Gates Tells Officials He’ll Quit : Chief Links Departure to Special Charter Election : Police: Two of his closest allies on the City Council negotiate an agreement to end the acrimony of past months and salvage Los Angeles’ reputation.

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, under pressure to quit amid charges of police brutality and racism, has promised to step down as head of the city’s beleaguered Police Department by year’s end under an agreement announced Friday by two of his closest allies on the Los Angeles City Council.

In a swirl of behind-the-scenes consultations, City Council President John Ferraro and Councilman Joel Wachs negotiated an agreement that the two officials say links Gates’ departure to a special election in which voters would be asked to decide whether the city’s police chief should be limited to two five-year terms in office.

Limiting the chief’s tenure was a key recommendation made by the blue-ribbon Christopher Commission after an unprecedented, 100-day review of the Police Department.

City officials said the agreement--and the departure of Gates--could clear the way for a fundamental restructuring of the Los Angeles police force and help calm the turmoil set off by the police beating of Rodney G. King four months ago.

“I think the people of this city have won,” said Mayor Tom Bradley, who first called for Gates to step down April 2. “I believe that we are in a position now where serious division which occurred in this city . . . can now be healed. We can bring about the peace and harmony that this city deserves.”

But a number of obstacles and uncertainties remain. The City Council, which would have to agree to the special election, was divided and skeptical about the plan. And Gates appeared noncommittal in his public statements Friday about bringing to an end his 13-year tenure.

In North Carolina, where Gates gave a speech Friday to an enthusiastically admiring crowd of law enforcement officials, the 64-year-old chief was ambiguous about his plans and refused to say precisely when he intends to leave his $168,793-a-year post.

Gates said that once City Charter amendments regarding the chief’s tenure are submitted to the voters, “then I may feel that may be time to announce a date of resignation, but it’s got to go on the ballot first.”

He added to reporters who dogged his every step: “I said there has to be an election . . . and I’m hopeful we’ll go through that orderly process. Then, when it is submitted to the people, it will make a decision on (my) leaving.”

He flew back to Los Angeles Friday evening, but refused to make any comment to reporters waiting at the airport.

The agreement with Gates was reached two days after the Christopher Commission recommended that Gates prepare to step down and that an array of reforms be instituted to remedy widespread management problems, racism, sexism and abuse of force in the 8,300-member Police Department.

“It is an ambiguous kind of situation,” commission spokesman Bryce Nelson said. “There is no specific date for retirement, no specific date for commencement of search. We are waiting to see what develops. We will wait to see . . . what he (Gates) says. I’m sure the chief will make a statement.”

With lingering questions about Gates’ intentions, reaction to the agreement was cautious--from street cops who said they wanted to hear the news from Gates himself to Christopher Commission members who set the week’s events in motion.

But the two councilmen who forged the agreement with Gates remained confident that the chief would be out of office by the end of the year.

“We have to wait to see what Daryl says when he gets back,” Ferraro said, “but we talked with Daryl Gates and we have an understanding.”

Wachs added the apparent differences between the agreement and Gates’ public comments were “more a matter of semantics, manner and style. . . . It’s a question of when and how” rather than if he will go.

The agreement emerged from an intense six-hour period of phone calls and discussions Thursday involving Gates, Ferraro, Wachs and, briefly, the head of the Christopher Commission, former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Ferraro and Wachs said they decided with Gates that the acrimony of the past months had to come to an end, in part to salvage Los Angeles’ image worldwide. Capitalizing on his long, friendly relationship with Gates, Ferraro initiated the contact with the chief.

His goal, Ferraro said, was to find “a way for the chief to leave on his own terms . . . (to) find a way for him to retire with some dignity.”

After the conversation, the councilman said, “There wasn’t any doubt in my mind or Joel’s mind that he was going to announce his retirement” at some point.

Wachs said he told Gates that “his successor would be chosen” while the council works on implementing the Christopher Commission recommendations, which include increasing civilian oversight of the Police Department.

“He agreed,” Wachs said.

With the deal cut, Ferraro and Wachs must now win the support of a majority of the council to get the Charter amendments on a ballot. They hope to present a narrowly focused Charter change limiting the chief’s term to the city’s voters on Dec. 10.

A special election would cost about $1.5 million to $1.8 million, city officials said.

City Council members expressed a variety of views Friday on what to submit to the voters, when to submit it, when Gates should announce his date of retirement and when a search for a successor should begin. In interviews, only three council members gave unqualified support for the plan; two of the 14 council members could not be reached. Debate begins in earnest next week

Some, such as Councilman Michael Woo, said they were skeptical of the agreement and want a firm assurance from Gates that he will keep his end of the bargain.

Others, such as Public Safety Committee Chairman Richard Alatorre, complained that the agreement does not go far enough and should include provisions to place on the ballot the entire package of reforms recommended by the Christopher Commission.

Wachs and Ferraro want a narrow ballot measure, affecting only the terms for hiring of a new chief to be on the ballot. That, they said, would allow them to move quickly and honor their agreement with the chief.

Alatorre said he does not want to dilute or pick apart the full list of recommendations made by the Christopher Commission. Alatorre, along with Woo, wants all of the recommendations to go to the voters as a package to ensure that the entire way of policing will be changed--and not just the police chief.

