Chief Gates Rules Out Campaign for Mayor

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Friday ruled out any possibility of running for mayor this year, calling his decision “tough.”

“I’ve decided I’m not going to run. It’s been a tough decision. . . . I think I’d make a good mayor,” he said. “I think I can beat both of those individuals who have expressed interest in running,” he added in an interview broadcast by television station KCBS.

Mayor Tom Bradley has announced that he will seek reelection and Councilman John Ferraro has said he also will run for mayor.

Gates, a consistent critic of Bradley, has toyed with the idea of running for mayor for the past few years. A few months ago, he said he would “enjoy challenging Bradley more than anything else. If for no other reason, it would be the challenge. I love competition. I’d love to debate him.”

Worried About Commission

On Friday, however, Gates said he had decided not to run because he was worried that the Police Commission, which is appointed by the mayor, would select another chief from outside the department. Gates probably would have been forced to leave the department job had he decided to run for office. Four years ago, the commission refused to grant him a leave of absence to run.

“I would have to engage in some kind of legal process to prevent the Board of Police Commissioners from selecting a chief while I was running for mayor, and I don’t want to do that,” Gates said.

Critics of Gates had predicted that he would not follow through on his talk about running for office, especially after Ferraro, a Gates ally, announced he would challenge Bradley.

No Endorsement

“I don’t think the chief has the guts to get out there and put his nose on the line and have his record speak for itself,” said Councilman David Cunningham, a Gates adversary and Bradley supporter.

In spite of his conflicts with Bradley, however, Gates said Friday he would not endorse any candidate for mayor this spring.

Also on Friday, Bradley announced that Michael Gage, a former Napa assemblyman and political associate of former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., will run the mayor’s reelection campaign.

Gage, who in Sacramento was regarded as an easygoing person, left politics to be a river rafter. He was chosen because he is “a people-oriented person and extremely astute,” said Deputy Mayor Tom Houston. In a prepared statement, Bradley said Gage will “put together a broad-based community effort.”

Gage, who also ran Leo McCarthy’s successful campaign for lieutenant governor in 1982, is a good friend of both Houston and Bradley campaign chairman Tom Quinn. All three worked closely with Brown--especially Quinn, who was a Brown confidante, a Brown appointee and ran Brown’s presidential campaign in 1980. Gage also worked on that campaign after he left the Legislature in 1980.