THE TIMES POLL : History May Take a Kinder View of the Bradley Era

Mayor Tom Bradley is more likely to find a favorable place in history than he is in the hearts of today’s Los Angeles residents, who largely continue to hold him in disfavor as he closes out 20 years in office, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

Only 38% of Angelenos approve of Bradley’s job performance, while half disapprove--about the same negative assessment that has dogged the mayor since last year’s riots.

But 40% of those surveyed believe that Bradley will be remembered historically as being better than other mayors, and another 40% say he will be considered average--overwhelming the 14% who believe that history will measure Bradley as sub-par.

The Times Poll, directed by John Brennan, surveyed 1,506 adults in the city of Los Angeles between May 27 and May 30; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A week before businessman Richard Riordan was elected to replace Bradley, the poll found the city overwhelmingly ready to make a change in leadership. Just 18% said they would have preferred a sixth term for Bradley to either Riordan, City Councilman Michael Woo or some other choice.

“Compared to (former Mayor Sam) Yorty and people like that, I think Bradley was an enormous step forward,” said Donald Kalish, professor emeritus of philosophy at UCLA and one of those surveyed. “On the whole, he kept this city together as other factors made it deteriorate; you can’t blame him for the rise of gangs or the fact aerospace jobs went away.”

But Kalish also reflected the ambivalence of many Angelenos toward the only mayor many of them have ever known.

“I think he could have done more to get rid of (Police) Chief (Daryl F.) Gates and we would have prevented the civil unrest,” he said, referring to the riots last year. “And he could have done more to rebuild the inner city.”

Such mixed feelings are reflected in how Los Angeles residents believe the city changed under Bradley. About one-quarter say Los Angeles is better off because of his service, 31% think it is worse off and 34% feel it is about the same, with the rest unsure.

And, in a city that has grown disillusioned with the power of its political leaders, more than half of Angelenos do not believe that Bradley made a difference in their lives.

Of those who thought the mayor made a difference, nearly a quarter said they are better off, and 15% said they are worse off.

Regardless of their views of the retiring mayor, the public tends to view Bradley in general and impressionistic terms. Nearly half of those surveyed--including those who favored the mayor and those who did not--would not or could not cite his top accomplishment.

Among those who did offer specifics, the 1984 Summer Olympic Games was by far the most frequently mentioned as Bradley’s top achievement, with nearly one in every five residents praising the mayor’s work on the event.

Bradley endlessly promoted the international sports extravaganza despite warnings that it would snarl traffic, increase smog, attract terrorists and be subsidized by taxpayers.

Instead, the city’s freeways were emptier than at any time in memory and the 16-day Games went off without a significant hitch, while turning a profit.

“That was his baby,” said poll respondent Bobbie Searcy of southwest Los Angeles. “He pushed against whatever odds, and the overall program was a tremendous success.”

Next most frequently cited as Bradley’s top accomplishments were his landmark 1973 election as the city’s first black mayor and his efforts to bring various groups together. A total of 13% named those as major achievements.

On the downside, a significant minority of Los Angeles residents hold Bradley responsible for the riots in the spring of 1992. Three days of rioting left more than 50 people dead and $750 million in damage after the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four officers accused of beating Rodney G. King.

Nearly one-quarter of poll respondents say Bradley failed, either by inciting the violence with his comments after the verdicts or by failing to quell the disturbances once they had begun.

“When I heard his speech and he said he was very unhappy about the verdicts and that it wasn’t right, there was a feeling if people went out and rebelled it was all right,” said one of those surveyed, Judy Villa of Westwood.

Villa said it did not make a difference that Bradley, in his post-verdict television address, advocated nonviolent protests. The mayor’s strong emotions “gave people the green light to go ahead,” Villa said.

Bradley’s popularity has slumped badly since the Olympics, when nearly three-quarters of the city approved of the job he was doing. Those satisfied with his performance dropped below 50% after allegations in the late 1980s of conflicts of interest, when it was revealed that he had held paid positions with two banks that obtained city business.

Bradley had recovered some of his popularity by the time of the King beating in 1991, but his ratings have fallen almost continuously since then.

Only in the African-American community has Bradley remained more resilient--winning the approval of 54% of those surveyed in late May, compared to just 25% of Anglos.

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Poll interviewed 1,506 adults in Los Angeles by telephone, May 27-30. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the city.

Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and unlisted numbers could be contacted. The sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education and household size.

Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For other subgroups the error margin is somewhat higher.

Poll results can also be affected by other factors, such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.

THE TIMES POLL: The Bradley Legacy

Los Angeles residents believe that history will be relatively kind to Tom Bradley, who is retiring after 20 years as mayor of Los Angeles.

They say he will go down as an above-average or average mayor. His greatest success was bringing the Olympics to Los Angeles and his biggest failing was that he did not quell the violence after the Rodney G. King beating trial verdicts.

* AFter 20 years in office, L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley will retire at the end of June. Overall, how do you think Bradley will go down as a mayor in L.A. history?

Anglo Black Latino West SFV Central South Above average 40% 55% 37% 48% 39% 37% 45% Average 38% 36% 45% 35% 39% 43% 41% Below average 18% 6% 13% 16% 16% 15% 8% Don’t know 4% 3% 5% 1% 6% 5% 6%

All Above average: 41% Average: 40% Below average: 14% Don’t know: 5% *

Regardless of whether your overall view of Bradley is positive or negative, in your opinion what was his greatest success or accomplishment as mayor? (Up to two replies accepted)

Anglo Black Latino All Brought Olympics to L.A. 25% 25% 11% 19% Brought people together 10% 4% 5% 7% Helped minorities/First black mayor 6% 3% 5% 6% Did a good job as mayor 3% 3% 6% 5% Helped L.A. grow 5% 6% 5% 5%

*

What do you think was Bradley’s biggest flaw or failing as mayor? (Up to two replies accepted.)

Anglo Black Latino All Did not quell the violence 23% 17% 21% 23% after the King verdicts His fights with ex-LAPD chief 10% 17% 6% 9% Daryl Gates disrupted the city Traveled too much 7% 10% 6% 7% Wasn’t dynamic 9% 7% 4% 6% Was in office too long 6% 4% 3% 5%

*

Generally speaking, do you think L.A. is better or worse off because of what Tom Bradley has done as mayor?

Anglo Black Latino Better 23% 41% 24% Worse 36% 16% 32% Same 34% 35% 34% Don’t know 7% 8% 10%

All Better: 26% Same: 34% Worse: 31% Don’t know: 9% The results are by ethnicity and by region. West refers to Westside adults, SFV to adults in the San Fernando Valley, Central to adults residing in the central portion of Los Angeles and South to those in the southern part of the city.

Source: The Times Poll interview of 1,506 adults in Los Angeles on May 27-30.