Bradley Intercedes for Political Contributor : Mayor Asks Officials to Delay Closure of Mobile Home Park, Aids Effort to Purchase 2 City Lots

Working behind the scenes, Mayor Tom Bradley has repeatedly intervened with city officials to promote the interests of a political contributor in his dealings with city agencies.

During the last several years, according to interviews and public records, Bradley has personally placed a series of telephone calls to city employees in an effort to assist Allen E. Alevy of Long Beach with at least two matters.

Bradley asked the Building and Safety Department in 1987 to halt for six months enforcement proceedings against Alevy for operating a mobile home park that was illegally located in an industrial area of Wilmington. Alevy said the department suspended the proceedings after the mayor stepped in at Alevy’s urging.

Ordered to ‘Get Out of It’

The mayor also personally ordered the city’s Community Development Department to terminate actions it was simultaneously pursuing against Alevy in connection with the run-down trailer park. An agency official said the mayor ordered her to “get out of it.”

Even with the delay, Alevy missed the deadline to close his mobile home park. He was charged with misdemeanor violations of building and zoning regulations. He pleaded no contest and on Sept. 12 was sentenced to 24 months probation and fined $4,500.

At the same time, Bradley was assisting Alevy with another matter.

Records and interviews show that the mayor was helping expedite Alevy’s efforts to acquire two vacant properties owned by the city in South-Central Los Angeles.

Bradley’s City Council ally Gilbert Lindsay cleared the way for Alevy to obtain one parcel in early 1988 to expand a small shopping center. But Alevy was denied the second last May when city financial analysts concluded that the unusual deal was not in the public interest and the property should be sold on the open market, as municipal rules generally require.

Bradley declined to be interviewed by The Times about his relationship with Alevy. Through his press secretary, William Chandler, the mayor said that he had done nothing inappropriate or unethical.

“Among the mayor’s many responsibilities are responding to constituents’ requests and providing (them) with information regarding the city,” Chandler said. “That is part of the mayor’s job and every day he works for constituents and tries to get answers for them. And that simply is the case here.”

It is common for elected officials to assist constituents with a variety of problems they may encounter with a sometimes-unresponsive bureaucracy. But questions have been raised by some city officials involved with the Alevy episodes about whether the public interest was served by Bradley’s actions.

Bradley’s relationships with several political donors and business associates were central issues in City Atty. James K. Hahn’s recently concluded investigation of the mayor. Hahn said Bradley had “clearly failed” to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

Hahn’s investigation did not touch on the mayor’s ties to Alevy, who has extensive real estate holdings and owns a diverse assortment of businesses, including Laundromats, mobile home parks and a firm that buys and refurbishes dilapidated inner-city buildings. He also once secretly owned a notorious Signal Hill massage parlor and has a minor criminal record.

Boasts of Access

Alevy boasts of his easy access to Bradley.

“I guarantee if I call the mayor he will call back in a day or two. Guaranteed,” said Alevy, whose Long Beach office is adorned with pictures of Bradley and himself. Prominently displayed on one wall is a letter the mayor wrote recommending Alevy’s son for graduate school.

Alevy said the two men met at the 1984 wedding of Alevy’s sister, who had been a Bradley backer for some time.

Since then, Alevy has contributed $7,200 to Bradley campaign coffers both personally and through companies he controls. Now, he said, he is planning a $500-a-person fund-raiser at his home to help Bradley pay his mounting legal bills.

“I really believe he likes to spend time with me because I have my ear to the ground,” Alevy said.

Alevy said that during his private conversations with Bradley, he abides by a “very strict code” in requesting assistance: “Unless I think it’s right, I won’t ask him. I have my own white line that I won’t cross over. . . . Go ask the mayor for something that’s wrong and you don’t get it.”

Alevy said the mayor is aware of his past involvement with the massage parlor, but Bradley’s spokesman on Friday denied this.

‘Police Problem’

Alevy secretly owned Circle Massage in Signal Hill, which was closed in the early 1980s amid protests by religious groups and legal battles with city officials. Between 1980 and 1982, a number of masseuses were convicted of prostitution, and city officials said in court documents that the business was “a significant police problem.”

During an ownership dispute, Alevy said in legal papers that he was the sole stockholder of a corporation he formed to buy the massage parlor but placed his holdings under another person’s name. “I did not want my name to be associated with the massage parlor business because of my standing in the community,” Alevy said.

