Bradley Joins Koch in Attack on Reagan Cuts, Promotes L.A. Filming on N.Y. Visit

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley joined Mayor Edward Koch in attacking President Reagan’s budget cuts on Tuesday then threw a lavish lunch to try to take away some of New York’s film making business.

The mayor mixed political friendship with inter-city economic competition on the first day of a two-day trip to New York and Washington.

Although the trip took Bradley a continent away from his reelection campaign against Councilman John Ferraro, it brought him some local political pluses.

He appeared on “Good Morning America” with Koch, national exposure Ferraro would find hard to equal. New York friends held a fund-raising reception for him. Today, Bradley is to appear before a House appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington on the Santa Monica Bay oil drilling moratorium.

That will give him a chance to reiterate his opposition to drilling in the bay. A strong statement could help him counter the opposition he has attracted by his decision to allow Occidental Petroleum Corp. to drill for oil in the Pacific Palisades, on bluffs overlooking the bay.

The peppery Koch and the stolid Bradley, both Democrats, were a contrast in styles as they criticized the Reagan cuts on television and at a news conference at New York City Hall.

‘Residents ... Will Suffer’

“The cities are willing to do their share,” Koch said. But he said that under Reagan’s program, “the residents who live in the city will suffer.”

Asked if Congress, in the end, would oppose a President reelected by such a huge margin, Bradley said, “They voted for a popular President. They didn’t say anything about cutting out the sewage plants, rural support programs; they didn’t say anything about cutting aid to farmers.”

Despite Reagan’s opposition to a tax increase, Koch proposed a gasoline tax hike, with the proceeds to be put in a trust fund to be used to reduce the budget. He also called for an increase in the minimum tax, written in a way that “no one can escape.”

In an interview later, Bradley opposed Koch’s proposed gasoline tax increase. “It is not something that I consider an appropriate use of the gas tax,” he said.

He said he “supports the idea of closing the loopholes” in the income tax “that have developed over the years.”

As soon as the press conference was over, Bradley, Deputy Mayor Tom Houston and press secretary Ali Webb jumped into a limousine provided by Koch and went to work trying to take film production away from New York.

Successful Competitors

New York, Boston and other cities have been working hard to lure film companies on location. They have been so successful that Los Angeles has set up an office to make things easier for the studios.

Bradley hosted a lunch of hors d’oeuvres, mushroom salad and veal at Jams restaurant, attended by about 50 advertising executives and film makers who make commercials. The meal was financed by motion picture industry contributions to the city’s Motion Picture Development Trust Fund.

Bradley told the guests about the city’s film office and offered to personally help them if they get snarled in the bureaucracy while seeking permits to use city streets, parks and other facilities.

Asked if he was concerned about trying to take business from New York after appearing with Koch and accepting the hospitality of his limousine, Bradley said, “Film making is fair game. We have welcomed governors and mayors from all over the country coming to entice our film industry.”