Reluctant Mayor OKs ‘Buy American’ Ballot Measure : Politics: Proposal giving contract preference to domestic firms is packaged with other items that Bradley favors, forcing him to sign election legislation he opposes.

Mayor Tom Bradley, backed into the unusual position of having to approve a measure he personally opposes, signed an ordinance Friday that will put before the voters a “Buy American” plan that would give domestic firms preference in bidding on city contracts.

But, calling the measure a “devious attempt to make political capital,” Bradley said he will write the ballot argument against the measure and campaign for its defeat.

Bradley said he was forced to put the measure on the ballot because it came to him in a single piece of legislation that included proposed police reforms that he supports.

The mayor, who has the power to veto council actions, chose to sign the entire package of proposed City Charter amendments rather than kill the police measures along with the “Buy American” proposal.

Bradley called the bid-preference measure, authored by his long-time political rival and potential mayoral opponent Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, “misdirected.” Bradley said, “I cannot permit this proposal to thwart the work done by so many people to get the police reform measure on the ballot.”

Essentially, the measure would grant California and Los Angeles County firms bidding preference on city contracts and establish a minimum domestic content requirement for purchases. Some economists have warned that such a plan would be impossible to put into practice because many products are hybrids partly produced in several nations.

On Thursday, Bradley quietly asked the council’s Rules and Elections Committee to permit him to write the ballot argument against the “Buy American” plan. In a special meeting held Friday, the committee granted the mayor’s request, according to City Council President John Ferraro.

Councilman Yaroslavsky was in Kiev, Ukraine, on an exchange program and could not be reached for comment. Spokeswoman Katharine Macdonald would not comment directly on the mayor’s opposition but said, “The important opinion in this debate will be heard in June at the ballot box by the voters of this city.”

The process by which Yaroslavsky’s motion was placed on a single piece of legislation with the police reforms was unclear Friday. But Council President Ferraro confirmed that Yaroslavsky had sought to combine the motions.

The measures were unanimously approved by the council earlier this week, and forwarded to the mayor.

William McCarley, chief legislative analyst, said that over the years he has seen the council send proposed ballot measures to the mayor in various ways. Sometimes they are lumped together, as they were in this case. Other times, McCarley said, they are sent separately.

Last year, Bradley mistakenly signed a ballot measure, Proposition 5, which he opposed. After realizing the error, he attempted to take it back but was stopped by a court order. The measure, which gave the City Council greater oversight over the city’s independent commissions, was eventually approved by voters.

Bill Chandler, a spokesman for Mayor Bradley, said he considered the lumping together of the police reforms and the “Buy American” measures unusual.

In addition to opposing the “Buy American” measure on the ballot, Bradley said Friday, “I remain committed to scrutinizing each subsequent ordinance that may be proposed if this vague . . . legislation is approved by voters.”

In his letter to the council, Bradley said the “Buy American” measure was “long on political rhetoric and short on specifics on how (it) would increase the number of jobs in our region.”

He concluded, “I cannot support any charter amendment that uses patriotism to blind voters to the impact on our economy. I hope common sense will refocus attention on creating jobs without regard to the nationality of the bidding company.”

The “Buy American” proposal was spawned by the recent controversy over the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission’s granting of a $128-million contract to Japanese-owned Sumitomo Corp. of America. Under intense political pressure, the LACTC withdrew the contract.

But while apparently politically popular, the “Buy American” movement may be difficult to put into practice.

Jack Kyser, chief economist of Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. said it could plunge city purchasers into a “scavenger hunt from hell.”