Bradley Tones Down Criticism of Downtown Site

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Thursday appeared to back away from his strong criticism of the proposed state prison in downtown Los Angeles.

Under questioning by reporters, Bradley refrained from the kind of harsh remarks he made often last year in denouncing the downtown site favored by Gov. George Deukmejian, his opponent in the Nov. 4 election.

Asked flatly if he would approve the site as governor, Bradley said:

“It was never my responsibility, never my authority to determine where that prison was going to go.”

Last October, Bradley made a dramatic show of his opposition to the downtown site when he drove out to Saugus to show reporters what the mayor said was a preferable location for the proposed 1,700-bed prison.

The same day, Bradley sent Deukmejian a letter detailing several purported problems with the downtown Los Angeles site. The action followed several months of criticism directed by Bradley at Deukmejian for failing to open any new facilities to relieve state prison overcrowding.

Bradley wrote in the Oct. 31 letter that the downtown site was too small, violated the state’s own prison guidelines and would unfairly burden the downtown area with too many prisoners--given the location there of two county jails, plus a future federal prison.

“Obviously, the 30-acre . . . site falls far short of minimum standards,” Bradley wrote. “The Saugus property is superior in every significant way to the proposed downtown . . . site.”

But in a brief session with reporters Thursday morning, before the state Assembly approved the downtown site, Bradley displayed no relish for continuing his condemnation of the location.

Asked what he thought of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown’s surprise switch to the side favoring the downtown site, Bradley said: “That is a matter up to the state Legislature. They have always had authority to make that decision. My complaint initially was when the governor’s people selected the . . . site, they did not notify a single elected official representing this area. I thought that was wrong.”

When Bradley was asked if he could accept the downtown site, he again said that it was the Legislature’s duty to make the decision. After a few more questions, Bradley cut off the discussion.

“I’ve given as full an answer, as clear an answer as I can,” Bradley said.

Later in the day, Deputy Mayor Tom Houston denied that Bradley ever “actively opposed” the state placing a prison at the downtown site and suggested that since the governor seemed to have won backing for the site, it was time to move ahead and build the much-needed prison.

“We never opposed a specific site,” Houston said. “We asked for hearings on Saugus, we never got them. We thought Saugus would be a better site than downtown Los Angeles.”

Plans for a downtown prison are unpopular with many residents of the heavily Latino Eastside, the nearest major residential area to the site. Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles), a leading opponent of the prison, said she was surprised by Bradley’s statement Thursday, given his earlier position.

“His response is very disappointing to me and certainly to many people in my district,” said Molina, who represents sections of the Eastside.