Bradley Calls on His Allies : Longtime Advisers Invited to Discuss Paying Legal Fees

Mayor Tom Bradley has summoned a select group of longtime advisers and expert fund-raisers for a Saturday morning summit at the mayoral mansion to discuss, among other things, how to pay the mounting legal bills generated by the biggest crisis of his political career.

A top Bradley aide acknowledged Thursday that the mayor had called the rare meeting in Hancock Park and that the agenda would center on how to raise money for the newly formed Bradley Officeholder Committee.

Asked to confirm reports circulating through City Hall that the committee is simply a thinly disguised legal defense fund, Bradley’s in-house lawyer, Mark Fabiani, would say only: “I think the possibility of using part of the officeholder account funds for legal services will be discussed on Saturday, as well as the means of raising funds.”

During the last four months, at least six public agencies have initiated inquiries into Bradley’s personal stock dealings and whether he used his official position to steer taxpayer money to business associates.

The mayor has denied any wrongdoing.

Bradley has employed three prestigious law firms to represent him in the inquiries--experts in securities law, trial work and political strategy. Fabiani declined to say how much the defense team has billed the mayor, calling such information a “private matter.”

But one veteran supporter who is knowledgeable about attorney fees said: “I would guess that his legal fees are astronomical. They probably are already in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Judging from the guest list, it appears that the five-term mayor has decided to tap his substantial pool of political alliances to see him through a controversy that he has for the most part endured alone and that has tarnished his reputation.

Among those invited to Getty House are advisers who in previous terms helped make Bradley one of the nation’s most influential Democratic politicians. Some clearly were under the impression that they were being called upon for their judgment, not their money. Those contacted Thursday evening said they had not been told specifically of the meeting’s purpose.

Attorney Dan Garcia, formerly Bradley’s head of the city Planning Commission, said he was told simply that it is going to be “a meeting of supporters of the mayor. I have no idea what it is about.”

Businessman Nikolas Patsaouras, a Bradley-appointed zoning commissioner and prominent Democratic Party fund-raiser, said the message he got from the mayor’s office indicated only that a few people were being brought together for a “briefing on the present situation.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the present situation is,” he said with a sense of resignation.

Others on List

The entire guest list could not be determined by late Thursday. But a few of the others said to be on it include former public works Commissioner Maureen Kindel, a lobbyist who is one of Bradley’s closest advisers; Recreation and Parks Commissioner Dick Riordan, a developer with key links to the business community; Joseph Cerrell, a veteran political consultant; airport Commissioner Johnnie L. Cochran, a politically connected attorney, and longtime fund-raiser Bruce Corwin, treasurer of the new committee.

The Bradley Officeholder Committee was formed July 19--the day before an explosive city audit was made public, leading to an extraordinary week of public hearings by a City Council committee.

In the report and in public testimony it was revealed that someone in the city treasurer’s office had “whited out” a notation that indicated a $2-million deposit in Far East National Bank had been made “per the mayor.” Bradley had been a paid adviser to the bank. It was also disclosed that the document was doctored to create the false impression that a required competitive bidding procedure had been followed.

Fabiani, the mayor’s counsel, said the committee can spend the funds not only on legal bills but on “any expenses” the mayor has incurred “in connection with his public service.” Under the law, they cannot be used to pay off campaign debts, he said.

Such committees are a new phenomenon in the city and have “sort of slipped through” without any public scrutiny, said Walter Zelman, executive director of California Common Cause.

Hahn’s Opinion Sought

Zelman said he is concerned about their legality and has asked City Atty. James K. Hahn for an opinion. The mayor’s office noted Thursday that Hahn himself has such a committee.

Meanwhile, Bradley has missed a mid-July deadline set by the California Fair Political Practices Commission to provide greater detail in his 1984 through 1988 financial disclosure statements, FPPC spokeswoman Sandra Michioku said.

The FPPC notified Bradley on June 23 that he had 20 days to revise the statements, which contain errors and omissions.

But Fabiani said the FPPC has agreed to give the mayor’s office more time because of the complexity of the undertaking.

“All I can say,” he added, “is that the statements will be filed when they are ready.”

Times staff writers Glenn F. Bunting, Rich Connell and Frederick M. Muir contributed to this story.

* DEMOTION CALLED FOR

Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores called for demoting City Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg. Story, Page 4.