Tom Bradley’s Legacy to Los Angeles : The mayor: It’s amazing he achieved so much, given federal neglect of American cities.

Now that Mayor Tom Bradley has announced that he will not seek another term, the media is attempting to evaluate and therefore establish his historical legacy. Much of the reporting on Bradley’s accomplishments borders on the ridiculous. One writer had the temerity to argue that Bradley provided minimal leadership in securing the 1984 Olympic Games.

As a member of the committee responsible for bringing the Games to Los Angeles, I can categorically state that without Bradley’s leadership and vision the ’84 games would have gone to New York. To argue otherwise is shameful revisionism.

But the Olympic games are a minor issue compared with attempts by pundits of the pen to blame Bradley for everything from intractable poverty to the civic unrest that exploded throughout the city this spring. So far no one has implicated Bradley in the Dodgers’ last-place finish.

In virtually every area of civic life, Tom Bradley is leaving a positive legacy that his successor will be hard pressed to duplicate.

During Bradley’s tenure I have watched Los Angeles become a world-class economic center providing tens of thousands of jobs and the hope and opportunity that flow from them. We now have the largest harbor in the country, and once the Metro Rail system is complete we will have a first-class transport system. And if Bradley’s vision is carried out, that system will provide the basis for a new industry of advanced transportation vehicles and technology we can market to the world.

Despite progress on the environment, affordable housing and other major issues, Los Angeles is afflicted with the despair and devastation that are an unacceptable part of every major city in the country. Mayor Bradley has always believed that we will not truly have a good society until this legacy of discrimination and inequality is vanquished. With the mayor’s help we made a dent in homelessness when the unions came together to build the first homeless shelter, which still operates at the corner of Fifth and San Julian. Thousands have been sheltered in the single-room occupancy hotels renovated by the city, and there are plans for construction of new facilities next year.

And when Tom Bradley was faced with perhaps the biggest challenge of his political career he stood up to Police Chief Daryl Gates. In the midst of an often vicious and racist opposition campaign the mayor created the Christopher Commission and led the fight for passage of the recommended reforms. Seventy percent of the voters ultimately vindicated the mayor’s position.

But beyond the economic and social reforms that Tom Bradley initiated, there is the less tangible but more important quality that he brought to his job--his strength of character.

In this time of social meanness when lesser politicians and “leaders” have engaged in the bitter politics of ethnic divisiveness, Bradley embraced the more difficult task of healing, reconciliation and integration. Bradley always looked for issues and interests that brought people together, the common ground that allowed ethnic communities to move forward.

The amazing thing is that Bradley was able to accomplish as much as he did given the malign neglect of urban America by the Reagan and Bush administrations, the influx of millions of people into Los Angeles from all over the world, Proposition 13 and the burden of a City Charter that severely attenuates the power of the mayor. It’s a testimony to his vision and perseverance that he has touched so many areas of our lives in a positive way.

I will dearly miss him. In time, I believe my sentiments will be shared by the vast majority of the people of Los Angeles.