3 Top Democrats Wary of Bradley Run for Governor

Early signs of an attempt to keep Mayor Tom Bradley out of the 1986 governor’s race are appearing, with three leaders of Los Angeles’ most influential Westside Democratic organization serving on a committee exploring the chances of state Sen. Gary K. Hart.

Hart, an environmentally oriented Democrat who represents a district running from Santa Barbara to Woodland Hills, has enlisted on his exploratory committee Democratic Reps. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, Howard L. Berman of Studio City and Mel Levine of Santa Monica.

Waxman and Berman are founders and leaders of the Westside Democratic political organization that claims the loyalty of Democratic elected officials from the Fairfax District to the beach and into Southwestern Los Angeles. The organization has been a major element of the Bradley coalition over the years.

The mayor is running for a fourth term. But he has not ruled out another try for governor. He narrowly lost to Republican Gov. George Deukmejian in 1982.

Hart, 40, is not related to U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, the Colorado Dem ocrat who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination last year. But he was part of Hart’s insurgent campaign against Walter F. Mondale, the choice of most party leaders, as were Berman and Waxman. Bradley backed Mondale.

Waxman and Berman are scheduled to meet with Bradley within two weeks to discuss whether they will back his mayoral campaign, as they traditionally have. Bradley asked for their support earlier this week, but they told him they want to talk to him more.

Waxman said that Hart’s candidacy will not be discussed at the meeting and that he will not ask Bradley to take himself out of the 1986 gubernatorial race. “I absolutely will not ask him not to run,” he said.

But a Democratic politician said that the move to dissuade Bradley would not take an overt form but rather would be a series of moves, such as big contributors urging him to stay out.

Waxman, in an interview, said he has not endorsed Hart. But he added: “California’s Gary Hart is a good friend of ours. . . . He is one of the candidates on a statewide basis that could bring the Democrats victory, but it is very early for anyone to make a decision on this.”

There are two reasons for the apparent insurgency.

One is discussed only privately. It is a feeling by the Berman-Waxman organization, shared by their allies and by other Democrats around the state, that Bradley cannot win in 1986. In addition, they fear that the ticket will be weakened by the presence of Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), whom they consider vulnerable, and by balloting on whether Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird should serve another term on the State Supreme Court. The Bird issue is expected to produce a heavy conservative vote.

The second is discussed openly: Bradley’s decision to permit Occidental Petroleum Corp. to drill for oil on the Pacific Palisades beach. The discontent shows that Bradley’s oil drilling reversal continues to plague the mayor, despite his attempts to quiet the furor. Last weekend, he flew to Sacramento to plead for understanding at a statewide environmental meeting.

Remains Unhappy

Waxman said he is still unhappy about the decision. Bradley had previously opposed such drilling, a stand that won him the support of many Westside environmentalists and liberals.

Waxman said the action illustrates a tendency by Bradley to take supporters for granted while trying to extend his political base to business and Republicans.

He said that Bradley had “been a political ally for many years” and that the Westside organization supported him early in his 1973 election campaign, when many powerful Democrats backed Jesse Unruh for mayor. But now, Waxman said, Bradley “takes his base for granted.”

“I think Bradley’s sentiments are in the right place,” Waxman said. “I think his views are the same as my views. But if he feels it is a necessity to attract Republicans to his cause and that produces another Occidental, then all his sentiments don’t amount to much.

“This was an issue we felt we could rely on him to take a position (against drilling),” said Waxman, an opponent of the Occidental plan. “If we are supposed to be allies, he should tell us he is going to make a decision like this, especially since we are to be apologists for this one. I am unhappy he didn’t warn us in advance, but I am more unhappy with the decision.

“What good are shared values if we would have gotten the same decision from a conservative?”

Tom Quinn, Bradley’s campaign chairman, said he was “puzzled” by Waxman’s words. He said they followed a meeting last Tuesday among Quinn, Bradley campaign manager Mike Gage and Michael Berman, Howard Berman’s brother and the organization’s political technician, to see whether Bradley would help pay for a series of mailed advertisements for Lisa Specht, the organization’s candidate for city attorney.

“I explained the mayor would have a problem with that, that he would not want to be taking sides in the city attorney’s race, to help or hurt any candidate,” Quinn said. “I said we would be delighted to work with them if we could get around that problem. I’m a little puzzled. We had this meeting on Tuesday, and the next day apparently these problems came up. I don’t view them as permanent problems.”

Trouble May Linger

But there are signs that the trouble may linger.

Levine, in a separate interview, said: “I think the statewide consequences of the Palisades decision (to Bradley) are considerable. I cannot get around the inevitable consequence that this will open up the entire Santa Monica Bay, as much as Tom Bradley wants to deny it.”

Levine, too, complained that Bradley “wasn’t willing to call me in advance with the decision or the basis of the decision.”

At the meeting they are scheduled to have with Bradley, Waxman and Berman plan to discuss their differences and whether they will endorse Bradley’s campaign against City Councilman John Ferraro.

“We’ll probably support him,” Waxman said. “We have always supported him and will probably support him again.”

But at the meeting, Waxman said, “I want to talk to him” about issues and “find out what direction he is going.”