Mayor’s Fifth Term May Be One of Provocative Ideas

Some day, Los Angeles International Airport may be in the hands of a private corporation. And picnickers may frolic on the lush banks of the Los Angeles River.

Neither of these unusual ideas is contained in the 1989-90 city budget that Mayor Tom Bradley proposed Thursday. Nor did the 71-year-old mayor discuss them during the election campaign that concluded with his slim municipal primary victory Tuesday.

Both, however, are among the long-range initiatives being explored by the Bradley Administration as it heads into an unprecedented fifth term.

In a campaign long on photo opportunities and short on substance, Bradley revealed little of his plans for guiding the rapidly growing city into the 1990s. Nonetheless, nearly 160,000 voters chose him to lead this city of 3.3 million, and in an election when only 23% of the city’s 1.9 million registered voters went to the polls, that was enough.

While voters would be hard pressed to say what the Bradley agenda is based solely on the just-concluded campaign, it may be gleaned from other areas. One source is the blueprint that emerges in his city budget proposal. Another source is the spate of initiatives on air quality and traffic control that he proposed last year, before an anticipated strong challenger, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, decided not to make the race.

Other proposals were disclosed in Bradley’s victory speech after his 52% margin ensured that he would not be forced into a runoff with his closest challenger, Nate Holden. Still more of the Bradley agenda can be found on the drawing board, ideas revealed during a series of recent interviews with the mayor and his top aides--granted to The Times only on the condition that they would not be published until after the election.

Turning the city’s huge and busy airport over to private operators and “greening” the concrete-lined river--long the butt of many Los Angeles jokes--are two of the most provocative of the ideas.

According to Deputy Mayor Mike Gage, the possibility of selling off Los Angeles International, along with the city’s three other airports, to a firm that would operate much like a gas or telephone company is currently under study by an outside consultant hired by the Department of Airports.

“(We’re) looking at a spectrum of things--from staying the way it is to sale of the assets,” Gage said. “Let’s say they are worth $2 billion to $3 billion. We escrow that money, put it into a trust account so that it would generate $200 million to $300 million a year return for the city. That would free up an enormous amount of revenues to help the city deal with other problems. . . . And you would control the airport with a public utilities commission at the city level.”

Operated Privately

At this point, the only major airports to be operated privately are those in Great Britain, according to Don Miller, deputy executive director of the Airports Department.

“It would require a lot of work,” Miller said. “It took the British several years to affect their change (and) I’m sure there would be opposition from airlines and users because the costs would go up. But it’s possible.”

Bradley aides said the greening of the Los Angeles River would be contingent upon the success of two proposals included in his budget for the next fiscal year--a water reclamation office and a storm water pollution control unit. As conceived by Administration staffers, billions of gallons of treated water from city sewage plants would be recycled along the concrete basin to nourish parks, hiking trails and bike paths.

“These are concepts that we have toyed with,” Bradley said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that ultimately we will be able to do it. But we certainly are going to take a look at it.”

Key Issues

Bradley, said he will concentrate on several key issues: air quality, traffic, crime, child care, affordable housing and inner-city education and job training. Many of these are concerns raised by Bradley rivals and by city residents in public opinion polls.

Enacting the programs would require the mayor to exercise determination and political clout. Many of the ideas depend on passage by the City Council to become reality. Others would take successful lobbying for funds from the state or federal government. Still others would require the cooperation of neighboring political jurisdictions or leaders of private industry and special-interest groups.

Some have questioned Bradley’s resolve.

“We’ve had a lot of government by press conference, and I would like to see government by active implementation of initiatives,” Councilwoman Joy Picus said. “I would really like to see some aggressive leadership from (the mayor’s) shop on housing, which we have neglected outrageously, on the implementation of air-quality plans, on solid waste, on hazardous waste. . . . “

Success Stories

Bradley objects to such criticism, pointing to such success stories as the renovation and expansion of the airport and Los Angeles Harbor.

Most of his initiatives, Bradley contended, do not require arm twisting of council members.

“They are so practical and reasonable you just explain them and get the message across,” said Bradley, who does not often lobby the council.

A case in point, according to the mayor, is a nine-point traffic plan he unveiled in mid-1987.

Most major elements have already been approved by the council, including stiffer parking fines and increased towing during rush hours, $5,000 subsides for private firms to purchase employee commuter vans and a speed-up in the installation of computerized traffic signals for the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

The last major element still facing council action is a plan to reduce by more than 60% the number of large trucks on surface streets during peak traffic hours.

‘Moving Cautiously’

“On that one, we are moving cautiously and carefully so that we get full input from the industry that will be directly affected,” said Bradley, whose long political career has been epitomized by efforts to reach a consensus rather than generate a controversy.

Bradley’s most voluminous campaign proposal was a 63-point air-quality plan he announced just one day before Yaroslavsky, who had previously issued his own environmental manifestoes, bowed out of the race in early January.

The mayor, facing pressure from federal agencies to reduce air pollution, outlined strategies that include changes the city’s General Plan to spur new housing near office buildings and mass transit lines, fees for transit improvements from developers and encouragement of large, private companies to offer employees four-day work weeks.

Many of the mayor’s proposals mirror South Coast Air Quality Management District plans; others are somewhat vague or had been previously proposed by Bradley.

