Bradley Shares L.A. Vision as He Begins His 4th Term

Traveling from Van Nuys to the Civic Center to San Pedro, Mayor Tom Bradley began his fourth term Monday with more balloons, red carpet and pomp than the city has seen since the Olympic Games last year.

After choir singing, prayers by six clergymen, introductions by actress Jayne Kennedy and Jose Feliciano’s rendition of “America the Beautiful,” Bradley was sworn in on the steps of City Hall by Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a longtime confidant and friend. Bradley was reelected in April with 68% of the vote.

Other city officials who were recently elected--eight City Council members, including new City Councilman Michael Woo, the first Asian on the council, City Atty. James Kenneth Hahn and City Controller Rick Tuttle--also were sworn in at the noon ceremony.

Several rows of empty seats testified to the high temperatures of the day, and the applause was mostly polite, except for enthusiastic vocal support for Woo. In his inaugural address Bradley called for the audience of several hundred supporters to look to the future.

“I have a vision of Los Angeles (in the year) 2000--for I believe that in American history, the next century will be known as the California Century. And I see Los Angeles in the forefront of that movement.”

His vision, Bradley said, includes a downtown that will be “the hub for the headquarters of international exchange and finance.”

Bradley said the city “must provide child-care centers for workers throughout downtown Los Angeles,” although he mentioned no specific plan for doing so.

He made an oblique reference to Metro Rail, the mayor’s pet subway project that has been on the drawing board for several years.

“By the year 2000, 157 cities of the world will have mass rapid transit systems,” Bradley said. “Surely the people of Los Angeles, one of the great cities of the world, deserve no less,” he added.

Transportation in Los Angeles has been a perennial thorn in Bradley’s side. Before he was first elected in 1973, he vowed to break ground on a rapid transit system within 18 months.

But Bradley, rather than reflecting on past failures, was upbeat Monday. He celebrated this victory more than any other, like a man savoring a milestone. At age 67, many believe this will be Bradley’s last term. Many of his supporters are almost as sure he will run again for governor next year, the office that eluded him in 1982.

And at a party Monday night attended by several thousand partisans, Bradley again strongly suggested he would do just that. He asked the crowd how many wanted him to run. When the overwhelming majority yelled “Yes,” he jokingly told reporters: “That’s your scientific survey. That’s your answer.”

The speeches started at 8:30 a.m. in Van Nuys Civic Center. Bradley, joined by council members Howard Finn, Joy Picus, Ernani Bernardi and Marvin Braude, attended a reception of about 150 well-wishers. He told the San Fernando Valley residents that they are “the cornerstone of the city’s economic life,” and praised the Valley’s high-tech industry.

Patterns of Growth

Later, he attended another reception in the harbor area. There he struck the same themes of revitalization under his Administration, and compared the city’s growth to his own from the great grandson of a slave to the office of mayor.

Bradley’s speech at the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro touched on the “American dream” theme so prevalent in his 1982 gubernatorial campaign.

“I heard from my first years in school about the American dream; I have learned in my life that the promise truly does beckon to each and all of our people,” said Bradley, standing just a few hundred yards from Cabrillo Beach, which for many years was the only beach Los Angeles blacks could use.

Then it was back to the Civic Center, for another invitation-only “inaugural gala.” The $10-per-person affair on City Hall lawn featured ethnic foods. Although City Hall officials said they had no final cost figures, it appeared that no expense had been spared.

Decorated Scene

City Hall workers said about 10,000 pots of multicolored fuchsias were brought in to decorate the lawn. Plush red carpet lining the main corridor of City Hall was flanked by twinkling Tivoli lights, which one worker estimated cost $40 per 12-foot string. And oil paintings on loan from the Fisher Gallery at USC decorated the corridor walls. A Bradley aide said the mayor’s office wanted to go “all out” to celebrate their “hard work” on the reelection campaign.

City Council enters a new era. Rita Walters elected president of L.A. school board. Part II, Page 1.