For Private Citizen Bradley, No Regrets

Tom Bradley still calls up City Hall when he sees potholes that need filling, he’s still a regular on the dinner circuit and everybody still calls him “Mayor.”

But some things do change after stepping down from an office held for 20 long years. One year after his retirement from public life, Bradley is a little slimmer, he has slowed down a bit and he enjoys his morning paper more.

“It’s a joy to get up in the morning, walk out to the front yard, pick up the paper and say: ‘I don’t give a damn what’s in it,’ ” Bradley said. “I had enough exposure in 20 years to last a lifetime. If my name was never printed again it wouldn’t bother me.”

In one of his few interviews granted in the last year, the city’s longtime chief executive says the transition from public official to private citizen has been smooth.

“I just closed the door on what was a great 20-year period in my life,” he said last week. “I really haven’t looked back.”

There was one slip--something bound to happen after so long in the one job.

On his way to his private law office soon after stepping down, Bradley found himself driving toward the City Hall garage. “The car just went automatically.”

The 76-year-old Bradley has not retired since turning over the mayor’s office to Richard Riordan. He travels the globe and puts in long days as senior counsel at the Downtown firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.

“I’m almost as busy in my new career as when I was mayor,” he said. “The major difference is that I don’t have the two to three dinners a week to attend--and as a consequence I’ve lost 10 pounds.”

Bradley has purposely avoided passing judgment on his successor.

“I think the mayor has the right to set his own record and be judged by the people and the press without the former mayor looking over his shoulder and criticizing him,” Bradley said. “I made the decision when I retired to stay out of it.”

Staying out of it can be a pleasure at times.

“The morning of the earthquake I got out of bed, looked around and didn’t spot much damage. Then I got back into bed and said: ‘I don’t have to go anywhere.’ What a relief that it was someone else’s problem now.”