Council Upholds Veto by Bradley on Changes in Commission Powers

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday upheld Mayor Tom Bradley’s veto of a measure that would have allowed voters to decide if the council should have greater control over the city’s semiautonomous commissions.

Council members Marvin Braude and Michael Woo, who a month ago voted in favor of putting the measure on the June 5 ballot, reversed their decisions. The final 8-7 vote fell short of the 10 votes needed to override Bradley’s veto.

“It was based on political considerations,” said Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who sponsored the Charter amendment that proposed giving the council a greater say in decisions made by seven powerful commissions, including those that oversee the airport and harbor.

Flores said some council members reversed their position because they did not want to oppose the mayor, who personally lobbied against the amendment.

In explaining their reasons for the vote change, Braude said he wanted more time to review the measure, while Woo said the entire Charter should be reviewed.

Under the proposed ballot measure, City Council members would have been permitted in select cases to reverse decisions made by Bradley-appointed commissioners, a move deemed necessary by Flores and other supporters of the amendment who contend the commissions need to be more accountable to the public. In addition to the airport and harbor commissions, the measure would have applied to those that oversee water and power, the library and parks and recreation departments as well as the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Board of Zoning Appeals.

But last Friday, Bradley vetoed putting the proposed amendment on the ballot, calling the council action a “naked power grab” that could expose millions of dollars in contracts awarded by the commissions to “political favoritism” and “potentially improper manipulation.”

Bradley’s reasoning came under fire from several council members, who questioned Bradley’s right to make remarks about potential impropriety when his own Administration has come under intense scrutiny for alleged corruption.

“That’s the ultimate chutzpah to say that to us,” said Councilwoman Joy Picus. “Doesn’t the mayor read the papers? Doesn’t he know what his commissioners are doing? Hasn’t he seen that the airport commissioners have granted their contracts on a political basis, that people who are influential and important are given contracts?”

Council members also argued that the appointment of commissioners and subsequent board decisions can be just as subject to political favoritism as council action.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, in response to a question about the appointment of many of Bradley’s campaign contributors to these commissions, said, “The mayor has consistently taken the view that he appoints people who he thinks can do a good job.”

Flores said she plans to reintroduce a similar measure that the mayor and council can agree upon. “They’re his (the mayor’s) commissioners. I don’t have a problem with his keeping the power, but we would like some oversight.”