officers - The Black Vault

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Woo wants Gates out
Earlier in the day, City
Councilman Mike Woo became
the first city elected official to
demand the chief resign. .
"The time has come for Chief
Gates to set his personal concerns
aside in the best interest
of the Police Department and
to let new leadership restore
public confidence in the men
and women of the LAPD " Woo
said.
'
The. announcement by Woo
- a possible candidate for
mayor in 1993 - was followed
by statements from at least two
other council members that the
chief:s departure would .help
th;~ city move forward following
the controversial beating.
"If Chief Gates de-cided to resign
that might be a useful
thing for him to do," said
Councilman Marvin Braude,
who stopped just short of demanding
that Gate!' step down.
Councilman Zev Y aroslavsky
added: "I would hope the chief
would retire, retire when he
turns 65, he is going to turn 65
in August."
The mayor, meanwhile,
sought to downplay speculation
he was putting additional pressure
on Gates to resign by moving
Civil Service Commissioner
Claire Bronowski to the Municipal
Auditorium Commission
and replacing her with Lawrence
Drasin.
"There has been no desire
whatsoever, as you put it, to
load up any commission " Bradley
said.
'
Drasin is a labor laWyer with
close ties to Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor leader
Bill Robinson, a staunch ally of
the mayor, who has called for
Gates' resignation.
•
'Stacking the deck'
But several council members
said it appeared that Bradley
was "stacking the deck" against
Gates and suggested they may
turn down the mayor's commission
changes. .
"I'm tired of the scheming
and pleading that is going on in
the mayor's office. I don't think
it is fair and I think the council
has to take initiative and reject
some of these new appointments,"
Council President John
Ferraro said.
Councilwoman Joan Milke
Flores, meanwhile, sought to
counter the anti-Gates furor.
"My preference would be
that the chief stayed and make
the necessary changes in the
department," FJores said.