The Seers at City Hall Are Saying Bradley Won’t Run : Politics: They point to aides seeking new jobs and to a lack of fund raising. The mayor is noncommittal.

Although Mayor Tom Bradley remains mum about his future, much of City Hall is already operating on the assumption that the 20-year incumbent will not run for reelection.

City Council members, department heads and members of the 74-year-old mayor’s staff say they are certain that Bradley will call it quits in an announcement later this month.

“I’ve been told by members of his staff that they are looking elsewhere for employment, and he’s shut down his (political) fund-raising operation,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. “There’s just one indisputable conclusion: He’s not running.”

Some of Bradley’s longest and closest advisers, including Special Assistant William Elkins and Executive Assistant Wanda L. Moore, have inquired about retirement counseling in recent months, city retirement officials confirmed. Moore denied she is preparing to leave Bradley’s staff and Elkins did not return phones calls.

But other key staffers already have left. Bill Chandler, Bradley’s chief press deputy, left the office two weeks ago to join Dianne Feinstein’s Senate campaign and has not been replaced. Chief of Protocol Beatrice Lavery left the staff several months ago, and her duties have been taken over by Deputy Mayor Linda Griego.

Special Assistant Phil Depoian is seeking a permanent post in the Department of Airports, and long-time Bradley fund-raiser Linda Tibi Comfort is working for Yvonne Brathwaite Burke’s supervisorial campaign.

“No one here thinks he’s going to run again,” said a senior Bradley staff member, who asked not to be identified. “The resumes are going out.”

“These are all indications that he will not run,” agreed Councilman Richard Alatorre. “I’ve been of that opinion for some time now.”

Another indication that the five-term mayor may be a lame duck is the ease with which some historic allies now criticize his performance.

“People feel the city is broken and that (Bradley) is part of that,” said Councilman Joel Wachs, who has said he is contemplating a run for mayor. “He’s lost the public’s confidence. I don’t know if he will run, but I do know that he should not run.”

Others point to the lack of any campaign organizing by Bradley as a sure sign of his retirement.

For his part, the mayor is remaining publicly noncommittal.

“Before the month is over, you will hear (my) announcement,” Bradley said at a news conference Friday, where he responded to reports that he has been wooed by at least one large law firm.

Bradley would neither confirm nor deny that he had been contacted by the San Francisco-based firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, as was reported by KABC-TV.

“Thank you for the speculation,” Bradley joked about the reports about possible new employment that would pay three times his mayoral salary of $117,000 a year. “It’s prompted calls from international law firms who want to get in line.”

But then, turning serious, Bradley said: “I will not make any further comment about my plans for the future.”

Still, Bradley could not help responding when asked what job he would like to have if he were not mayor. “King of the world,” he cracked. And when asked if the departures of key staffers are an indication that he will not run again, Bradley replied: “They don’t know, either.”

Indeed, even those who see the mayor daily said he has yet to reveal his plans. And some are convinced that he has not made a final decision.

Attorney Dan Garcia, a longtime Bradley ally and a former city planning and police commissioner, said: “In the last week alone I have talked to three or four major players in City Hall, and each one had a diametrically opposed view of what’s going on.”

But, City Hall insiders say, there are critical signposts that strongly suggest that Bradley will retire at the end of his term in June.

Several Bradley insiders said the lack of political fund raising is a strong indication that he will not seek reelection.

“I think it is pretty clear” the mayor will not run, said one close Bradley adviser, who requested anonymity. “There’s no campaign. It’s the absence of things, more than anything overt.”

The Rev. Cecil Murray, influential pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, where Bradley is a member, said: “There are hints that the mayor’s well-oiled political machine is, I hesitate to say winding down, turning a corner, looking in other directions.”

Bradley’s last major fund-raising events were in February, and a source familiar with Bradley’s campaign operation said no new events are planned.

Since February, some of his traditional fund-raisers and large contributors have thrown their support to other politicians. For example, two prominent Latino businessmen who have been long-time Bradley backers, Department of Water and Power Commissioner Angie Echevarria and David Lizarraga of The East Los Angeles Community Union, are signed up to help Councilman Michael Woo--the only announced candidate for mayor.

Bruce Corwin, Bradley’s longtime campaign treasurer, said he is now supporting Assemblyman Richard Katz, who is exploring whether to run for mayor.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani discounted the significance of Bradley’s lack of a fund-raising organization, saying new campaign finance laws make early, large-scale appeals less necessary. And, he added, “the mayor has the luxury of waiting longer to raise money than anyone else because his name identification is so high.”

In a hint at what could be Bradley’s public rationale for a withdrawal from the race, Fabiani said the “No. 1 question before the mayor is: Can the rebuilding process proceed more effectively if he is reelected, or if he devotes every waking hour in his term remaining to rebuilding instead of campaigning?”

Recent polls have shown that the mayor’s support has seriously eroded in the wake of the riots.

The expanding field of candidates for mayor is another indication that Bradley is perceived as a lame duck. City Council President John Ferraro, one of the city’s longest-serving politicians, this week let it be known that he also may run. “I’m actively considering it,” he said in an interview Friday.

Ferraro joins at least six other politicians and businessmen who have expressed interest in the job.

But a Bradley candidacy is still not out of the question, especially if the proud and sometimes stubborn mayor feels he is being pushed aside, according to associates who know him well.

“The only thing that could change his mind is the perception that he is being forced out,” a Bradley confidant said. “If that happens, he might dig in his heels and decide to stay.”

Times staff writers Rich Connell and Greg Krikorian contributed to this story.