In an interview with The Times, he insisted that the parlor began as a “legitimate” enterprise but, without his knowledge, became a “house of ill repute” under the day-to-day management of his boyhood friend and business partner, who had earlier been convicted of bribing a Nevada gaming official.

Alevy, 51, has had brushes with the law himself, including convictions for petty theft and battery in the 1960s. More recently, he was arrested in 1986 at Palm Springs Municipal Airport for carrying a loaded automatic handgun in his brief case. Striking a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace. He received six months probation, according to court files there.

Although a plea of no contest is not an admission of guilt, it is treated as such by criminal courts and is registered as a conviction.

Misdemeanor Charge

Alevy entered this same plea in January to the misdemeanor charge brought against him by the city attorney’s office for operating his Wilmington trailer park in an area along Banning Boulevard that is zoned exclusively for industrial use.

Alevy’s sentencing two weeks ago brought to an end an arduous enforcement effort by the city that spanned nearly a decade, and was prolonged by the mayor himself.

Years back, Alevy’s father used the park to house the employees and equipment of his traveling carnival during its off-season. When the carnival went out of business, the workers stayed. Because the property was in an industrial zone, the city refused to grant occupancy permits.

Throughout the 1980s, Alevy failed repeatedly to comply with city orders to close the park and pay relocation costs to his tenants. He insisted that no other park would accept his tenants and their aging trailers. City officials have contended that Alevy was not making a good-faith effort to relocate his tenants.

By mid-1987, Building and Safety Department officials had lost their patience and set one final deadline before sending the matter to the city attorney for prosecution.

Turns to Bradley

His back to the wall, Alevy turned to Bradley. Building and Safety Department documents contain scattered notations of the mayor’s involvement--an involvement that was not warmly received by frustrated investigators on the case.

In recently filed legal papers, Alevy stated that he “contacted Mayor Tom Bradley’s office in approximately August of 1987 and was able to obtain a six-month extension of the order to comply.”

Another document, a chronology of the city’s dealings with Alevy by Senior Building Inspector Mark Morrow, notes that Alevy was granted a six-month extension in October, 1987, “per the request of Mayor.” Morrow declined to discuss the chronology or its contents.

Bradley spokesman Chandler confirmed that the mayor requested the six-month extension but said he did so at the suggestion of building officials.

This occurred after Bradley met with Alevy and several of his tenants in Wilmington on July 29, 1987, according to Chandler. The tenants, he said, expressed concern that they would be left homeless if the park were closed. Alevy and the tenants then asked the mayor for an extension, he said.

‘Equitable Solution’

Subsequently, Chandler said, Bradley talked with building officials who suggested that “perhaps the most equitable solution” would be to give Alevy more time to comply with city orders, and the mayor agreed.

When asked the names of building officials with whom Bradley spoke, Chandler said the mayor could not recall but that “most likely” one of them was Frank Kroeger, then general manager of the city Building and Safety Department.

Kroeger, now retired, told The Times in an earlier interview that he could not remember ever discussing the Alevy case with Bradley.

Signing the required paper work for the extension was Edwin Boyer, chief of the building department’s investigation division until his retirement last March.

Boyer said he was ordered to do so by Kroeger.

“I was just told to do it,” Boyer said. He said he could not recall the mayor’s name being mentioned during that conversation.

‘Long String of Trouble’

“Legally, we can (grant extensions),” Boyer said in an interview, “but ethically, I thought we had such a long string of trouble in shutting him down, I didn’t think we should be giving this guy any breaks. . . . I think Mr. Alevy was served by this, not the public.”

Asked to confirm Boyer’s recollections of the extension, Kroeger said: “I just can’t pull that one from my memory. I may have instructed him to do it. I don’t know.”

Bradley also intervened with the city’s Community Development Department, which was pushing Alevy to finance the relocation of dozens of tenants at a cost of up to $5,000 each, as required by laws governing the closure of mobile home parks.

Barbara Zeidman, director of the department’s rent stabilization division, said an “aggravated” Bradley telephoned her in mid-October of 1987 about the Alevy case and told her to “get out of it.” It was, she said, the only time the mayor had called her on a specific issue.

“He said the matter was being handled by the Department of Building and Safety and that I should not try to put roadblocks in the way” of Alevy, Zeidman said in an interview.

“I told the mayor that it had been the judgment of this division that Mr. Alevy was violating the (mobile home) law, but that if he was giving me a work order, I would do it. He said, ‘Yes,’ and hung up.”

