Early Doubts About Croton Skills Related in Testimony

A key witness in the Civil Service hearing of Fred Croton, who is battling to save his job as head of Los Angeles’s City Cultural Affairs Department, testified Wednesday that she met with Mayor Tom Bradley and other city officials more than five years ago to express misgivings about Croton’s management.

Marjorie Fasman, a founding member of the Museum of Contemporary Art and a former board chairman of the Junior Arts Center, also told how she launched her own investigation into Croton’s background in 1982 and found “discrepancies” in Croton’s resume. That letter was contained in documents supporting Bradley’s charges against Croton, disclosed last week.

Fasman was called as a witness by Croton’s attorney, Richard Grey, who said her testimony showed that Bradley had known about the allegations against Croton for years and is raising them now because he is trying to fire Croton for political reasons.

Basis for Firing

Bradley, in testimony last week, said Croton had lied about his employment background and falsified his job application when he said he served as director of the Sharon, Conn., Creative Arts Foundation from 1973 to 1975 at an annual salary of $24,000. The mayor said he had learned last year that Croton was merely a part-time director and was paid considerably less than he had reported.

Fasman told how she wrote a six-page letter challenging Croton’s background after her own inquiry in 1982. But she said she could not recall whether Bradley had ever received a copy of her letter.

Fasman, however, said she met with Bradley and a mayoral aide, Valerie Fields, that same year to talk about her concerns. But Fasman testified that she could not recall whether she discussed the contents of her letter with Bradley.

“We talked about the level of mismanagement in the department and what was happening to organizations I care about and to people,” said Fasman, who claimed that the junior arts program was in a state of despair during Croton’s tenure.

Did All the Talking

Fasman said she had hoped that the mayor would terminate Croton but “I spent about 30 minutes talking, but I don’t think he was listening.”

Fasman also said she conveyed similar concerns about Croton to trustees of the Junior Arts Center and two City Council members, Joy Picus and Joel Wachs, both of whom served at one time or another as chair of the council’s Recreation, Library and Cultural Affairs Committee.

Afterward, Grey, Croton’s attorney, called the proceedings a “witch hunt.”

“The mayor’s office . . . has determined to stop at nothing to get rid of Mr. Croton and they have crossed the line of propriety in their zeal in carrying out that effort,” Grey said.

Croton is currently on a paid leave of absence from his $58,756 post, pending City Council action on the firing proposal.