The Waiting Game at City Hall

The fact that John Ferraro is mayor-in-waiting explains a lot about the state of City Hall politics in Los Angeles--mad activity on the surface while, in fact, paralysis is setting in.

Ferraro, the veteran city councilman from the Mid-Wilshire District, is president and presiding officer of the council. If Mayor Tom Bradley is ultimately forced from office, Ferraro automatically becomes the city’s acting chief executive until the council calls a special election.

Ferraro was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor in 1985, and has said he will not run again. But he would enjoy being temporary mayor--his chance to be a civic hero, bringing calm at a time of political tumult. For that to happen, he has to hang on to the presidency. He needs eight votes of the 15-member council to do so.

To keep those eight votes, Ferraro can’t upset anyone. He can’t appear to be a political threat to his colleagues, several of whom are planning to run for mayor. He can’t show ambition beyond being temporary mayor and he can’t push important projects that would overshadow those of other council members.

So the paralysis begins with Ferraro as amiable caretaker. Add to that rivalries within the council that make it difficult to put together eight votes for any important legislation. Then factor in the political weakness of the mayor.

The combination creates an unsettled situation in which the same fights are waged over and over but never seem to be settled.

The fights are not over trivial issues. The number of police officers out walking beats in neighborhoods from Southwest Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley is at stake. So are future plans for housing for the poor, and for downtown Los Angeles development.

John Ferraro at 65 is a friendly, 6-foot-5-inch man with an awkward manner. People like him, just as they did another chief executive-in-waiting, Gerald Ford. Like Ford, Ferraro wants to be liked.

He beams when Vin Scully greets him with a “Big John” at the press box at Dodger Stadium. The same welcome awaits him from Trojan alums on the 50-yard line at another of his favorite places, the Memorial Coliseum on days when USC is playing. His picture, taken when he was an All-American lineman for the Trojans in 1947, is on the press box wall.

He’s a political softie. When he ran against Bradley for mayor in 1985, Bradley accused him of financing a condo with a sweetheart deal. Once, Ferraro and Deputy Mayor Mike Gage came close to swinging at each other during an argument on the City Hall steps.

But three years later, Ferraro went to the Seoul Olympics with Bradley and now, in the mayor’s time of great need, Ferraro joins him in press conferences to announce new programs. That helps bolster the impression that Bradley is in command. The fact that Ferraro is willing to do this shows a forgiving nature.

But he is not without political cunning. Ferraro’s desire to continue as council president was clearly seen early this year when he rewarded his key supporters by appointing them to head important council committees.

The people he chose were varied in politics and ambition. Among the ambitious was Populist Gloria Molina. With the chairmanship of a new committee on housing and redevelopment, Molina got a forum for her war against the Community Redevelopment Agency. Another in the high ambition category was Zev Yaroslavsky, who kept his high-visibility Revenue and Finance Committee chairmanship.

Both Molina and Yaroslavsky expect to run for mayor and both are critics of the redevelopment agency. But, ironically, because they would be rivals in a mayoral election, they cannot find agreement on a program to change the agency’s pro-downtown development policy.

That means there probably will be no policy changes for housing, downtown office building construction and facilities for the homeless, all issues dependent on the future of the redevelopment agency.

Maverick Nate Holden retained his Transportation Committee chairmanship. As chairman, he’s holding up key parts of Mayor Bradley’s anti-traffic-congestion plan. That’s because he’s mad the mayor vetoed his proposal for permanent foot patrol officers.

Presiding over this deadlock is the genial figure of Big John, the ringmaster, calm in the face of arguments around him.

If he comes down too hard one side, the other might lead a revolt against him. If he advocates a policy too strongly, the mayoral hopefuls would be jealous. If he showed the slightest interest in running for mayor, his colleagues would throw him out.

Inaction is his strategy and it is perfectly suited to the mood of the City Council.