Reported to Superior

Zeidman said she immediately recounted the conversation to her superior, who concluded that “I had indeed received a direct order from the mayor. . . . The bottom line result was that we stopped our efforts to gain Mr. Alevy’s compliance with the laws of the city of Los Angeles.”

She said the mayor’s call was particularly surprising given the fact that Alevy’s trailer park was in “wretched” condition, infested with rats and plagued by sewage problems.

Zeidman, like others interviewed, said Alevy “frequently invoked” Bradley’s name in conversations, calling him “a good friend.” And judging from Bradley’s actions, she said, “It certainly seemed they had a good relationship.”

Chandler of the mayor’s office said Bradley called Zeidman because he believed that the involvement of her agency amounted to “duplication of effort” and “would lead to unnecessary confusion.”

In yet another sector of the bureaucracy, Bradley engineered a last-ditch meeting for Alevy with the Community Redevelopment Agency. At the time, Alevy was trying to get the agency to pay for the relocation of his tenants because the park was within a redevelopment project area.

This time Alevy got an audience with an agency official but nothing else.

Official Unmoved

Former CRA project manager Gerald Grimaldi said he was unmoved by Alevy’s references to having breakfast with the mayor.

“I want you to be assured that while I did meet with him at the request of the mayor, I did no favors for him in any way, shape or form,” recalled Grimaldi, who no longer works for the city.

As the six-month extension drew close to its April, 1988, expiration date, the mayor again called the building department and put in a good word for Alevy, records show. But Bradley did not seek another delay.

By then, Alevy had relocated many tenants at his own expense. But he still had not complied with city orders to close the park. As a result, misdemeanor charges were brought against him in June, 1988.

Elsewhere in the city, however, Alevy fared better.

While the Building and Safety Department was moving against him, Alevy was working through the Bureau of Engineering to buy two relatively narrow vacant parcels of city-owned land south of downtown.

Saw Mini-Malls

He looked at the littered lots and saw mini-malls.

Alevy already had purchased two corner lots adjoining the city’s vacant land, and had built a small retail center on one of them. His plan was to buy the city property and consolidate nearly two blocks of East Martin Luther King Jr., Boulevard for additional commercial development. The surplus city property had been purchased in the 1960s as part of a project to widen the boulevard.

City documents and interviews reveal that the mayor involved himself at various stages in Alevy’s development efforts.

Alevy, during discussions with The Times totaling more than four hours, provided conflicting and shifting accounts of his contacts with the mayor.

Initially, for example, he stated that he never had spoken to the mayor about the land. Later, he said that the topic came up in passing during one of his meetings with Bradley. Later still, he volunteered that he actually had shown the mayor drawings of his development plans.

On March 3, 1987, Alevy met with Bradley at City Hall, according to the mayor’s appointment calendar. And on that same day, the city’s top real estate official, Pedro V. Romero, got a call from Bradley--his first, he said, in “many, many years.”

Notation in Files

A notation of the conversation appears in real estate division files. It states: “Mayor talked to Mr. Romero about project to sell lots . . . to Alevy. Mayor will look into it.” The author was real estate officer Carl Goss.

“It was just an out-of-the-ordinary type communication so I thought it was best to make some kind of notation about it,” Goss explained.

One month later, Councilman Lindsay introduced a motion allowing Alevy to buy one of the properties without a public auction. In his motion, Lindsay proclaimed that the public interest would be served if Alevy were allowed to expand his small shopping center onto city land that had become “a focal point of unsavory behavior in the community.”

Although the law requires that “surplus property” generally be sold through auctions to ensure that the city receives the most money possible, an exception can be made if there is an overriding “public benefit.” This provision was invoked in the Alevy deal.

Lindsay introduced the motion at the request of the mayor, according to a source familiar with the councilman’s motion, who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

Lindsay, when asked about the mayor’s involvement, said, “You better talk with Sal.”

‘Doesn’t Recall’

Sal Altamirano, the 88-year-old councilman’s executive assistant, said that Lindsay “doesn’t recall” whether the mayor was behind the motion.

While required paper work for the deal was pending, real estate official Romero said, the mayor called him at least twice to inquire about the sale’s “status.”

“I told him we were moving as fast as we can,” Romero recalled.

Although Romero said that “Mr. Mayor never instructed me to do anything but give him the status,” he conceded that the Alevy deal became “a priority” after the “head honcho” called.

