Ferraro to Zero In on Westside Jewish Voters

Councilman John Ferraro said Friday he has targeted the large, politically active Jewish population of Los Angeles’ Westside--traditionally a major source of support for Mayor Tom Bradley--as a key to his hopes for defeating Bradley in the spring election.

The generally more conservative San Fernando Valley has been a natural focal point for Ferraro since he entered the race for mayor this month against the more liberal Bradley. But now Ferraro and those supporting him have decided that their next best chance may be on the Westside, which is heavily Jewish and includes some of Bradley’s earliest and most loyal supporters.

“He has to concentrate on the Jewish vote, it’s a very important vote,” said Evelle Younger, former state attorney general and one of 10 chairpersons for an upcoming Ferraro fund-raising dinner. “In addition to the Valley, if he can split the Westside he will be in good shape.”

Ferraro Agrees

Ferraro agrees, and said Westside voters “will be seeing more of me, we’ll be sending mailers and doing get-out-the-vote.

“I’ve got to split the Westside with him (Bradley),” Ferraro said Thursday before he spoke to the Westside Civic Breakfast Group. The group, representing homeowner groups, business and neighborhood associations, invited Ferraro to speak at its monthly meeting. They listened attentively while Ferraro read a speech criticizing Bradley and fielded questions.

While no one suggested after the 30-minute speech that Bradley’s staunch support on the Westside has evaporated, “I hear pros and cons on the mayor,” said Marvin Saul, owner of Junior’s Restaurant in West Los Angeles, where the meeting was held.

“Support for the mayor is very, very strong. People like him very much, as I do,” Saul said. “Many people I talk to, however, have a little ambivalence about whether he is, and whether voters are, just going through the motions so that he can run for governor.”

Bradley Version

Bradley has said repeatedly that he is not planning to run for governor, but he has not ruled out another attempt to seek that office.

Bradley’s perceived ambition to be governor concerns some Democratic elected officials as well. One prominent Democratic official who asked not to be identified said that, while those who have supported Bradley “will in the end support him, there is concern that once he becomes mayor again there is no stopping him for running for governor. That would lead to another losing (gubernatorial) campaign and further reduce our chances in the state in (the presidential election in) 1988.”

As for Jewish support, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the Westside’s 5th Council District, which gave Bradley 69% of its vote in 1981, said he is confident Jewish voters will “overwhelmingly” support Bradley, “but he cant take it for granted anymore.”

Referring to Bradley’s recent decision to allow oil drilling in Pacific Palisades, Yaroslavsky said: “There is great disaffection on his oil drilling decision, but there’s nowhere for the disaffected to go. The environment and land use are the biggest issues on the Westside, and people will know that overall on those issues Tom Bradley is the vastly superior choice over the record of Ferraro.”

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Studio City), one of the major powers of Westside politics, said he has been a longtime Bradley supporter and expects to support him again although “I haven’t been asked. My guess is we’ll be getting together.”

In his speech Thursday to the breakfast group, which includes a significant number of Jews, Ferraro stressed his background as the son of immigrant parents. Citing a recent mugging of Beverly-Fairfax area residents who were on their way to temple, Ferraro criticized Bradley’s administration for “failure to provide that protection.”

During the last 10 years, murder, rape and assault have increased by more than 40%, Ferraro said. (A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said that while crime has increased from 10 years ago, the city’s major crimes have actually declined from 1980, as they have in all major U.S. cities.)