Bradley Moved Last May to Restrict Suspected Industry Council Official

Robert J. Clark was relaxing at his weekend retreat in Oxnard last May when, to his surprise, the telephone rang and Mayor Tom Bradley was on the line.

“When I picked up the phone, he was concerned,” said Clark, chairman of the Private Industry Council. “He wanted to get hold of me then and there.”

The purpose of the call, Bradley said Tuesday, was to get Clark to relieve Dominick J. Ramos, president of the Private Industry Council, of his financial duties after allegations that Ramos mishandled a $160,000 contract. Bradley said he wanted the council board to prevent Ramos from approving any contracts or authorizing any payments until the charges had been fully investigated.

At a special meeting on Monday, Clark explained to his fellow board members that on June 5 he bowed to Bradley’s request to restrict Ramos’ activities. Ramos was limited to managing the Private Industry Council office staff. He was prohibited from making any decision influencing the $42 million a year in federal job training grants controlled by the Private Industry Council and the City Council.

Clark said that a financial audit, which has not been released, has raised concerns about the Private Industry Council that need to be addressed by Ramos.

Ramos, 50, who earns $76,572 a year, is the subject of several inquiries into allegations that he improperly granted a $160,000 contract extension to the Los Angeles public relations firm of Fouch-Roseboro & Associates without board approval, solicited political campaign contributions for City Council candidates from Private Industry Council staff and board members, received gifts from vendors and used federal job training funds to buy a new 1986 Lincoln Continental. Ramos has denied any wrongdoing.

The charges, as well as a harassment complaint filed against Ramos by one of his vice presidents, will be discussed by the council board at a closed session Nov. 12.

Several council board members expressed concern Monday that the allegations and the decision to strip Ramos of his financial responsibilities were kept secret, despite pleas by the mayor’s office and the city attorney’s office that Clark notify the board and take action.

“I got my information from the Los Angeles Times, information that I did not have at the time,” said Stelle Feuers, referring to two newspaper stories last week. “I think that places the board as well as the organization in a difficult position. It’s not the way in which a board should operate.”

Gabriel Cortina said, “I feel more is under the table than on top of the table.”

Clark acknowledged that the mayor’s office was “most disturbed by the way I treated Dominic” when Clark failed to inform the board of directors about the allegations and the financial audit. But Clark, who shared details of the charges only with Vice Chairman James Dunbar, said he wanted to wait until all the facts were in before going to the board.

“I kept you all in the dark for a long time . . . ,” Clark told the board members. “In order to keep things quiet, I didn’t tell you. It was important that the investigation not get out.”