Humor, Pomp Mark Sen. Lieu's Swearing-In Ceremony

About 380 people came to Cal State University Dominguez Hills in Carson to watch the 28th District’s newly elected state senator be sworn in Saturday afternoon.

Sen. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, was officially sworn in up in Sacramento on Feb. 18, but the district swearing-in – held so his constituents and supporters could attend – had more of a celebratory feel. District 28 runs from Venice to Torrance, including the beach cities, Mar Vista, and Playa del Rey.

The oath administered by Board of Equalization Chair Jerome Horton, for example, included a phrase not found in the regular oath: “I, Ted Lieu, do solemnly swear… that I take this obligation freely…with Betty’s permission.”

As the audience laughed and Lieu’s wife Betty and son Brennan watched, Lieu repeated the phrase. The couple's other son, Austin, was home with a fever.

Lieu won a special election on Feb. 15 to replace the late Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who died less than two weeks before winning the November 2010 election. Lieu previously served in the Assembly from 2005-2010 before he was termed out.

The ceremony was marked by humor as well as pomp and circumstance. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster served as the master of ceremonies and the Torrance Firefighters Color Guard presented the flags to the sound of bagpipes played by the Nicholson Pipe and Drum Band.

Attendees included several mayors and council members from the cities that comprise the 28 District, U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson, and the Assembly members whom Lieu has worked in with the past and can expect to work with again.

“As we talk about the future of California during these difficult times, I’m absolutely comforted knowing that those of us on the Assembly line, we could go over to the other house… and talk to our good friend Ted Lieu when we need our legislation passed in his house,” said Assemblyman Warren Furutani of the 55th District, which overlaps with part of Lieu’s senate district.

The two keynote speakers, State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and State Controller John Chiang, were among those who praised Lieu.

Chiang recalled that two years ago when California was struggling with a deep budget deficit, “Ted was a sound, strong voice calling for calm, calling for bipartisan work to keep the California dream afloat. ... He would call me at 4:30 and 5:15 am and leave messages as we discussed ideas to keep California solvent.”

In his speech Lieu said the tone of political discourse must change in order for California to move forward.

“If you listen to the governor of Wisconsin or some talk radio, you will be given a barrage of negative information and somehow believe that working families are the cause of our economic crisis. That is simply false,” Lieu said.

Lieu also said the state needs to “fundamentally transform California’s economy” and focus on areas where it can be competitive internationally, such as in aerospace, green technology, biotechnology, Silicon Valley, Hollywood and tourism.

“Let’s start building state policy around these clusters, whether it’s hiring credits for key industries or workforce training,” he said. “We need to have a vision and a plan of how we get there, and we need to start focusing on areas where we can compete and jettison those where we cannot.”

Lieu also made it a point to thank his wife of almost 10 years. “During this time I’ve learned and gleaned two things as a husband: one, that one shall never embarrass one’s wife in public, and two, you can never give your wife enough flowers,” he said.

But when the second principle conflicts with the first, Lieu added, the second wins, “and I’ve got two dozen roses for you,” he said to Betty. As she came up to take them he added, “That wasn’t taxpayer funds.”