MAYOR TOM BRADLEY: THE FINAL CHAPTER : Old Friends Bid a Fond Farewell

After his momentous announcement at a downtown hotel Thursday, Mayor Tom Bradley clasped his hands above his head in a victory salute and stepped off the stage to mingle with friends, city employees and politicians whose careers have been intertwined with his.

Many of the 350 men and women who vied for standing room in the sweltering, salmon-pink ballroom at the New Otani hotel, around the corner from City Hall, had been eager allies of the mayor since he first took the oath of office in 1973.

What they heard was not a surprise, but it stung their hearts nonetheless.

“It’s not what I wanted to hear,” said Jose de Sosa, state president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, who worked in Bradley’s first mayoral campaign in 1969. “I would like to see him stay in office for as long as I live in this city.”

Towering over all in attendance, except for Bradley, was longtime friend Gregory Peck, who stood with his wife, apart from the crowd in a corner of the ballroom.

“We will miss his character, his integrity, compassion and ability to keep his feet on the ground,” Peck said. “For me, it’s the man, it’s always been that way.”

Attorney Fred McFarlane, a spokesman for Rebuild L.A., put it another way.

“It’s not just because he’s 6 feet, 6 inches tall and wears a size 12 shoe that the next person to run this city will have a hard time standing as tall as Tom Bradley,” McFarlane said.

Others were flooded with recollections of the early days with the former UCLA track star who rose through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department and went on to become a five-term mayor.

“That Tom. He’s a classy guy,” said a teary-eyed Anne Howell, a city planner who worked in Bradley’s first Administration as a planning and zoning consultant. “It was a white male city government when I started working for him. Tom insisted it be something else.”

There was hardly a dry eye in the house--except perhaps those of several mayoral aspirants. Although not invited to the event, City Council members Joel Wachs, Michael Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky showed up anyway. Woo has announced that he will run for mayor, and Wachs and Yaroslavsky are entertaining such bids.

“I thought it was a public meeting,” Wachs said. “It’s important we all be here.”

Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler called the interlopers “ambulance chasers.” Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani said their appearance was unseemly.

“It says a lot about the people who want to be mayor of this city,” Fabiani said. “Tom Bradley wouldn’t do it if he was in their position.”

Other council members chose to watch the event on television from City Hall. Council President John Ferraro sat in a cushioned leather chair in his office, surrounded by aides and reporters.

When Bradley acknowledged that he would not run, Ferraro grinned and nodded his head with approval.

“I’m glad he made that decision,” Ferraro said. “He had 20 years to do what he said needs to be done--it’s too bad it didn’t get done.”

Shortly after Bradley’s address, mayoral hopefuls, including attorney Richard Riordan and council members Woo and Nate Holden, spoke with reporters on the City Hall steps.

Word of Bradley’s decision triggered an avalanche of flowers and cards to the mayor’s office from city employees, including City Hall security guards, clerks, accountants, commissioners and City Council aides.

“People are sad today,” said City Hall Security Officer Eddie Banks. “He’s been here almost as long as I’ve been here.”

Hoping to leave the hotel early was Bradley’s wife, Ethel, who said in a telephone interview earlier in the day that she planned to attend a Dodger game set to start at 7:35 p.m.

“I’ve stood by the mayor for 20 years and television crews always cut me out of the picture as though I wasn’t even there,” she said. “I said the hell with it. I said, ‘Ethel, get a life.’ I go to baseball games.”

As for the mayor’s plans, she said, “He’s going to go home and get to bed because he has to get up early to be on NBC news in the morning.”

Times staff writer Alicia Di Rado contributed to this story.