The paper work was soon completed, and Bradley, as part of his official duties, signed the deed transfering ownership of the 41,000-square-foot property to Alevy for $185,000, the city-appraised value.

“The mayor’s involvement was quite limited,” said Bradley spokesman Chandler.

Confirms Mayor’s Call

Chandler confirmed that the mayor called Romero for a status report and had a discussion with Lindsay. But he would not say when the Lindsay discussion occurred or what was discussed. “At this point, I can’t go any further (in discussing) that particular parcel,” he said, without explanation.

Meanwhile, Alevy had set his sights on the second city-owned property. One city document strongly suggests that the mayor kept tabs on the progress of the sale.

In this transaction, real estate chief Romero ordered that bidding for the land be limited to the two corner-lot owners. That decision was made shortly after Alevy had another meeting with Bradley and had bought one of the corner lots for $45,000 through his company, Amusement Industries, Inc.

City files also indicate that the real estate division decided against selling the property on the open market after the mayor, or someone in his office, inquired about the sale.

In a July, 1988, memo from the city engineer’s office, Romero was told to “prepare a draft letter to (the) mayor” explaining, among other things, that city officials were “expediting” sale of the property. The memo said two people were interested in the land, but did not mention Alevy by name.

‘We Had an Inquiry’

The memo was written by Lawrence Burks, deputy city engineer, who said he did so at the request of his boss, City Engineer Robert Horii.

“I would assume,” Burks said, “we had an inquiry from the mayor’s office. Bob Horii must have talked to him.”

Horii, for his part, said he cannot remember what prompted him to request the report for Bradley.

“I don’t recall specifically,” he said. “We do get calls from his (Bradley’s) office asking for the status of various things. It (the report request) . . . could have been from him.”

The mayor’s spokesman refused to say whether Bradley had called.

In any case, Romero, the real estate official assigned to write the report to Bradley, said it was never sent and insisted that he alone decided to hold a two-party auction between Alevy and the other private property holder. Romero said he believed that the land would be most valuable to the neighboring owners.

Although such “adjacent owner” sales are not unprecedented, real estate officer Goss said that they usually involve small or oddly shaped parcels with little value to anyone except a neighboring property owner. This parcel, while shallow, amounted to 34,000 square feet and afforded nearly a block of frontage on well-traveled Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Complained to Supervisor

“It seemed to me to be outside the normal process without a doubt,” Goss said of the proposed sale to Alevy. “I complained to my immediate supervisor but nothing ever happened. It sure (did) look fishy.”

When the bidding date arrived in January, only Alevy showed up. His lone competitor, who owns a coin-operated car wash on his corner lot, told The Times that he could not afford the $200,000 minimum bid set by real estate officials.

The sale to Alevy’s Amusement Industries was approved by the mayorally appointed Public Works Commission and sent to Bradley, who routinely referred it to the city administrative office for review.

A month later, the office’s financial analysts blocked the $200,000 Alevy deal in a brief but pointed report: “The planned and existing commercial development in the area along East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and the potential for development of the subject parcel, suggests that it be made available to a wider market.”

The analysts said the property should be sold at a public auction, which has yet to occur.

‘Not in the Public Interest’

The proposed sale to Alevy, said chief financial analyst Judy Sobject of the city administrative office, “was not in the public interest.”

“We owe the taxpayers the maximum amount of money they can get,” she said.

Sobject said she took her concerns about the proposed sale to Alevy’s company to the president of the Board of Public Works, Edward J. Avila. “When I showed it to him,” she recalled, “he agreed that it wasn’t a good deal. He said it was the first time that he had heard about it.”

On Friday, Bradley’s spokesman said that Avila brought the matter to the attention of either the mayor or his chief of staff, Mike Gage.

Agrees With Conclusion

While city analysts were preparing to scuttle the Alevy sale, the mayor simultaneously came to the conclusion that the parcel should be sold at public auction, the spokesman said.

Although the mayor did not put his opposition in writing, the spokesman said that he did verbally relay his feelings to the public works commissioner.

Avila could not be reached for comment.

Alevy said recently that he was unaware that the deal had hit a snag. “I’d be pretty pissed off if I don’t get the property,” he said.

Times researcher Cecilia Rasmussen contributed to this report.

