Black Leaders Rally Support for Bradley

In a taut display of political support that underscored the divisiveness of the controversy swirling around Mayor Tom Bradley, a coalition of black community leaders rallied in support of the beleaguered executive Tuesday and demanded that council members Michael Woo and Joan Milke Flores resign from the committee looking into Bradley’s dealings.

Angrily defending the mayor in an auditorium of cheering Bradley supporters at the Golden State Mutual Building in southwestern Los Angeles, the community leaders also urged the investigative agencies probing Bradley’s financial dealings to draw their conclusions quickly.

“We are a nation and a society of laws and a man or woman is innocent until proven guilty,” said John Mack, head of the Los Angeles Urban League. “Tom Bradley served this city long enough and well enough and with enough integrity and honor that he should be given the benefit of the doubt.”

But the harshest words by the assembly of community and religious leaders were reserved for reporters covering the unfolding drama surrounding the city’s first elected black mayor, who is under investigation by the City Council, the city attorney and federal officials.

The Rev. Paul Martin, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in South Los Angeles, called newspaper reports on Bradley’s financial dealings part of a “nationwide attempt to discredit any black leader.”

“We know we have not been fully accepted as U.S. citizens,” said Martin. “We know that our journey always demands more of us than anybody else and when some of us break through and make an indelible mark in the history of a city, state or nation, there are always people like the news media standing in the wings to discredit us.”

Many of the community leaders and the audience of several hundred supporters said the reports of Bradley’s political troubles were racially motivated.

When a reporter asked the leaders, “Are you saying that the mayor would be getting different coverage if he were not black?”, the crowd roared back: “Yes! Yes!”

‘Look at the Record’

“All you have to do is look at the record,” added the Rev. E. V. Hill.

The controversy over Bradley’s future has ignited vocal expressions of support within the black community by residents fearful of the impact on the mayor and worried that his discrediting will damage the prospects of other black politicians.

Investigations into Bradley’s conduct have also formed a backlash in the black community against Councilman Nate Holden, who is also black. Holden, while challenging Bradley for the mayor’s office earlier this year, fanned allegations that Bradley’s receipt of salaries from two local lending institutions doing business with the city presented a conflict of interest. Those allegations spawned the current, wide-ranging investigation into Bradley’s conduct.

“Nate Holden’s star is not on the rise. It’s on the descent because of this,” said Mack. “There are many many people who are very, very angry at Councilman Holden and feel he has regrettably contributed to the problem rather than the solution.”

In a statement read by the Rev. Charles Belcher, the leaders called for the investigations into Bradley’s finances to be concluded “within the next month or so,” and it implied that ambitious members of the City Council had prompted the investigations.

“One does not have to be a genius to conclude that any discrediting of Bradley by future mayoral aspirants would serve to quicken their own political opportunity for that office,” the statement said. “We sincerely hope that those who are conducting this investigation are above reproach themselves and they are not living in glass houses.”

Resignations Asked

Without naming names, the group’s statement called for the resignation of “all future mayoral candidates” from the council’s Governmental Operations committee, which is overseeing the city attorney’s probe of Bradley’s finances.

In answers to reporters’ questions, leaders targeted for resignation Councilman Michael Woo, who heads the committee, and Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, one of its members. The two council members were cited because, the leaders said, they have made inappropriate comments about the Bradley case before coming to any conclusion about the matter. Committee member Gloria Molina, who has been sharply critical of Bradley and is also considered a future mayoral aspirant, was not singled out.

Defending themselves, Woo and Flores said they would not resign from the committee.

“I have been very careful not to pass any judgments,” said Flores, whose 15th District includes segments of South Los Angeles where Bradley is strong politically. “I think I’ve been most careful, probably more careful than most. . . . I don’t feel I’ve drawn any conclusion.”

‘Little Comment’

Flores added that she has received “surprisingly little comment” from her constituents. Woo objected to claims that the Bradley probes have been fueled by racism.

“I don’t think it helps the mayor to raise the issue of racism,” he said. “I don’t think racism is a factor.”

“It’s true that all 15 of the council members are political animals, as is the mayor . . . but the question is, is (the investigation) fair? I don’t see any reason for myself or anyone on the council to disqualify themselves.”

Representatives of local newspapers also defended coverage of the Bradley investigations.

The editor of the Herald Examiner, which was specifically accused by several black community leaders of racist coverage, said he stood by the newspaper’s stories.

“The Herald Examiner has reported accurately and fairly on Mayor Bradley over the last several weeks,” Maxwell McCrohon, editor of the newspaper, said in a prepared statement.

“Perhaps we have been singled out for criticism by some of the mayor’s friends because our reporters were the first to disclose some of the financial dealings that are under investigation.”

Bradley’s Silence

Noel Greenwood, deputy managing editor of The Times, argued that Bradley has made it more difficult to present his side of the story by simultaneously refusing comment.

“The mayor’s refusal to respond to all the questions and allegations and issues that have arisen--it is making things more difficult for the press,” Greenwood said. “The mayor on one hand is complaining he’s not receiving fair coverage and having his side of the story told. On the other hand, he’s not telling his side of the story. . . . If he wants complete, total coverage, we’re ready.”

A recent Times poll that showed a definite split between the city’s black and Anglo communities on the subject of Bradley, his tenure and the investigations. The poll charted the views of three of Bradley’s historic support groups--blacks, Latinos and Jews--and also the those of non-Jewish whites.

Asked if they approved or disapproved of Bradley’s job performance, for example, only 46% of Anglos said they approved of the mayor. But 60% of blacks and 65% of Latinos and 62% of Jewish voters supported the mayor.

In answers to other questions, only 21% of blacks and Latinos said they believed Bradley had acted unethically, compared to 52% of Jewish voters and 44% of other whites. Asked whether Bradley had misused his office for financial gain, only 24% of blacks and 32% of Latinos answered yes--compared to 55% of Jewish residents and 57% of other white residents.

Besides their concern over Bradley’s future, the black leaders said Tuesday that they fear that the furor over his activities will adversely affect other black politicians.

‘Still Have Prejudice’

“We still have racial prejudice all too often in Los Angeles,” Mack said in an interview. “This kind of thing can feed into the bigots who are looking for a reason not to support blacks.”

Martin, of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, put it more bluntly at the press conference.

“If we allow . . . the 16-year track record of one of the greatest mayors ever to be discredited,” he said, “then the implication is clear that it will be a long time before the total community will trust anything that has a dark skin in terms of city government.”