Council Poised to Battle Mayor, Commission

Minutes after learning that Police Chief Daryl F. Gates was placed on leave, City Council members denounced Mayor Tom Bradley and his Police Commission appointees Thursday for hastily removing the chief from office and “inflaming” an already divided city.

The council, poised to strike quickly today, threatened to block the commission’s action in an unusual challenge of the mayor’s power and the authority of police commissioners.

Several council members alleged that Bradley had directed the commission to oust Gates; others were so outraged that they suggested a recall of the mayor.

“It’s a naked political power grab and it’s got to be stopped,” said Councilman Joel Wachs. “Not since Richard Nixon has anyone employed the ends justifying the means as we’ve seen in this case.”

The controversy over the Rodney G. King beating became a bitter political struggle between Bradley and Gates over the chief’s job. On Thursday it suddenly escalated into an extraordinary fight that pits the city’s lawmakers against the executive branch of government.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky called the situation a “crisis in governance” that is “ripping . . . the people of this city apart and has now driven a wedge between the various branches of city government to no constructive end.”

But the mayor’s office appears willing to endure severe political damage in exchange for getting Gates to leave police headquarters, City Hall sources said.

“All that matters in the long run is who wins,” said one longtime Bradley associate who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If (Gates) loses, all those loyalties in the council to Daryl will be forgotten very quickly.”

Council members said they are determined to undo what they consider an unfair political attack on the chief’s tenure.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi called the Police Commission action unfair to Gates and said he is “optimistic enough to believe that tomorrow afternoon (today) the chief will be back on the job.”

Two options are under consideration by the council. One is to settle Gates’ threatened lawsuit by reinstating him in his job. Another is to withhold funds that the Police Commission has requested to hire a private law firm--Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom--to help oust Gates.

Council members say that the City Charter gives the council final authority to appropriate money and to settle lawsuits against the city.

“We have the option if Gates sues the city (to say) the chief is right, let’s settle this case without going to court,” said Yaroslavsky. “We have the authority to do that and there is nothing anybody can do about it.”

“If we want to have a test of wills in this building about who runs the city, I think you’re about to get your answer,” he said. “It will be a very interesting civics lesson.”

Yaroslavsky said that the council will consult with the city attorney’s office today to discuss its options. One likely scenario, Yaroslavsky said, would be to quickly intervene if Gates files a lawsuit against the city, as expected.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani said the mayor’s office is counting on the council to support the Police Commission.

“The mayor is committed that the citizens commissions be independent and do what they see is in the best interests of the city,” Fabiani said Thursday. “Today, the (police commissioners) did that. The mayor would hope the city stands behind that. To deny them legal representation would be entirely inappropriate.”

Normally, the Police Commission would be represented by the city attorney’s office in litigation. But since city lawyers represent Gates in numerous cases, the city attorney would have a conflict.

Police commissioners “thumbed their nose,” Yaroslavsky said, at a last-minute attempt by council President John Ferraro to avert the commission’s action by requesting a private meeting today of the commission and the City Council.

Ferraro, in his capacity as acting mayor while Bradley was in Sacramento, said he also asked police commissioners on Thursday not to take any action against Gates until after they conferred with the council.

“They completely ignored that,” Ferraro said. “I think that they’re a loose cannon. I think that is a dangerous group to have in there.”

Ferraro said that during two telephone conversations Thursday, Police Commissioner Dan Garcia seemed “very uncomfortable” with the decision to put Gates on leave. “I got the impression he was being forced into doing this and it was against his better judgment,” Ferraro said.

Garcia said his discomfort came from the gravity of the decision, not any political pressure.

“I’m uncomfortable because I’m not positive it’s right,” he said, “but I thought it’s right, so I voted for it.”

The Police Commission decided that putting Gates on a paid leave of absence was a necessary step before launching an investigation that eventually could lead to disciplinary charges against him and his permanent removal, said one source familiar with the behind-the-scenes campaign in the mayor’s office to oust the chief.

The commission wanted to keep Gates away from police headquarters while its investigation of the chief was under way, said the source, who requested anonymity. “You don’t want anybody interfering with this investigation. It would really cause chaos in the department.”

The commission notified Bradley on Tuesday--the same day that the mayor called for Gates to resign--that it intended to take action against the chief, according to the mayor’s office.

“The mayor was informed in writing that the commission was moving toward a certain decision,” said Fabiani. “And the mayor was aware of their general timing.”

With the Police Commission vote, council members--many of whom have been unwilling to take a position on Gates--may be forced to decide whether the city should pay for the legal fees to defend the commission’s case against the chief. “All of the people who have been ducking and hiding on whether Gates should go will have to take a stand,” said one City Hall source.

Based on interviews Thursday, the commission’s action served to galvanize an oft-divided City Council on an emotional issue that has polarized the city.

Ferraro said he polled his colleagues on Thursday morning and found that at least 10 of the council’s 13 members oppose the commission’s action. He said he had not reached the other three, including Councilman Michael Woo, the first city official to call for Gates to resign. Woo did not return phone calls Thursday from The Times.

“Maybe we can threaten to recall the commissioners,” Ferraro said. “Maybe we can threaten to recall the mayor at the same time.”

Ferraro and other council members said their offices were deluged with angry calls Thursday from people suggesting a ballot measure to recall the mayor. “I don’t know if it’s going to come to that, but it could,” Ferraro said.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi called the Police Commission action unfair to Gates and said he is “optimistic enough to believe that tomorrow afternoon the chief will be back on the job.”

Councilman Hal Bernson, one of Gates’ staunchest allies on the council, said he was “absolutely outraged” and called for removal of the entire Police Commission.

“This is nothing but a lynching by the mayor,” Bernson said. The commission, he said, “is so stacked that nobody can get a fair hearing. . . . There’s going to be a real power struggle. I think that the mayor is in real political trouble.”