An Irreverent Gage Leaves L.A. City Hall Amid Mixed Reviews

Half a year after Mike Gage strode into City Hall as deputy mayor, a routine meeting of mayoral aides turned sour in a tiff over the disbursement of several million dollars from the city’s budget.

Anton Calleia, a gray-haired, short and stocky senior assistant to Mayor Tom Bradley, jumped from his chair in anger, stalking toward Bradley’s elegant suite. Gage, a decade younger and a rangy outdoorsman, followed in pursuit. At the doorway to Bradley’s office, sources said, Gage caught up with Calleia, who threw a punch.

The men fell to the floor, tussling, until the mayor’s security guards broke them apart--but not before the short-lived brawl found a place in Gage’s legend. By all reports, the two men patched up their differences after the conflict two years ago, but Gage has continued to engender strong reactions from his staff of 120.

Never unwilling to enter battle with those inside the mayor’s office or outside it, Gage presided over some of the best and unarguably the worst days of Bradley’s time at the city’s helm.

Gage, 44, departed the Bradley Administration on Wednesday the way he arrived--an irreverent personality with barbed edges, alternately teary-eyed and bullishly bellowing at his enemies.

Privately, some staffers in the mayor’s office expressed relief about Gage’s departure, saying his management style had turned increasingly confrontational in recent months, to the point that some senior officials had considered resigning. But others at City Hall--including members of the City Council frequently at odds with Bradley--praised Gage for goading the mayor to action.

Ever the City Hall iconoclast, Gage showed up for his press conference Wednesday sporting a fuchsia tie imprinted with aqua flamingos, dangling it inches below his mismatched blue shirt, which was unbuttoned at the neck. Then he skewered himself, much as he had others during his tenure.

After Bradley lauded him as a “dynamic force” in the Administration, Gage gave himself mixed reviews for his handling of the controversies surrounding Bradley’s financial dealings.

“I would give myself a pretty decent grade in terms of strategy, and I’d probably give myself an F in terms of PR,” he said.

The departure of the mercurial Gage, who on Dec. 1 will become the president and chief executive officer for a San Fernando Valley development firm, was one of several key management changes announced by Bradley Wednesday.

Mark D. Fabiani, most recently the mayor’s legal counsel, will assume Gage’s position as chief of staff and deputy mayor. Bradley also announced the involuntary resignation of Deputy Mayor Grace Davis, who will be replaced by newly appointed Airport Commissioner Diane Muniz Pasillas.

The Pasillas-Davis swap drew some criticism from Davis’ allies, who attended a press conference announcing the changes to show support for Davis. Bradley’s liaison with the Latino community for 14 years, Davis said Wednesday that negotiations are under way to assure her a continuing position with the mayor’s office.

Bradley said the decision to replace Davis was his but did not explain it.

Gage said his decision to leave after 2 1/2 years of directing the Administration came after developer Ted Stein offered him a job Nov. 1. He accepted two weeks later. Bradley was told of the decision while on a European trade trip from which he returned Saturday.

In 1988, his first full year as the mayor’s primary political adviser, Gage was credited with infusing the mayor’s office with a sense of activism that ultimately drove Bradley’s chief rival, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, from the 1989 mayoral contest.

Gage particularly opened City Hall to environmental groups, who had been closed off from Bradley in previous years. Despite his occasional employment with developers, Gage has strong environmental credentials.

Allies and adversaries said Gage was at his best when on the offensive. But as Bradley was caught in a succession of financial investigations beginning this spring, Gage turned sour, lambasting his colleagues and excoriating reporters.

“He created the impression in the mayor’s office and in City Hall and with the press and the public that the mayor was with it again,” Yaroslavsky said.

“But . . . things have taken a negative turn for the mayor, and I guess it’s taken its toll. Mike’s probably burned out. I don’t think Mike’s had his heart in this place for a while.”

Changing jobs is not unusual for Gage, whose longest tenure anywhere since 1976 was four years as a state assemblyman, representing Napa. His reason for leaving the Legislature in 1980 became legendary: to lead river-rafting tours. In 1982, Gage returned to politics, running Leo McCarthy’s successful race for lieutenant governor. Three years later, he headed Bradley’s mayoral campaign.

As Bradley’s troubles mounted this year, Gage grew increasingly tempestuous. He ordered a blackout of the Herald Examiner--denying its reporters even the most routine materials--in retaliation for its coverage of the Bradley investigations.

In a profanity-laced conversation this fall, he denounced The Times, saying he would call the Columbia Journalism Review to initiate a story criticizing the paper’s coverage of Bradley’s finances.

“There’s a sickness over there at The Times that I’m not sure why it exists when it comes to the mayor,” he said. “You guys want to make him look as bad as you can. You’ve become the . . . bully.”

Several council members have said privately in recent months that while Gage did a masterful job of turning Bradley’s reelection campaign around, he had ceased to be an asset to the mayor. They cited his inability to respond with anything but anger to questions about the mayor’s finances and suggested a less combative posture would have served the mayor better.

But others described Gage as a capable and intelligent chief of staff.

“I think Mike has been an outstanding deputy mayor,” Councilwoman Joy Picus said.

City Council President John Ferraro, who dealt with Gage frequently on a range of matters, gave him high marks.

“Mike pulled him (Bradley) out of the doldrums and got him back perking on all cylinders until the scandal broke,” Ferraro said.

As the formal announcement of his departure was made, Gage appeared loose and joked with Bradley about his bad boy reputation. Then, when a questioner referred to the forced removal of Davis, he shifted moods and paced angrily beside the mayor.

Gage forcefully denied that Bradley’s troubles--and his resulting clashes--were related to his departure and denied reports that the mayor’s staff was split over his style.

“I’m unaware of any infighting relative to my style,” he said. “Let me tell you, everyone in this office knows I yell and pound the table . . .”