is a big part of Los Angeles."

Villaraigosa reiterated that pledge during his news conference. "We must ensure greater diversity in our ranks and leadership and transform the culture at the department focusing on community policing, building greater community trust, and forging more effective partnerships with the people we all serve."

The announcement was timely, coming just four days after a shootout between the LAPD and a 34-year-old suspect in Watts that resulted in the death of the man's 19-month-old daughter and the wounding of an officer. Villaraigosa pledged that the new commission would be "vigorous in their oversight" of the LAPD, examine the investigation process, and be transparent throughout. "That's important," he said. Additionally, Villaraiogsa said he expected the commissioners to be fiscally efficient, "set tall goals and ensure accountability."

In addition to Freeman, Villaraigosa nominated John Mack, longtime civil rights leader and the retired president of the Los Angeles Urban League; two former federal prosecutors, Anthony Pacheco and Andrea Ordin, who served on the Christopher Commission, and current commissioner, Alan J. Skobin, a lawyer for Galpin Ford. After the news conference, IN spoke with all the nominees (except Pacheco) who expressed strong pro-gay positions.

In his introduction, Villaraigosa hailed former San Franciscan Freeman's ties to diverse communities and her financial expertise. Freeman seems eager to assume her new responsibility, though she is still "on a learning curve," she admits.

"I think I bring two things to this commission. The first is a great deal of community service and board service involved in lots of different communities in Los Angeles -- in the gay and lesbian community, the Jewish community, I've done a great deal of work with elder care organizations and I have a great deal of business experience," Freeman told IN. Her experience with budgeting resource and capital allocation will be "particularly important as we strive to put more than 1,000 new police officers on the streets. And I think it's also important to recruit diverse police officers and to have all of our communities represented and welcomed on the force."

Aside from diversity and fiscal accountability, Freeman, who serves on The Trevor Project board, is interested in helping at-risk youth. "The key thing is that we need to have programs that engage our kids -- whether that's after-school programs or sports programs, or educational programs -- and show them a future besides the one it looks like they have right now."

The City Council is expected to confirm the nominees within the next month.