Bradley’s Urgent Trip to Asia

I dropped in on the mayor of Los Angeles Tuesday.

It’s easy now that John Ferraro is acting mayor. No security. No making an appointment days in advance preceded by negotiations over the contents of the proposed interview. No nervous press secretary sitting in with a tape recorder.

You just walk into the City Council chambers and say hello.

Ferraro, president of the City Council, became acting mayor Friday when Mayor Tom Bradley assumed his favorite role, Traveling Tom, and flew off for two weeks in Asia, a continent he hadn’t visited since January. This time, he has an urgent mission--trying to convince Asian tourists and business people that when they come to L.A., the cops won’t be waiting to beat them up for speeding in their rental cars.

Bradley’s friends and advisers had begged him to cancel the trip in view of the Rodney G. King beating case and the city’s worst budget crisis in a decade.

But you know how it is when you have reservations. “There was no way Bradley was going to give up on this trip,” said one of the mayoral crew.

That’s the real reason, the mayoral associate suggested, Bradley went to the “truce” meeting with Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, arranged by Ferraro, last week.

By going to the meeting, the mayor hoped to wrest from Ferraro a promise that the acting mayor wouldn’t do anything to embarrass the real mayor while he was roughing it at Hong Kong’s Shangri-La Hotel.

Specifically, Bradley wanted Ferraro to pledge that he would not fire Bradley’s Police Commission, which had placed Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on temporary leave. A majority of the council, with Ferraro leading the charge, overruled the commission. Gates was reinstated.

Bradley promised Ferraro that the commission would not try to suspend Gates again. Ferraro listened politely and agreed he wouldn’t do anything vindictive. But he pointedly noted that he had the power to fire the commissioners, and might do so if they “damaged the city.”

It’s hard to understand why the mayor left town.

I’ve discussed this with some people who know Bradley, including a couple who tried to persuade him to stay. Bad timing, friends told him. Political mistake. Bad for the city. They pointed out the dangers: A runaway Police Commission might suspend Gates again. The police might get involved in more violence; a shooting or a simple incident could touch off a riot.

But the lure of the jet, the promise of escape from the grinding cares of the city proved more powerful. It always has. That’s what happened to Bradley’s predecessor, Sam Yorty.

In fact, one City Hall source told me, the sponsoring city agencies, including the airport department and convention bureau, wanted to cancel the trip during the Gulf War, but Bradley wouldn’t hear of it.

To everyone who suggested that the city needed him at home, the mayor replied that the convention bureau and the airport department said his presence was needed to make the trip a success and bolster declining tourism.

“You know Tom, old poker face,” said one person who had talked to him.

Bradley should have thought twice before leaving the store in Ferraro’s care.

They’ve developed a surface friendship, as pols tend to do. Limited civility is needed to keep government running. But a past shared by the two men gets in the way of real friendship.

Their worst clash took place in 1985, when Ferraro was running against Bradley for mayor. Bradley was the heavy favorite, but he wasn’t content with just winning. He planned to run for governor again and he wanted a landslide.

One of his people put together a package of information implying that Ferraro and his wife, Margaret, had gotten a break on the purchase of a condo. The information was so flimsy that even some of Bradley’s staff didn’t want to use it. But the mayor insisted, and the story became one of those one-day campaign sensations. Ferraro says he’ll never forget that.

Usually, serving as acting mayor involves signing papers and other ordinary formalities. But Ferraro, a supporter of the chief in this crisis, knows these are extraordinary times. So should Bradley. And if the routine suddenly shifts to the unexpected, Ferraro will handle things his way, rather than Bradley’s.

Now Ferraro says he won’t do anything drastic. He says he won’t fire the Police Commission or suspend Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, a leading anti-Gates maneuverer whom Ferraro dislikes. He says he won’t go behind Bradley’s back and start making the proposed budget more to his liking.

But he also says this:

“I’ve got the responsibility of being mayor, and I’ve got to protect the city.”

Have a pleasant trip, Tom.