L.A. Culture Chief Yields to Bradley, Leaves Office

The embattled head of the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, facing discharge for lying on his job application, finally yielded Monday to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s demand that he vacate his City Hall office.

But Fred Croton’s decision to abandon what had become an embarrassing confrontation with Bradley’s office did not spare him from allegations of insubordination. Added to earlier charges that he lied on his job application seven years ago were complaints from the mayor’s office on Monday that Croton had not surrendered the keys to his office and city-owned car when asked.

Since Bradley moved to fire him last week, Croton, 52, has not faced the mayor, according to both sides. That will change this morning when Bradley becomes the first witness in a special Civil Service hearing on the charges.

Forced Leave of Absence

Croton and his attorney told reporters last week and again Monday morning that Bradley’s demand that Croton begin a forced leave of absence from his $58,756 post, with pay, is illegal. They contended that since only the City Council can fire Croton, Bradley lacks authority to order the general manager to clear out of his office.

“I’m interested in doing a day’s work for a day’s pay,” Croton said. “The fact that (Bradley) prefers to use the taxpayer’s money to have me take a walk on the beach is really unacceptable to me.”

Croton backed off his pledge, however, about an hour after showing up for work Monday morning.

Arriving shortly before 9 a.m. with his attorney, Richard Grey, Croton was met by reporters and camera crews, who followed him into his 15th-floor office and peppered him with questions about his future. Minutes after the impromptu news conference began, Croton was interrupted by a phone call from the mayor’s office.

The call came from Anton Calleia, a Bradley assistant, who ordered Croton to “come down here and come down alone,” according to Grey.

Trailed by the news media representatives, Grey and Croton crammed into a City Hall elevator to the third floor and proceeded toward Bradley’s suite of offices. They were intercepted by Calleia and Deputy City Atty. Les Brown, who told Croton that he now faced a charge of insubordination.

Issue of the Keys

In a revised statement of charges that Brown handed Croton, Bradley accused Croton of ignoring the mayor’s directive last week to surrender his keys to Calleia.

Earlier, Bradley zeroed in on Croton’s job application. The mayor accused Croton of failing to reveal that he had worked for a defunct Connecticut housewares firm in the early 1970s and that he had lied when he said he had received a $24,000 salary as head of an arts foundation in Sharon, Conn., in the mid-1970s.

Croton and his attorney have maintained that Bradley is moving to fire Croton not because of the alleged discrepancies, but because the general manager has become a political liability to the mayor.

Action Promised

Grey said Croton would not defy the mayor further for the time being. But he added that there would be questions at the hearing “as to the propriety of the mayor’s so-called removal order and how that would fit into the overall basis of the defense that the mayor is out to get Mr. Croton no matter what.”

When Bradley appears this morning to testify, he is expected to outline his reasons for seeking Croton’s ouster. The mayor’s appearance as the first witness is designed to beat a City Charter-imposed deadline on council action.

Under the charter, the council must act on Bradley’s recommendation to fire Croton by the end of this month. But before the council can act, the Civil Service Commission must report its own findings based on the administrative hearing that will begin today and continue on and off until Nov. 14.