$300,000 for Mayor’s Legal Fees Pledged

Mayor Tom Bradley on Saturday obtained a pledge from a close circle of charged-up financial backers to raise at least $300,000 next week to help the beleaguered mayor pay legal fees that are climbing toward the half-million-dollar mark in his fight for political survival.

Buffeted almost daily by conflict-of-interest allegations, Bradley summoned 30 longtime contributors and advisers to the mayoral mansion in Hancock Park, some of whom themselves do business with the city.

Costs Are Rising

Longtime Bradley confidant Maureen Kindel disclosed for the first time that the mayor’s legal bills are running roughly $100,000 a month. Bradley has hired three law firms to defend him in a series of investigations of his personal business dealings by federal, state and local agencies.

The mayor has denied using his official position to benefit himself or business associates.

The unprecedented gathering underscored how the controversy surrounding Bradley has begun to take a financial as well as a political toll.

After the hourlong meeting, which disrupted the usual Saturday morning serenity of his Hancock Park street, the mayor emerged with a hop in his step and a broad smile.

“I feel great,” he told reporters before stepping into his car and driving to a rally in South-Central Los Angeles, where his political career was born. (Story in Metro, Page 1.)

“The folks who came were very positive, very supportive and they want to do everything they can to help.”

Asked specifically how much he has racked up in legal bills, Bradley paused and joked: “Have you ever hired a lawyer?”

Bradley also asserted that he has no intention of stepping down. “Listen. ‘Quit’ is not in my vocabulary,” he said. “Anyone who ever has entertained such a notion better take their bets and go somewhere else. I’m here to stay.”

The guests began arriving shortly before 10 a.m. They came in Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes, Range Rovers and other expensive cars. There were developers, city commissioners, attorneys and consultants.

Silent Going In

For the most part, they entered silently, avoiding the nearly two dozen reporters and camera crews camped out in front of the pale-yellow brick estate.

Some refused to give their names. One sneaked through a colorful flower bed of impatiens to avoid the media crush. But less than an hour later, they emerged from Getty House with plenty to say, accusing the press of biased coverage and vowing to raise at least $10,000 apiece by next week to defend a man they said is impeccably honest.

They described themselves as “renewed,” “invigorated” and “resourceful.”

And it is that final description which must have particularly pleased Bradley, who has had little to feel good about lately.

The assembled supporters said they would contribute at least $1,000 each to the newly formed “Bradley Officeholder Committee,” a sum that is the maximum amount allowed under state law. They then will solicit from nine other people contributions of $1,000 each.

If all goes according to plan, the fund-raising effort should generate at least $300,000 by the end of next week, and perhaps more.

Showing Their Power

Those who were brought together Saturday have demonstrated their financial power. During the last five years, they have contributed nearly $400,000 to Bradley, either personally or through their businesses, campaign records show.

Whether the mayor could afford to shoulder the legal bills on his own is unclear. He has refused to reveal a complete picture of his financial worth. But Deputy Mayor Michael Gage said Saturday that the mayor’s financial standing is beside the point.

“I can’t imagine that anybody has ever thought” the mayor would pay for his defense, he said, adding that the legal bills have “arisen in the course of his conduct in office. If he weren’t in office he wouldn’t be subject to press stories . . . which have triggered some of the investigations.”

Among those who attended the meeting, there were no complaints about being asked to help the mayor.

“We feel he is an outstanding mayor and we are going to do everything humanly possible . . . to support him in raising monies,” declared an effusive Dori Pye, a Bradley appointee to the city housing commission and Westside chamber of commerce official.

“I hope to raise $15,000 to $20,000 within a week,” she said. “It’ll be very easy.”

The unprecedented meeting came at a crucial juncture in the political crisis that has tarnished the mayor’s reputation at the start of his historic fifth term and has threatened his legacy.

Damaging News

In recent weeks, damaging revelations have surfaced that there was an attempt in the city treasurer’s office to cover up evidence that potentially could link the mayor to $2 million in deposits in a bank that had paid Bradley consultant fees. In the weeks ahead, results of the investigations are expected to be released, possibly further fueling the controversy.

The meeting, described by several who attended, was convened in a setting that served to remind those gathered of the stature of the man coming to them for help. It was in a wood-paneled basement room, where the walls are blanketed with a photographic history of Bradley’s political career dating back to 1963, when he became the city’s first black city councilman.

Bradley, wearing brown pants and a beige Mexican wedding shirt, sat in a folding chair throughout the meeting. The others sat in a semicircle and were served orange juice, coffee and sweet rolls.

Bradley spoke first, assuring the group that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, that he would be fully vindicated and that he had no intention of resigning--which is what the group wanted most to hear.

No Specific Numbers

Then came the pitch. Without providing a specific figure, he said his legal bills have become staggering.

“You have been with me in the past and I need you to see if you can get some friends to raise some money,” supporter Nikolas Patsaouras quoted the mayor as saying. Patsaouras is a city zoning commissioner and prominent Democratic fund-raiser.

Patsaouras said the mayor explained to them that he had established a committee to pay his legal fees and other expenses that he has incurred in connection with his official duties.

During the meeting, no tough questions were asked about Bradley’s troubles, participants later told reporters. It was a respectful group of “friends,” who did not interrogate him.

In fact, political consultant Joseph Cerrell said he was surprised by the “upbeat” mood, considering the circumstances. He said that some “activists” suggested the mayor launch a stronger offensive “to go for the kill, so to speak.”

Airport Commissioner Johnnie L. Cochran summed up the sentiments of many.

“We feel renewed . . . and totally supportive of the mayor,” he said. “We are totally on board. All of us feel very good about it.”

Among others who attended the morning session were developer and city Harbor Commissioner Ron Lushing; Harbor area businessman Al Galetti; former planning commission chairman Dan Garcia; labor leader Bill Robertson; attorney Melanie Lomax; construction contractor and ex-city Public Works Commissioner Warren Hollier; theater owner and Bradley fund-raiser Bruce Corwin; developer consultant and former Public Works Commissioner Sol Marcus and Mary Anne Chalker, president of an insurance firm with city contracts.

Times staff writers Glenn F. Bunting, Rich Connell and Tracy Wood contributed to this story.