Mayor Avoids Council Debate on Bank Ties

Mayor Tom Bradley’s supporters Tuesday averted a potentially damaging Los Angeles City Council pre-election debate on his $18,000 Far East National Bank advisory post after the mayor told some members that “this is a purely political stunt by my opponent, Nate Holden.”

Two 6-7 votes prevented an immediate floor debate on measures by Holden, a city councilman who has emerged as Bradley’s most visible foe in next Tuesday’s election.

One measure would have ordered the city to withdraw funds it has deposited in Far East. The other would have requested an investigation by City Atty. James K. Hahn on whether Bradley violated the City Charter by serving as an adviser to the bank.

Bradley returned the $18,000 two weeks ago.

The council votes Tuesday effectively killed any chance of council debate on the Far East bank issue before Election Day.

The Holden proposals now will have to travel the usual and often-slow legislative route, first to be heard by a committee, then possibly rewritten by city attorneys and other aides.

Meanwhile, Hahn had already started his own investigation of Bradley’s links with the bank, and the city attorney’s office said Tuesday that it will continue, regardless of what the council has done. “It has no effect on us,” Hahn aide Mike Qualls said.

Bradley, interviewed in his office after the vote Tuesday, told how he had contacted five council members and told them, “This was a political gimmick on the part of my opponent.”

“ ‘I just wanted you to be aware of that,’ ” Bradley said he told the council members. “I also said to a couple of them that the city attorney is examining this whole issue and I will cooperate with him in every way.”

Bradley calls council members only on issues he considers of major importance. His efforts on this one pointed up his anger at Holden and his concern over the bank issue in the final days of a campaign the mayor is favored to win easily.

The Bradley victory came on votes so quick they left Holden surprised and unhappy.

Under council procedures, the rules had to be suspended to permit debate on the Holden measures without a committee hearing.

When it came time to decide, Holden stood by his desk toward the center of the horseshoe-shaped council desks. His coat was open, his hands were on his hips, and he looked ready for a debate. Several television cameras were on hand, lights on, prepared to give Holden the exposure his under-financed campaign has lacked.

But Council President John Ferraro, who supported Holden, called for two quick votes before Holden could speak. Later, Ferraro explained to reporters that he had to do this because debate is not permitted on a motion to suspend the rules.

Disappointed, Holden walked out of the chamber to an anteroom, the cameras following him, and spoke to reporters.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “This sends a wrong signal to the people. . . . It suggests that people in City Hall have something to hide. . . . City Hall should be an open book.”

Leading the fight against Holden was Councilman Marvin Braude, to whom the mayor had talked last Thursday. After a meeting on air pollution, Bradley asked Braude to talk privately with him. “He mentioned the matter very casually,” Braude said. “I said I would look at it very carefully.”

Braude objected to even voting on the matter. “You don’t suspend the rules and engage in rhetoric a week before the election,” he told a reporter afterward.

Another Bradley vote was from Hal Bernson, who also spoke to Bradley. “He asked that I support him on this,” Bernson said of his conversation with the mayor. “I told him I had already decided it (the council debate) shouldn’t be used for political purposes.

Support for Mayor

Supporting the mayor were Bernson, Braude, Robert Farrell, Joan Milke Flores, Joel Wachs, Michael Woo and Gilbert Lindsay. Pressing for a Tuesday floor debate were Holden, Ferraro, Ruth Galanter, Gloria Molina, Joy Picus and Zev Yaroslavsky

The controversy over Bradley’s connections with financial institutions has created a furor in the last days of a campaign that had started out as a walkaway.

The Times disclosed that the mayor had received $24,000 a year for serving on the board of Valley Federal Savings & Loan. Valley Federal has been involved in a tax dispute with the city and two of its subsidiaries have received city zoning changes.

The previous week, the mayor disclosed he had served as an adviser to the Far East bank and was returning his $18,000 consulting fee after learning the city does business with the bank. He said he wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety. However, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner was already at work on a story exploring Bradley’s Far East bank ties.

Far East is one of several banks receiving deposits of city funds.

Phone Call Reported

On Saturday, the Herald Examiner reported that Bradley had received a telephone call from Henry Hwang, president of Far East National Bank. After that call, Bradley telephoned City Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg and discussed bank deposits. After that conversation, the city doubled its deposit in Far East to $2 million.

The two phone conversations have added to the furor over Bradley’s connection with financial institutions. He has said “there was no impropriety” as he discussed the telephone calls with reporters.

Monday, in an interview with Linda Douglass of KNBC-TV, Bradley said Hwang had “told me there was a rumor that the city was going to discontinue its deposit relationship with the banks. I told him I couldn’t believe that because we are always looking for the best ways to maximize the return on our money.” Then he said he called Rittenberg and asked him about the rumor. “The treasurer said ‘Oh, no, they were still looking very hard to get the kind of deposit that would earn the most money’ for them.”

In the interview Tuesday, Bradley offered more details of his conversations with Hwang and Rittenberg.

Asked About Rumors

He said Hwang had called him to inquire about rumors he had heard that the city was going to abandon its policy of depositing funds in various city banks. He said he called Rittenberg to inquire about that.

“I could not believe it (the rumors),” Bradley said. “The city has always been very aggressive in getting the best return on its money.”

He said he then called Rittenberg.

In the course of that conversation, Bradley first asked Rittenberg if the city had done business with Far East National Bank. “Not whether they did business, but whether they had in the past,” Bradley said.

When Rittenberg replied in the affirmative, Bradley said he made a decision. It was, he said, to resign as an adviser and return “that which had been paid to me in 1988.”

The conversation continued, Bradley said, and moved on to a discussion of the rumors Hwang had mentioned about the city abandoning its local bank deposit policy. At that point, Bradley said, Rittenberg assured him the rumors were untrue.

After giving that account, Bradley declined to answer questions about it, saying he would withhold further comments until after City Atty. Hahn completes his investigation.

Rittenberg was unavailable for comment Tuesday, his office said.