Donnelly, Cedillo continue unlikely seating arrangement
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 27, 2011
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Friday capped an eye-raising few months in the seating assignments of Assembly members Tim Donnelly and Gil Cedillo.
"I just wanted to wish him a happy birthday and it's an honor to have him as a seatmate," Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, told colleagues before he and Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, embraced.
It's unusual for lawmakers from different parties to sit together. There are just two other sets of bipartisan seatmates in the 120-member Legislature. But the Donnelly-Cedillo pairing stands out.
Donnelly, a conservative freshman from the San Bernardino mountains, is a strong supporter of the tea party movement. He also is a former leader of the Minutemen, whose members, many of them armed, patrol the Mexican border to deter illegal immigrants.
Cedillo, a former union organizer and among the Legislature's most senior members, has spent much of his career working to expand immigrant rights. He has repeatedly carried legislation to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.
Assembly Speaker John Perez paired the two on the first day of the legislative session.
Yet instead of icy tension, Cedillo and Donnelly have become friends. They have had dinner and their families have met, even as they vote against each other's bills.
"We respect each other. The thing that's most important to me is that he's sincere," said Cedillo, adding jokingly, "It's something that every day tests my desire to be a diplomat."
Donnelly said neither he nor Cedillo has changed the other's point of view. Both have learned that the other doesn't match stereotypes, he said.
"Because we're seatmates, we're forced to deal with each other as human beings," Donnelly said, adding that Cedillo has helped show him the ropes.
"There's a great deal to be learned from someone who's accomplished a lot," Donnelly said.
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