City Council Backs Off on Mayor Probe

Lacking a political consensus on how to proceed, the Los Angeles City Council balked Tuesday at a proposal to take a lead role in investigations of Mayor Tom Bradley and his Administration.

On a sharply divided vote, the council sent to committee and almost certain defeat a motion by Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores to form a interagency “super committee”--led by council members--that would coordinate the various city investigations of Bradley’s affairs and related allegations of mismanagement in city departments.

The action represented a victory for the beleaguered mayor, who has opposed expanding the investigations, and City Atty. James K. Hahn, who some council members have criticized for moving too slowly in his 4-month-old investigation of Bradley.

“I just don’t think it was necessary,” Hahn said of the consolidation effort.

Also praising the council action was Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who said the creation of a major new council committee would be premature.

The Police Department and other agencies involved in the investigation have not completed their work, Gates said, and “whenever there’s a lot of people involved, it’s difficult.” LAPD officials this week persuaded City Controller Rick Tuttle to delay an audit of the city treasurer’s office and other city agencies because “we found we were working at cross purposes,” Gates said.

Flores’ motion followed revelations last week of bungled attempts in the city treasurer’s office to cover up irregularities in the awarding of city deposits to Far East National Bank, which paid Bradley in 1988 as an adviser. It was disclosed that someone in the treasurer’s office had “whited-out” a notation on a document that a $2-million Far East deposit had been made “per the mayor.”

Bradley, whose business dealings and personal finances are under investigation by city, state and federal agencies, denied influencing the decision to deposit with Far East--an account endorsed by city Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg.

The revelations prompted a flurry of indignant reactions from City Council members, some of whom expressed frustration with the pace and thoroughness of the city attorney’s investigation. Such sentiments seemed to have faded perceptibly by Tuesday, and the Flores proposal was effectively killed after less than five minutes of debate.

Vote Falls Short

Seven members voted to discuss the matter and six were opposed. A vote of 10 was needed to launch a debate.

Council President John Ferraro, who was among those last week clamoring for a more aggressive council role in the inquiries, said Tuesday that Flores’ proposal was unnecessary. He also said he was satisfied with Hahn’s recent statements that the investigation is on track and may be completed by mid-September.

Even Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a frequent Bradley critic whose Finance and Revenue Committee hearings last week provided a stage for the latest revelations, voted against debating the Flores proposal.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, Bradley’s leading ally on the council, said: “What the council did was reaffirm that the city attorney and the Police Department should do their work and not be impeded by hearings and everything else.”

Flores said that the proposal died because some of her colleagues, whom she declined to name, have their own plans to “keep their fingers on this news-making item.” She said that without a single committee coordinating the investigations they will proceed in a haphazard and inefficient manner.

Sees ‘Grandstanding’

Councilwoman Gloria Molina, who failed to win support for a separate motion to have various investigating agencies brief the council on their inquiries, also accused some of her colleagues of “grandstanding” on the investigation.

Yaroslavsky said he opposed the Flores motion because the council “shouldn’t go off half-cocked.” He said, “There was not a consensus for anything. Therefore there was a danger that nothing would happen.”

Yaroslavsky said he believes that the council’s ad hoc committee on ethics and investigations should begin a comprehensive examination of the allegations lodged against Bradley. “It is (the committee’s) responsibility; they should take it seriously,” he said.

Michael Woo, who chairs the ethics committee, may have come out a winner in the maneuvering Tuesday. It appears any council investigation of Bradley’s affairs may revert to Woo’s ethics committee.

And Woo entered a motion Tuesday to beef up his panel staff in preparation for public hearings on the various investigative reports expected to begin being released next month.

Council More Willing

In an interview, Woo said he believes that the council will be more willing to hire its own investigative staff and hold hearings if the city attorney’s investigation and others result in no charges.

“If the outcome is ambiguous, it would be appropriate for the council to step in,” he said.

Meanwhile, in marked contrast to the tumultuous hearings held last week, the council’s Finance and Revenue Committee quietly wrapped up its inquiry into the treasurer’s office on Tuesday, offering a list of recommendations on new policies and procedures for the troubled city agency.

Yaroslavsky said he is recommending that office adopt strict policies requiring competitive bids for deposits, that bid sheets be time-stamped and numbered, that bank eligibility for deposits be reviewed twice annually and that a firm policy on doing business with minority institutions be written and submitted to the council for approval.