Bradley Promises to Protect Housing in Redevelopment

Mayor Tom Bradley on Friday reassured a senior citizens’ group in Watts that no public housing projects or owner-occupied houses will be destroyed to make way for a huge redevelopment project planned for the area.

“You have the word of Tom Bradley, your mayor,” he pledged. “You own this community and you deserve to have it protected.”

Bradley’s pledge--similar to one issued earlier--drew strong applause from the group of 150 senior citizens who eat lunch each day at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee on Central Avenue.

Bradley was attempting to allay the fears of some Watts residents that they will be forced from their neighborhoods by the city’s power of eminent domain, which permits the condemnation and purchase of private property to serve the public good.

Last month, reacting to a storm of protest over the redevelopment project, the mayor announced that he had postponed the planning phase of the project for at least six months.