Bryant’s Deeds Win Friends--and Enemies : Pomona: The councilman’s backers say he slices through red tape. Critics say he rides roughshod over the city. He faces a June 5 recall election.

In the last eight months, Pomona Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant has called the mayor “a tramp,” his council colleagues “a bunch of mental cripples,” the city administrator a “beaner” and the head of the city police association a “psychiatric case.”

“I try not to antagonize people or call them dirty names,” said the 70-year-old councilman, who faces a recall election June 5. But “sometimes there’s a need for illustrative language.”

More than 10,000 people disagree, apparently. They triggered the recall by signing petitions accusing Bryant of using the council as a forum for “personal attacks and character assassination,” and of showing a “vindictive, intimidating and contemptuous attitude toward this city, its citizens and employees.”

The councilman’s political enemies include the Pomona City Employees Assn., the Pomona Police Officers Assn. and Mayor Donna Smith. Bryant’s detractors say he has browbeaten employees, traded votes in back-room deals and tried to run City Hall by himself.

But supporters see another side of Bryant, who has cultivated a reputation as a fighter for minorities and the downtrodden. They consider him a man who can cut through red tape at City Hall, a diligent watchdog who makes bureaucrats squirm.

His backers include the Pomona Fireman’s Assn., which has contributed $1,000 to keep him in office, and the Pomona Valley branch of the NAACP, which describes Bryant as “the only politician in Pomona who consistently fights for the civil rights and equal rights of all the people in the city.”

Waunidi Changamire, branch president, said she does not consider Bryant--or his comments--racist.

Willie White, outreach director for the Pomona Valley YMCA and a longtime Bryant political ally, said Bryant has strong support among the disadvantaged.

“His efforts through the years have been to help those who have been left out,” White said. “He’s been working ever since I’ve known him to advance the causes of Hispanics and blacks.”

White, who in 1983 came within 73 votes of becoming the first black elected to the Pomona City Council, said Bryant’s willingness to work for ordinary citizens has given him extraordinary political strength.

Take Norma Randall, one of several Little League parents who successfully appealed to the City Council last week for the installation of restrooms at their ball field.

Randall said other city officials were approached first and agreed to help by going through normal channels, but the restrooms were never built. Then, she said, parents took the problem to Bryant and, “He went to bat for us.” She said Bryant found money in the city budget to build the restrooms, and the council approved the project last week.

Randall, who is working as a volunteer in Bryant’s campaign, said she has taken other problems to Bryant with good results. She said she told him: “I think you’re a real jerk and have a big mouth, but you can get things done.”

Bryant’s mouth may get him into trouble, but his actions are partly responsible for his current political predicament as well.

The recall drive began after Bryant joined two other council members in voting to fire A. J. Wilson as city administrator a year ago. Wilson’s supporters started circulating petitions. The effort picked up steam a few months later when Bryant and the council fired Richard Tefank as police chief, angering the department rank and file.

Since then, Bryant has:

Been sued by two police officers for revealing that one had been seeing a psychiatrist and the other had been accused of sexual harassment.

Conceded that he called Councilman Tomas Ursua a “Chicano gang member” and City Administrator Julio Fuentes “a beaner,” but he denied any racist intent.

Introduced a resolution proclaiming “Gay and Human Rights Week,” but led a move to rescind it a month later when some residents objected to special recognition for homosexuals.

Proposed the elimination of the city Building Department to get rid of a building inspector he dislikes. Bryant also said contracting with a private firm would save the city money.

Described the mayor as a “tramp,” claiming sthat he attended a Police Department open house costumed as a “streetwalker.” (Smith said she was wearing a costume because she had just come from a charity event that raised money for children with leukemia. She also retorted that Bryant “runs around (City Hall) like Hitler, giving his orders and intimidating everyone.”)

Bryant, who grew up in Pennsylvania, came to Pomona as a Navy recruiter after serving in World War II. He retired from the Navy in 1961 and worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other government agencies as a safety and quality control specialist.

He won election to the City Council in 1969 but was defeated for reelection four years later. He served another term on the council from 1981-85, then lost two mayoral elections before reclaiming a council seat in 1987.

Council posts are part-time positions in Pomona, which has 39,283 registered voters among its population of about 120,000. Still, Bryant can be found in his office at City Hall nearly every day. He reads all the invoices, goes through legal documents line by line and is willing to chat with any resident who drops by.

Bryant said his diligence has put him in conflict with city administrators. “I’m an over-the-shoulder-looker,” Bryant said. “I tell them that, ‘Whether you like it or not, I’m going to watch everything that’s going on at City Hall.’ . . . Now that rankles some of these city administrators.”

Ora Lampman, who resigned as city administrator in 1987 after 20 years with Pomona and is now a consultant working as public works director in Burbank, said Bryant often berated city employees. “He would literally have some of the staff in tears,” Lampman said.

Thomas Ramsey, who represents the Pomona City Employees Assn., a union of more than 250 blue-collar and clerical employees, said the group supported Bryant for reelection last year but has contributed $1,000 to his recall. He said Bryant has threatened the job security of employees by proposing to contract with a private company for building inspection services and has sought to fire City Administrator Fuentes, who Ramsey believes has treated employees fairly.

A number of Pomona police officers have also donated money to the recall effort. Bryant and his campaign manager, Abe Tapia, retaliated by distributing a flyer that printed the home addresses of the police officers from campaign contribution statements filed with the city clerk.

Allen Maxwell, vice president of the Pomona Police Officers Assn., said publishing the addresses could endanger the officers and their families. “It was very insensitive,” Maxwell said. “Bryant is not out there risking his life during gang shootings and drug deals.”

But Bryant said he has no regrets about publishing the addresses. “It doesn’t bother me if they are endangered or not,” he said. “They did it to themselves” by making donations.

Critics also have accused Bryant of maneuvering behind the scenes, trading his vote on one issue for support on another instead of deciding every matter on its merits. Bryant said it is true that he has traded votes.

“It didn’t hurt anybody, and I was doing what was in the best interests of the city,” he said. “I’ll trade a vote if it helps the city--absolutely.”

Ursua said he teamed up with Bryant and Councilwoman Nell Soto to form a new majority that last year fired the city administrator and police chief and tried to remake city government. But, Ursua said, he has pulled away from his one-time ally because he believes that Bryant was not willing to let employees do their jobs. He said Bryant “wants to be a councilman, city administrator, police chief, fire chief and finance director.”

Ursua said he has concluded that Bryant is “not a reform element” but “a major impediment to the city’s development.”

Bryant said Ursua “has proven himself to be a Judas from the word go” and “has been bad-mouthing me like crazy.”

Generally, Bryant said, the council “is a bunch of mental cripples.”