NEWS ANALYSIS : Bradley Left in the Dark in Latest City Hall Drama

As the telephone lines between City Hall and police headquarters lit up with secret negotiations aimed at giving Chief Daryl F. Gates a graceful exit, Mayor Tom Bradley and his staff were pretty much left in the dark.

It was no accident.

The last time City Council President John Ferraro played mediator in the Rodney G. King crisis, he called a Bradley-Gates summit that produced an awkward, short-lived public truce between the feuding mayor and police chief.

This time, with the exception of one early briefing before the negotiations heated up, the mayor was left out of the series of private discussions that seemed to produce a delicate agreement that the chief would retire by the end of the year. Even after Ferraro and Councilman Joel Wachs scheduled a Friday morning press conference, the mayor’s office still had no clue that a deal had been reached, City Hall sources said.

“We thought it was appropriate at this moment to just have it among us,” Wachs said.

While the Gates arrangement may raise more questions than it resolves, there was agreement among many City Hall insiders on one point: In this latest turn of a long-running political soap opera, the mayor was clearly among the day’s losers.

Sources also agreed that Councilman Michael Woo narrowed his citywide political constituency by demanding--against the wishes of the Christopher Commission--that Gates resign immediately. While this might have ingratiated Woo with certain segments of the community, particularly South Los Angeles, it might well have alienated pro-police, middle-class voters and the city’s power elite--support that would prove crucial if Woo makes his long-anticipated run for mayor.

And Councilman Richard Alatorre, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, found himself upstaged--even as he looked toward entering next week as the politician best positioned to usher in a new era of police reforms.

Ferraro came out way ahead, leaving political experts to wonder if he, too, would be interested in tossing his hat in the 1993 mayoral race--an event that would represent a remarkable comeback for the one-time mayoral loser.

The outlook is murkier for Wachs, the champion of gay rights who has come under intense fire in liberal quarters for his unyielding support of the chief.

All the while, council members, city staffers and reporters were left puzzled Friday by the conflicting descriptions of the agreement: Was the stubborn Gates finally giving up his post or not? How many of the police reforms recommended by the Christopher Commission would appear on a ballot? Would anyone vote if a special election were held two weeks before Christmas?

For his part, Bradley declared himself overjoyed by the latest development. Asked if he “won” his personal battle with Gates, the mayor responded, “I think the people of this city have won.”

But, when asked at a press conference about his role in negotiations, the mayor was in no mood to elaborate. He said vaguely there were some discussions, but then muttered: “We ought not to make that part of the story.”

Bradley’s absence in the negotiations may go unnoticed, said Republican political consultant Arnold Steinberg. “It may not penetrate the masses as much that he is as weak a mayor as in fact seems to be emerging.”

But several sources said the mayor could benefit politically by not being portrayed as the one who ran Gates out of town.

“He may be the luckiest guy right now by staying out of the picture,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. “This is a watercolor that is running.”

Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler played down the significance of the mayor’s lack of involvement, saying: “Gates worked out this transition package with two of his closest City Council allies. The mayor’s position was already well known.”

Indeed, it took few people by surprise that the two council members who worked out the deal with Gates were Ferraro and Wachs.

“If the chief is going to (announce his retirement) through surrogates, I fully understand why he would do it through two of his staunchest supporters,” Yaroslavsky said. “I don’t understand why he didn’t do it himself.”

Both Ferraro and Wachs seemed a bit disorganized and flustered when they faced a packed room of reporters and a live television audience Friday morning to make their announcement. Neither could provide precise details of the plan they worked out with Gates, but the bottom line seemed clear: The Chief had agreed to leave.

Once again, the council president came off as the elder statesmen, utilizing his close ties with longtime ally Gates and college chum Warren Christopher to forge an important compromise during the King crisis.

“I don’t know what plan, if any, John has for the long term,” said Steinberg. “But I think John has been using the presidency of the council far more effectively than in recent years. He appears to be making a comeback as a leader on the council, no question about that.”

Would this success and new exposure rekindle Ferraro’s hopes of becoming mayor, which were dashed after he was trounced by Bradley in 1985? At 67, most City Hall insiders thought Ferraro should resist the temptation.

“He is not a political factor outside the City Council chamber,” said one councilman who asked not to be identified.

For Wachs, the prominent role promises to spark even more criticism among the councilman’s leading constituents within the gay community. To this group, Wachs is expected to portray himself as a key instigator of the departure of Gates, who is loathed by many gays. At the same time, he can argue to conservative voters in the San Fernando Valley portion of his district that he provided Gates with the face-saving departure the chief wanted.

But this balancing act may prove perilous.

“I think the evidence is crystal clear that Chief Gates has allowed the department to deteriorate to a point where racism, sexism and homophobia are running rampant,” said Dave Smith, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. “This political paving of the way for an honorable exit is nonsense and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary.”

Said one councilman of Wachs: “The downside is he’ll get carping from his liberal friends, but he is calculating that the upside (pleasing his conservative voters) is much greater to him than the downside.”

If Wachs was concerned about how Friday’s events would fly with his constituents, he wasn’t showing it. The normally reserved councilman was beaming at City Hall Friday during countless interviews.

“I really feel good about this,” he said.

Wachs’ efforts, as well as Ferraro’s, came under fire Friday from some council members who were angered by Gates’ apparent retribution against Asst. Chief David D. Dotson for criticizing the chief in testimony before the Christopher Commission.

“I think those who have been identified as Gates supporters are going as far as they possibly can to accommodate him so that he has a graceful exit,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “Those who are inclined to be helpful one way or another are given less and less incentive to do so because (Gates) keeps behaving in ways that are not only irresponsible, but lately offensive.

“How can you help a guy like that, dammit!” . . . I don’t know how much it takes for people to get the point: Gates is on a mission.”

Joining Ridley-Thomas in demanding that Gates step down immediately was Woo, the only councilman who publicly called for the chief to resign in the wake of the King beating. Woo was also outraged at Gates’ action of stripping Dotson of command of the LAPD unit that investigates the department’s most serious allegations of excessive force.

“During this transitional period,” he said during his own press conference, “we need the help of all qualified and experienced officers, particularly those with the courage to speak out about their concerns. We can’t afford to have Chief Gates reassigning them or driving them away. That’s why I think Chief Gates should leave now, not months from now, not weeks from now but today.”

Some council members said Woo may have undercut his mayoral ambitions Friday by repeating his call for Gates’ immediate ouster.

“I think Woo went over the edge on this,” said one councilman. “If I had been him, I would have just declared victory. In the game of oneupsmanship, he may have outfoxed himself.”