Still, the initiative has drawn praise from environmentalists, who see it as an important step by the region’s largest municipality to move forward, rather than resist the controversial measures that will be needed to clean up the air.

First Step

The first step in the effort, Bradley said, will be to win council approval of a $485,000 budget proposal to create a four-person air quality management office to oversee the implementation of the 63 strategies.

Today, Bradley is expected to announce details for a citywide recycling program to reduce solid waste disposal by 50% in five years. The plan, which Bradley first promised to announce by the end of last year, would require homeowners to separate their recyclable refuse--including newspapers, glass, cans and yard waste--from the rest of the trash.

Because of its direct impact on city residents, the plan will require extensive support from Bradley’s office, said mayoral environmental aide John Stodder.

“It’s going to be a very big lunch for the City Council to eat when they get that plan, in terms of money and policy issues,” he said.

Lobbying at other government levels will be needed, Bradley acknowledged, to obtain funds he said are currently unavailable elsewhere for a citywide after-school child-care program and for construction of thousands of affordable housing units for low-income and homeless families.

Pledge Made

Early last year, Bradley pledged to target more than $100-million annually for 20 years for the two programs from funds that would become available if a court-imposed ceiling on Community Redevelopment Agency tax-revenue spending was raised from $750 million to $5 -billion.

But the property tax diversion plan is opposed by Los Angeles County, which would otherwise receive most of the tax revenues, and by Councilman Ernani Bernardi. Top mayoral staffers are engaged in private negotiations to try to persuade the county and Bernardi to drop their opposition.

Additional funds for affordable housing, the mayor said, could come from a linkage fee to be imposed on new commercial developments and the creation of public-private housing partnerships.

These and other suggestions were made last December by a Bradley-appointed Blue Ribbon Committee for Affordable Housing.

The housing committee is an example of a longtime favorite technique of Bradley for dealing with major issues: appointing groups of influential Los Angeles residents to study the issues and then forwarding their recommendations to the City Council,

But the housing group’s Sydney M. Irmas, a longtime Bradley ally, said that the city’s housing crisis is far too critical for Bradley to solve it by remaining in the background.

“I (do) not see him out front where I thought the mayor should be with this report,” Irmas said.

ON BRADLEY’S AGENDA Gleaned from campaign speeches, press releases, committee reports and interviews with Mayor Tom Bradley and his top City Hall staff members, these are some of the major proposals on the Bradley Administration agenda for the next four years. *Indicates proposals still in the development stage and not yet publicly detailed. TRANSPORTATION: PROPOSAL Reduce truck traffic in half on surface streets during peak traffic hours through a permit system STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Extend the Metro Rail subway line to the San Fernando Valley STATUS Seeking federal fundsPROPOSAL Increase participation in a city employee ride-sharing program STATUS Consultant drawing up final plans PROPOSAL Set up public hot-line phone number for information on buses, vans and ride-sharing STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget PROPOSAL Launch a USC-downtown shuttle system* ENVIRONMENT: PROPOSAL Establish a four-person air quality management office STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget PROPOSAL Require auto repair shops to recycle Freon in order to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Change the city’s General Plan to encourage new housing near office buildings and mass transit lines STATUS Being studied by city planning boards PROPOSAL Provide logistical assistance to environmental group TreePeople in planting 5 million trees in Los Angeles during the next five years STATUS Final plans not yet formulated PROPOSAL Create a division of storm drains to help reduce pollutants flowing into Santa Monica Bay STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget PROPOSAL Create an office of water reclamation to recycle, for non-drinking uses, treated water from city sewage treatment plants STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget PROPOSAL Establish a citywide recycling program requiring homeowners to separate bottles and cans, newspapers, yard waste and regular trash* HOUSING AND THE HOMELESS: PROPOSAL Increase spending for affordable housing construction by $100 million a year with Community Redevelopment Agency revenues STATUS Needs court permission to lift the CRA’s spending limit PROPOSAL Establish a linkage fee in which new commercial developers would pay per-square-foot fees to be used for the construction of affordable housing STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Halt demolition of low-cost SRO hotels on Skid Row through a two-year moratorium STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Create a housing commission to coordinate citywide housing policy STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget CRIME: PROPOSAL Hire 500 new police officers STATUS Proposed in 1989-90 city budget PROPOSAL Evict tenants arrested for selling drugs at their rental apartments or homes STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Hire more “at-risk” youths and adults in city departments and by urging vendors who do have city contracts to do so too STATUS Policy directive issued CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION: PROPOSAL Expand the L.A.’s Best after-school education and child-care program citywide STATUS Needs court permission to lift the CRA’s spending limit PROPOSAL Offer financial incentives to spur the establishment of new child care centers STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Provide financial support for family literacy centers in city libraries and public housing projects* PLANNING: PROPOSAL Require landscaping on all new development projects STATUS Awaiting City Council action PROPOSAL Landscape and develop bicycle paths, horse trails and parks along the Los Angeles River* PROPOSAL Build parking structures in overcrowded shopping districts along Melrose Avenue and Ventura Boulevard* OTHER: PROPOSAL Hire a city AIDS coordinator to spearhead local efforts against acquired immune deficiency syndrome STATUS Reviewing applicants PROPOSAL Enlarge the Children’s Museum downtown* PROPOSAL Maximize city airport revenues, including possible sale or long-term lease of Los Angeles International to a private utility*