Brown Appeals for Aid Program to Rebuild Cities : Campaign: Candidate, in Los Angeles appearance, calls on Democratic leaders to act. He says he will stress the plight of urban America.

Presidential candidate Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. brought his flagging campaign to Los Angeles on Thursday, making a forceful plea to Democratic congressional leaders to adopt a $30-billion program to rebuild America’s distressed inner cities.

Addressing about 500 supporters and curiosity seekers from the steps of City Hall, Brown read a letter that he sent to party leaders in response to the recent Los Angeles upheaval.

“When our second-largest city explodes in riots and insurrection not seen since Civil War days, something is profoundly wrong,” the former California governor said.

“The usual tepid response of photo opportunity and budget crumbs won’t work anymore. The suffering, the injustice, has gone too far. As the party of the forgotten Americans and the representatives of those who lack the power and concentrated wealth of our adversaries, we must stand and deliver in this historic moment of crisis.”

Brown reiterated his call for passage of a seven-point program proposed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors earlier this year. The plan calls for a combination of $15 billion in direct aid to hard-hit cities and more than $15 billion for public works, community block grants, job training and transportation programs.

Later, in an interview with KCBS-TV, Brown pledged to make the mayors’ program and the plight of urban America the centerpiece of his bid to win the June 2 California primary. State polls show that his earlier lead over Bill Clinton has evaporated as the Arkansas governor closes in on the Democratic nomination, amassing more than 80% of the 2,145 delegates he needs.

“Obviously, we’re slipping,” Brown acknowledged as he flew from Los Angeles to Oregon aboard a chartered Learjet. He blamed the slide on the far more intensive media attention accorded Clinton, who is ignoring Brown these days in favor of taking on President Bush.

The turnout at the Los Angeles rally was far less than the 2,000 Brown aides had forecast. The audience, entertained by a kilt-clad bagpiper before Brown arrived, was a mix of enthusiastic volunteers and backers, as well as the curious lunchtime crowd.

Brown, who has conceded he can no longer keep Clinton from winning the nomination, nonetheless continues to maintain a frenetic schedule.

He speaks vaguely about continuing his “crusade” to empower the disenfranchised after the November election. At the same time, he is trying to maximize his voice at the Democratic National Convention, where he is expected to seek to influence the party’s message as well as deliver a major address, according to aides and advisers.

Brown sent his letter to Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

Gephardt met with a group of mayors for two hours on Wednesday and agreed to sit down with them and other House leaders in 10 days. He vowed to come up with an aid package that was meaningful.

Bush Administration and congressional leaders have thus far proposed assistance for cities that could cost up to $6 billion.

Brown derided this as inadequate, chiding Democratic leaders for funding defense programs and foreign aid but giving short shrift to the urban poor.