PROPERTY CHRONOLOGY Following is a chronology of events related to businessman’s Allen Alevy’s purchase of one parcel of city land and his unsuccessful attempt to buy another parcel. Oct. 25, 1982--Alevy buys corner lot next to one of two sprawling vacant parcels owned by city on East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. April 2, 1984--Alevy & Associates writes Councilman Gilbert Lindsay’s office in attempt to acquire city property to expand small shopping center the firm has built on corner lot. Jan. 3, 1986--City Council approves sale of properties to another developer to build 100 units for senior citizens housing. Aug. and Sept., 1986--Alevy contributes $4,500 to Bradley’s gubernatorial campaign. Feb. 11, 1987--Alevy again lobbies for property after city housing plan fails because of financing problems. Alevy says city land is “gathering place for unsavory activity” next his small shopping center. March 3, 1987--Alevy meets with Bradley in City Hall. Later that day, mayor calls city real estate official Pedro V. Romero to inquire about project to sell Alevy the city parcel that adjoins his shopping center. March 10, 1987--In memo to real estate division, acting director of Community Development Department recommends that city drop idea of developing housing on the two properties because new tax law reduces rent subsidies and other government financing. Memo by Ralph Esparza states that properties should “be given full consideration for commercial development.” Mayor calls Esparza about “status” of property before memo is written. April 3, 1987--Councilman Gilbert Lindsay introduces motion authorizing “direct sale” of one property to Alevy and his wife, Deanna, without public auction, and council approves it. Source says mayor was behind Lindsay motion. Sept. 28, 1987--Bradley and Alevy meet for third time in six months. Oct. 6, 1987--Real estate officials announce that a second Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. property is for sale. Alevy’s Amusement Industries Inc. quickly purchases privately owned lot on corner of the city land, a move that real estate files contend was designed to “gain control of city properties.” Dec. 9, 1987--Bradley and Alevy have breakfast. Three weeks later, Alevy contributes $1,750 to Bradley’s mayoral campaign through two companies he controls. Feb. 4, 1988--Council approves sale of the first property to the Alevys for market value of $185,000. The next month, the mayor signs deed transferring ownership to the Alevys. July 20, 1988--Engineering bureau directs real estate division to prepare letter to mayor on alternatives for selling second property “as soon as possible.” City official says letter was not sent. Sept. 28, 1988--Real estate division decides to limit bidding on the property to owners of corner lots adjoining city property--one of whom now is Alevy. Jan. 11, 1989--Alevy, the only bidder, offers $200,000 for property, minimum set by city appraiser. March 31, 1989--Public Works Commission approves sale to Alevy. May 25, 1989--City Administrative Office blocks sale, saying it is not in the public interest and that the property should be auctioned openly. Source: City records and interviews MOBILE HOME PARK CHRONOLOGY

While city inspectors attempted to shut down an illegal mobile home park that was operated by businessman Allen Alevy, Mayor Tom Bradley requested and got Alevy a six-month delay, according to a chronology of city enforcement efforts contained in building department files.

The following is a summary of city actions against businessman Allen Alevy in connection with his Wilmington mobile home park and the mayor’s contacts with building and safety officials on his behalf: April 10, 1987--City orders Alevy to shut down by June 13, 1987, an illegal mobile home park located in an industrial area. August, 1987--Alevy contacts Mayor Tom Bradley’s office seeking a six-month extension of city’s order. Oct. 7, 1987--Six-month extension of time is granted to Alevy “as per request of Mayor,” according to city documents. Mid-Oct., 1987--Mayor calls Community Development Department official and orders her to stop separate proceedings against Alevy. Feb. 8, 1988--Inspectors find that Alevy still has failed to relocate his tenants and close the park. A city attorney’s hearing is scheduled to inform Alevy that Bradley extension will expire in two months. Feb. 22, 1988--Mayor calls building inspector to “ascertain status of job” and report that Alevy is trying to relocate tenants through the Community Redevelopment Agency. Inspector informs mayor that Alevy is not making “a good faith effort.” Feb. 25, 1988--Bradley’s office informs building and safety officials that the mayor will not seek another extension for Alevy and that Alevy has been told to comply. Feb. 25, 1988--At mayor’s request, Gerald Grimaldi of Community Redevelopment Agency meets with Alevy, who was lobbying the agency to pay relocation costs for his park tenants. June 30, 1988--Alevy still fails to comply, and city attorney files criminal misdemeanor complaint against him for operating a mobile home park in an industrial zone without occupancypermits. Jan. 13, 1989--Alevy pleads no contest. Sept. 12, 1989--Alevy is sentenced. He is fined $4,500 and placed on 24 months probation. Source: City records, interviews and Superior Court filings