Council members were also sharply divided on just how much involvement Gates should have in implementing reforms and what role he should play--if any--in campaigning for or against the ballot measure.

Many council members, such as Nate Holden, said they fear that Gates, rather than reforms, will become the issue in the election.

“I’m afraid . . . the issue will not be the Christopher Commission, but become a referendum on Chief Gates,” Holden said. “No one can predict the outcome if it went to the voters.”

Holden and others said it would be wiser to wait until the state elections next June. “Tensions are too high now,” he said. “We’re hoping that tensions will not exist next year and the measure will pass. If it fails, we’ll be back at ground zero.”

Woo said he fears that Gates supporters may have unusually heavy sway over the typically small turnout at a special election and will defeat the reforms. “There may be forces that want to derail the Christopher Commission plan,” he said.

And, some questioned, what would happen to the agreement with Gates and the search and hiring of a new chief, if the ballot measure should fail?

City Councilwoman Joy Picus, a staunch Gates supporter who now believes it’s time for the chief to retire, said, “It makes sense to hold a special election and to do it quickly.”

“We can immediately begin to work changes in the City Charter,” she said, “(but) a search (for a successor) cannot begin until the chief says he will go.”

Picus envisions the chief sticking around for a year.

“I found a lot in (the Christopher Commission Report) that I found shocking and disturbing,” she said, quickly adding: “Daryl Gates is the best man to implement the reforms. Most officers in the LAPD revere this man. If he says ‘do it,’ they’ll do it.”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, like Woo, said regardless of any deal or the timing of an election, he wants Gates to be fired immediately.

“I can’t support a delay,” said Ridley-Thomas.

He said he was appalled at some of the developments in the three days since the report was released--a reference to Gates’ decision Wednesday to strip his main critic, Deputy Chief David Dotson, of some of his duties. Dotson had testified to the Christopher Commission that Police Department management “failed miserbly” to discipline its officers.

“I can’t imagine what he will do in three months,” Ridley-Thomas said. “We simply need to stop acting like Daryl Gates is invincible.”

Councilman Hal Bernson said he would only support a Charter change if it gives the City Council clear authority to confirm the appointment of the next chief of police.

“I think we should commend the chief for the action he is taking and setting a time for transition,” Bernson said. “I regret to see him go, but that’s his choice.”

Wachs said he prefers to separate those Charter changes that can be accomplished quickly, such as the proposal for a five-year term of office for a chief of police, from those that will take longer, such as changes in disciplining officers and the makeup and support staff for the Police Commission.

“The others are not as urgent,” Wachs said. “This (the term limit) could be done quickly and now to heal the city.”

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter also was cool to the idea of a special election because of the cost, the timing and likely low turnout for a special and because she does not want the council to act in undue haste. Zev Yaroslavsky also opposes a special election because of the cost.

City Clerk Lee Martinez said the City Council would have to act quickly if it plans to hold a special election this year. City law requires 110 days of public notice for a Charter change to be on the ballot.

If the council can make a decision by mid-August, Martinez said, he would most likely schedule an election for Tuesday, Dec. 10.

“That’s probably the earliest we could do it,” Executive Assistant J. Michael Carey said, cautioning: “The holiday season is not a great time for an election.”

Members of the Christopher Commission, whose scathing report set the week’s events in motion, were reluctant to comment on the latest developments until the dust settled.

“I’m not sure everybody’s in sync,” said Richard M. Mosk, an attorney and member of the commission.

The situation was described as too fluid and uncertain for commissioners to feel especially encouraged.

Those in the community who have long opposed Gates, meanwhile, were pleased at what appeared to be the beginning of the end of the Gates era.

“The announcements made today signal a transition which is good for the city, good for the Police Department and good for the police chief himself,” said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is a lengthy process, and no time must be wasted.”

What They Said

The following are comments made by City Councilman Joel Wachs, Mayor Tom Bradley and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Friday.

“Last night, (Police Chief Daryl) Gates gave (City Council) President (John) Ferraro and myself his approval for an orderly process of change. Within the next few months, the voters of Los Angeles will have an opportunity to express their views in a special municipal election . . . on . . . the Christopher Commission recommendations regarding the appointment of the chief of police. During the same period, the process to select the city’s next chief will begin. Approximately at the end of the year, Chief Gates will pass the mantle to the new chief.

--Councilman Joel Wachs at City Hall

“The result came yesterday when the chief of police, Daryl Gates, indicated that he would retire at the end of this year . . . a transition process which calls for a charter amendment to be placed on the ballot . . . hopefully in November or December at the latest, and permit the new chief to be selected under the recommendations and guidelines made in the Christopher Commission report . . . The chief has indicated that he is willing to work with the rest of the city government and to announce that he will retire as of the end of this year.”

--Mayor Tom Bradley at news conference

“I’ve suggested that to the president of the City Council, there is need to deal with the issue of selection of the chief of police . . . the tenure of the chief of police is one of the recommendations that has to be submitted to the voters and until that is submitted to the voters I am not about to leave the department. So I think there’s going to be an effort to get that on the ballot and once that is on the ballot then I may feel that may be time to announce a date of resignation, but it has got to go on the ballot first.

--Police Chief Daryl F. Gates in North Carolina

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this story.