Why Bradley Sidelined One Ally for Another

As is our civic sphinx’s custom, Mayor Tom Bradley didn’t bother to explain why he is sidelining one strong, sharp woman ally in favor of another.

The mayor decided this week against giving Mary Nichols, a leader in the California environmental movement, another term on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. The part-time commissioners run the big department that supplies the city’s water and power and determines the size of monthly water and electricity bills.

Bradley is replacing Nichols with Melanie Lomax, an attorney and African-American community leader best known for her brief tenure on the Police Commission. As Police Commission president, she tried to oust Daryl F. Gates as police chief. But she was routed by Gates’ supporters on the council and finally was removed by Bradley.

So, in a time when women are moving into positions of power--and when L.A. is desperately short of civic leaders--Bradley benched Nichols. Worse yet, the mayor did this in a manner that was not only offensive to Nichols but thrust her and Lomax into an unanticipated and unwanted fight.

Given the sphinx’s habit of silence, I had to find out why from the others involved.

Lomax is a fiercely uncompromising person who has no patience with the small talk and tiny courtesies that lubricate political life.

“I tend to be passionate and vigorous about anything I believe in,” she told me. I thought she was putting it mildly, remembering a run-in I had with her last year when I dropped in on a political fund-raising party at her office. I found out she doesn’t like surprise guests.

Although most of the City Council didn’t like her abrasive, aggressive style, Lomax turned out to have been right about Gates. The department suffered while he played games, leaving only after the riot wiped out his popular support.

Bradley has been friends for a long time with the Lomax family, well-known civil rights activists. Melanie Lomax has donated and raised large amounts of money for Bradley’s political campaigns. Friendship may have been a factor in her appointment.

Nichols is as determined as Lomax, most notably in her efforts for the environmental movement, a reputation she gained as chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board during the Jerry Brown Administration.

She’s been with the mayor for several years, as manager of his last gubernatorial campaign, then as a parks and recreation commissioner before becoming a DWP commissioner. But her relationship in the Administration hasn’t always been smooth.

Five years ago, Nichols was a leader in Ruth Galanter’s successful campaign for the City Council. Galanter beat Bradley’s closest City Council ally, Pat Russell, resulting in a severe loss of mayoral legislative power. Then, several months ago, Nichols and other DWP board members tried to oust Bradley’s former deputy mayor, Mike Gage, as board chairman, charging that he was acting like a dictator. The fight was later settled by Bradley and Nichols has since said that she is a Gage supporter.

With all this in the background, Lomax met with Bradley and asked him to put her back in city government. “I asked for something in keeping with my interests and my talents,” she said. “He suggested several and I thought Water and Power would be of interest to me.”

That seemed to fit in with what Bradley wanted--an African-American on the DWP board, especially someone who would push affirmative action in hiring and awarding contracts.

Fabiani, rather than Bradley, passed the word to Nichols. “Mark said the mayor wanted to move me to the Parks and Recreation Commission,” Nichols said. Noting that she had already served on that commission, she told Fabiani that “I was not interested in doing it again.”

On Monday, Nichols talked to Bradley. “The mayor said he needed to have a new person on the board because the department has a miserable record on affirmative action,” Nichols said. She told me, “I believe this is not true.”

Councilwoman Galanter said she and other environmentalists will wage a City Council fight against the Lomax appointment. “The seat should stay with someone who has a track record as environmental activist,” she said.

Fabiani indicated that the Bradley Administration will target the heavily white composition of the environmental movement. “It is unfortunate that the environmental community does not appreciate there are people of color who are also concerned about protecting the quality of life,” he said.

The bottom line is that one woman will be out, and the other in. But she will be surrounded by controversy, and--at least temporarily--reduced in effectiveness.

What a waste in a city that badly needs talented leaders.