Yaroslavsky Declines Call, Won’t Challenge Bradley

The telephone began ringing at Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky’s home late Sunday night and again early Monday, the callers urging him to dramatically jump into the mayoral election at the last minute to challenge Mayor Tom Bradley.

But an hour and a half before the deadline for taking out election papers Monday, Yaroslavsky sat in his City Hall office and said “No,” thus removing himself as a rallying point for homeowner groups and environmentalists furious over Bradley’s decision to permit Occidental Petroleum Corp. to drill for oil on the beach below Pacific Palisades.

Yaroslavsky’s decision to seek another council term rather than run for mayor was a fortunate break for Bradley: It preserved the black-Jewish coalition that has been a mainstay of Bradley’s support and means that the mayor again has a strong chance of overwhelmingly carrying both groups in his April 9 race against Councilman John Ferraro.

“That was a consideration, a significant consideration,” Yaroslavsky said in an interview after announcing his decision. “In my mind, if we agree on 90% of things that come down the pike and work well together . . . people would have a right to ask--as I ask myself--why provoke a confrontation in our communities?

“He (Bradley) has been a bridge between the black and Jewish communities at a time when there has been a particular strain. He has been helpful in trying to bridge the gap. He is constructive, not provocative.”

Yaroslavsky represents the Westside’s 5th District, which runs west from Fairfax Avenue and contains a large, politically active Jewish population. The councilman, who entered public life as an advocate for Soviet Jewry, is one of the most influential Jewish political leaders in the city. At 36, he has been eager to run for mayor the last few years.

Built a Constituency

Bradley, Los Angeles’ first black mayor, built a constituency among blacks in his own South-Central and Southwestern area and among Jews in the the Westside and sections of the San Fernando Valley.

Yaroslavsky’s decision means that Bradley will be able to campaign without strong organized opposition on the Westside while paying heavy attention to the vote in black areas, which failed to turn out for him as strongly as expected in his 1982 gubernatorial race.

If Yaroslavsky had run, he probably would have brought into the race the powerful Westside political organization led by Democratic Reps. Howard Berman of Studio City and Henry Waxman of Los Angeles. Yaroslavsky is closely associated with Berman and Waxman in politics.

Although neither Berman nor Waxman were available for comment, Democratic Rep. Mel Levine of Santa Monica, part of the Berman-Waxman organization and a strong opponent of oil drilling, discussed the mayoral race with Yaroslavsky by phone Sunday. Levine did not ask Yaroslavsky to run, he said, “but we talked about it.”

Angry Over Decision

Berman and Waxman have supported Bradley in every election. And although both congressmen are angry over the Palisades decision, for them to oppose the mayor would also strain the black-Jewish coalition.

Yaroslavsky said he was “outraged” by Bradley’s Palisades decision. But, he said, “I give him a lot of credit for taking courageous stands.”

Yaroslavsky cited Bradley’s backing of more civilian control of the Police Department and his insistence on reducing the size of the department’s brass.

Yaroslavsky voted against drilling in the Palisades in 1984 but had supported it in 1978. He said he was pro-Occidental that year because he did not believe drilling on the beach would affect Santa Monica Bay. Subsequently, he said, he was impressed by arguments, first made by Levine, that beach drilling would make it easy for oil interests to have a Santa Monica Bay drilling moratorium lifted.