Bradley to Go Easy on His Vetoes

Mayor Tom Bradley is expected to overrule the City Council and restore his proposed $7-million Pride Lines bus cleanup and rehabilitation program to the city budget when he announces his additions and cuts on the spending measure passed by the council, aides said Friday.

The Pride Lines program, which was one of only a few big pre-election policy initiatives proposed by Bradley, was eliminated on a close council vote during its deliberations on the record $3.25-billion budget last month.

While the mayor is expected to stand firm on Pride Lines, he is not expected to wield a heavy pencil as he considers line-item vetoes on the other $25 million in cuts and $35 million in additions the council made to his initial budget proposal, according to city officials. One aide said the mayor will veto about a dozen council actions, mostly to reinstate programs that had been cut from his initial budget proposal.

Council members and other City Hall officials say the budget process this time has been less contentious than in other years--and vetoes are expected to be kept to a minimum--because expected high tax revenues will provide plenty of money.

The budget is based on projected revenues of about $3.25 billion, an increase of more than 10% over the current fiscal year. Tax revenue projections were revised upward after the mayor submitted his proposal, giving the City Council an additional $17 million to work with.

At the same time, the mayor’s hands are tied to an extent by the need to locate $27 million for his proposed citywide garbage recycling program. The mayor proposed the program just two days after submitting his fiscal 1989-1990 budget and left it up to the council to find a way to pay for it. The council did it in part by slicing bits and pieces--including 80 proposed middle-management positions--from various city departments.

In addition, council members and aides said, the mayor’s own political difficulties will serve to keep disagreements between Bradley and the council to a minimum.

“Bradley is not in a position to throw his weight around,” said one city official close to the budget process.

Personal Finances

He said the investigations into Bradley’s personal finances will weaken the mayor’s ability to win council support on budget matters.

Bradley is under investigation by the city attorney and the U.S. Justice Department for possible conflicts of interest.

“He’ll pick some (vetoes) that he knows he can win,” the official said.

In the case of Pride Lines, which would appropriate $3.5 million to hire youths to clean Southern California Rapid Transit District buses and an additional $3.5 million to recommission 25 old buses, the mayor is virtually assured that the council will back him up.

The program was killed by an 8-7 vote. The council needs 10 votes--a two thirds majority of the 15-member council--to override mayoral vetoes.

City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who led the fight against Pride Lines, acknowledges that the mayor has the votes to restore the transit program.

“But that doesn’t make the program happen,” Yaroslavsky said.

Even if funded in the budget, the program must be separately considered and approved by the council. That means the program will likely be sent to the council’s Transportation Committee, which is chaired by former mayoral aspirant Nate Holden.

Holden opposed Pride Lines and in an interview Friday, said with a wink and grin that transit programs “are like marriage: They are nothing to rush into.”

Yaroslavsky said other potentially divisive issues, such as the proposed environmental affairs department, will be more difficult for the mayor veto.

Writing on Wall

“Most of the changes were unanimous,” said Yaroslavsky, who as chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee acted as the council’s quarterback on the budget. “We were unanimous in support of the department of environmental affairs . . . I think he’ll see the writing on the wall.”

The items on which the council was most divided stand the greatest likelihood of being vetoed.

The council, for instance, was split on a special $200,000 authorization for the Police Department to buy 100 radar guns, and it is rumored to be one of the programs Bradley will cut.

Yaroslavsky, who also opposed the radar guns, said, “Some of his vetoes I’ll support.”

But in general, Yaroslavsky said he would “reserve judgment until I know what (the mayor) will do.”

Bradley is taking the budget home for the weekend for one last review, an aide said. Under terms of the City Charter, he has five working days after receipt of the council’s changes to deliver his final budget message, including his vetoes. That makes his deadline the close of business Tuesday.

The council then has five days to override any vetoes.