Bradley Can Brush Aside Controversy, Backers Say : Analysis

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley has recently taken two actions affecting the San Fernando Valley area that would appear to hurt him politically as he prepares to run again for governor.

First, Bradley alienated a large group of Santa Clarita Valley residents by proposing on Oct. 31 that a prison be built near homes in Saugus.

Then, just a few days later, he angered City Councilwoman Joy Picus, an important supporter, by vetoing a construction permit for a hotel she wanted built in Warner Center in her district. He opened himself up to charges that he bowed to the wishes of a campaign contributor who opposed the project. He also suffered an embarrassing defeat as the council overrode his veto.

However, as bad as these moves look, Bradley aides and supporters said, they are not likely to hurt the mayor over the long haul and, in fact, may even help him politically.

On the hotel issue, Bradley aides contend that time will prove the mayor was right--morally and politically.

Bradley, in disapproving a 14-story, 340-room Hilton Hotel, contended that traffic-easing requirements imposed by the council on the hotel’s developer, such as hiring a ride-sharing coordinator and establishing shuttle buses, are ineffective.

“The mayor will be a hero after the impact” of the hotel is felt, said Doris (Dodo) Meyer, Bradley’s Valley administrative aide.

“No matter how they think they’re going to mitigate the traffic problem, I don’t see how it can happen,” Meyer said.

Bradley contended that the hotel’s construction conflicted with the master plan for Warner Center, which calls for the most intense commercial development west of Canoga Avenue and designates the proposed hotel site, on the east side of Canoga just south of Victory Boulevard, for less intense industrial use.

More Development Seen

If the “commercial core” is developed as called for in the plan, there will be 10 million to 20 million additional square feet of development, said Suzette Neiman, a Bradley appointee to the Planning Commission, which opposed the hotel.

“Traffic studies have shown that the capacity of the traffic circulation system in Warner Center will be exceeded by such development,” she said. “If comparable development is allowed to occur in the area east of Canoga Avenue, Warner Center will eventually become a traffic disaster.”

Bradley aides said they doubt that Bradley will be hurt politically by Picus’ allegation that he vetoed the project because Robert Voit, a major Valley campaign contributor, led the opposition to it. Voit is the developer who owns property near the Hilton site where Marriott is building a 17-story, 470-room hotel. A Voit aide, saying the developer is merely leasing the property to Marriott, denied that Voit had any self-interest in opposing the Hilton.

Bradley denied the allegation that he opposed the project because of Voit’s political contributions. He said he has political supporters on both sides of the issue, including Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, a former congresswoman and Los Angeles County supervisor who was a lobbyist for the Hilton Hotel.

Bradley and Picus are both Democrats who had previously supported each other’s legislative and political agendas.

Despite his denials, Bradley’s action nonetheless has the effect of placating Voit, an important political supporter. Warner Center Properties, of which Voit is managing partner, was Bradley’s biggest Valley contributor in 1983 and 1984, with donations totaling $12,100. Moreover, Voit has been an effective fund-raiser for Bradley in the Valley business community.

Norman Emerson, a former Bradley aide who now works for Voit, contended that Bradley will benefit politically from his stand because he was “with the public,” even though he lost.

“I don’t see the public criticizing the mayor for his action,” Emerson said. “The mayor was being responsive to the community.”

Although Voit led the opposition to the hotel’s construction, the project also was disliked by businesses and homeowners in the area, as well as by the chairman of a citizen advisory group established by Picus to study the Warner Center development plan.

“The business community wasn’t for it,” Meyer said. “They realized the negative impact that the traffic would cause, that it’s going to hurt their businesses.”

Picus Angered by Mayor

Bradley aides acknowledge that the mayor angered Picus, who is influential with elderly, Jewish and women voters, all of whom the mayor has relied on heavily for political support, but they feel the rift soon will heal.

“She’ll be the first person to make peace,” Meyer said. “She showed who was the boss in her district. That’s all she wanted.”

In fact, Picus said, Bradley’s action “doesn’t affect my relationship with him.” She added that the controversy, as far as she is concerned, “is all over.”

Bradley aides also downplay the significance of the hotel issue in the mayor’s expected gubernatorial campaign.

“Who really cared outside of that area?” Councilman Michael Woo asked.

Statewide Issue

On the other hand, Bradley aides said, the mayor’s advocacy of a prison in Saugus will be a statewide issue--and they’re counting on it helping the mayor politically.

Bradley contends that the Saugus site, on city-owned land where there once was a facility to treat alcoholics, is less costly and better suited for a prison than an East Los Angeles site backed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

One Bradley aide acknowledged that the mayor “came off looking bad” surrounded by angry residents as he held a press conference at the site to announce his choice for a prison.

However, the aide said, Bradley had nothing to lose but everything to gain politically by proposing that a prison be built in Saugus.

“I doubt that Saugus was an area where Bradley was going to do well anyway,” Woo said.

In fact, in the 1982 gubernatorial race, the liberal Bradley lost the predominantly conservative Saugus area to Deukmejian by a 3-1 margin.

On the other hand, Bradley’s advocacy of a prison in Saugus, his aides said, fits in with his strategy for an expected gubernatorial campaign--building on his traditional base of support in the minority communities. By offering an alternative to a prison in heavily Latino East Los Angeles, where sentiment against a prison is as strong as it is in Saugus, he did just that, his aides said.