City Cultural Aide Defies Bradley Order to Vacate, Charges Political Motivations

The head of the city’s Cultural Affairs Department said Friday he will defy Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s order to vacate his office, charging that the mayor wants to fire him as a favor to political supporters.

Fred Croton said in an interview that Bradley’s assertions that Croton lied on his employment application are a cover-up for what actually has angered the mayor: that Croton over the last seven years has offended many of Bradley’s backers.

Croton’s suspicions were buttressed Friday by numerous public and private officials who said that the controversial general manager had alienated many in the arts community and had therefore become a liability for Bradley.

“There are some strong political supporters of Bradley who are not friends of Fred, and they applied pressure,” said a City Council member who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Important political supporters are more important than the head of a department.”

At least one City Council member publicly questioned whether Bradley’s action would be sustained in the council or in the courts.

“It’s common knowledge that Croton has been on the mayor’s hit list for at least a year,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who is expected to challenge Bradley for mayor in 1989. “When you ask around to find out what caused him to be on the hit list, people say that he doesn’t get along with people, that he’s got personality traits that grate on people, that he could do a better job of interfacing with the arts community.

“If those were criteria for firing people, there would be a lot of firings in the city because there are a lot of people who can’t get along with people,” Yaroslavsky said. He added, however, that he would withhold judgment on Croton’s firing until he knows all the facts.

Another council member who asked not to be identified charged that Bradley’s action goes beyond “a little white lie” on Croton’s employment application.

“It’s not the real reason that he is being fired,” the councilman said. He said Bradley is jettisoning a political liability before it can become an issue in the 1989 mayoral campaign. He added that he believes Croton is in a strong position to fight his dismissal.

Croton agreed. “The people who I have offended who have (Bradley’s) ear are the people who he is being responsive to,” Croton said. He said Bradley sometimes informed him that complaints about his performance were being made by members of the arts community, but Croton said he never learned the identities of his critics.

Mayor’s Statement

Bradley, who returned from an East Coast fund-raising trip Friday afternoon, would not directly respond to Croton, but issued a short statement on the controversy.

“My decision to discharge Fred Croton follows as a result of an investigation, which began about 18 months ago, into allegations that Mr. Croton had misrepresented his professional background in his application for the position he now holds with the city,” Bradley said.

“Upon the advice of the city attorney, and based upon a concern for due process, I am restrained from commenting any further on this matter,” the statement said.

Thursday, in a much more strongly worded message in which he questioned Croton’s honesty, Bradley ordered Croton to vacate his office by the end of the day Friday and begin a paid leave of absence from his $58,756-a-year post. Croton would be officially fired if the City Council upholds the mayor’s recommendation. At the same time, Bradley named Croton’s top assistant, Rodney Punt, as acting general manager.

‘I’ll Come to Work’

Croton said he has no intention of vacating his office. To underscore that defiance, Croton took a new poster to work Friday morning to hang in his office.

“Monday, I’ll come to work,” Croton said. “I have work to do and I’m going to come to work. We’ll see what happens.”

Croton, 52, heads one of the smallest city departments, responsible for operating art galleries, sponsoring cultural programs, and advising citizen-run commissions that approve the design of buildings and the designation of historical landmarks. Ever since he became general manager in January, 1981, he has been criticized for having an abrasive management style.

That management style led to an 11-month investigation of his department in 1985 and last year he was the only city general manager to receive an “unsatisfactory” rating from Bradley and the City Council in their performance evaluations.

“He is straight out of Caligula (or) Nero, a crazy Roman emperor,” said Marge Fasman, a founding member of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Fasman, a campaign contributor to Bradley, was pleased by Bradley’s action but angry that it took so long.

Croton admitted that his style may have turned people off in the past.

“There were people who I probably could have been gentler with,” Croton said. “I have a certain way, depending on how you’re bent, it’s engaging or boorish. I just went around being the person I’ve been all of my life.”

In a confidential memo outlining the charges, Bradley said that Croton had lied about the $24,000 salary he said he received as director of a Sharon, Conn., creative arts foundation. The mayor also asserted that Croton failed to state on the job application that from December, 1973, to November, 1974, he had worked for ANCI Corp. Croton said Friday the now-defunct household item company asked him to work part time to train a sales force.

In his defense, Croton told The Times that his job application was “absolutely correct,” but then agreed with an earlier statement by his attorney that the information was subject to interpretation. Croton’s attorney said Thursday that Croton had worked for the Sharon arts foundation, but never received the $24,000 salary because the foundation failed to raise enough money.

But Croton said the discrepancies were not the issue.

Not a New Thing

“The fact of the matter is, this has been going on for the past seven years,” Croton said. “They had this information for years. They’ve investigated this more than once, more than twice, they’ve investigated this constantly. For me this is not about 1973, ‘74, ’75.

“Confidentially,” Croton said sarcastically, “in 1948, I threw a three-man basketball game for a friend of mine. I hope (Bradley) doesn’t find out. I mean, gee whiz.”

Bradley’s proposed firing of Croton came only two days after the mayor asked the City Council to fire Sylvia Cunliffe as head of the city’s General Services Department. Bradley’s recommendation on Croton will now be forwarded to the Civil Service Commission for an investigation and hearing. The commission will then report to the City Council. It will take at least eight council votes to affirm Bradley’s decision.

Contributing to this article was Times staff writer Judith Michaelson.