Compton’s Bradley Seeks Court’s Intervention

Compton Mayor Omar Bradley, scheduled by court order to be replaced today by the man who beat him in a disputed city election, on Wednesday sought emergency intervention by the state Supreme Court to keep him in office.

In his petition for review, Bradley asked the state’s highest court to act by 4 p.m. today to prevent Eric Perrodin from reclaiming the mayor’s post, arguing that such a move would cause Compton voters and Bradley irreparable harm.

The Supreme Court could act on Bradley’s request but also could decline to hear it, said his attorney, Bradley W. Hertz.

“But given the high-profile nature of the case,” Hertz said, and the questions raised in this week’s dueling legal briefs, “I think the court is aware of what is at stake and . . . might be interested and concerned” about the issues.

News of Bradley’s midafternoon appeal threw Compton into further turmoil and suspense: Who would be mayor today?

It was a reasonable question.

A block from City Hall, Eddie Williams sat selling bus tokens Wednesday. The mere sight of the Civic Center and its dueling mayors and administrators, he said, makes him dizzy.

“One day they’re in, one day they’re out,” said Williams. “In and out, in and out. Man, what’s going on?”

That question echoed around Compton one day after an appeals court blocked a Superior Court judge’s ruling, which had ousted Perrodin, elected in June, from office and returned two-time incumbent Bradley to power.

The decision plunged Compton into yet another state of chaos. Now, aside from the switch in the mayor’s office, the city will have two city managers and two assistant city managers.

On Tuesday, after the appellate ruling favoring Perrodin, the pro-Bradley City Council approved paying $840,000 of Bradley’s legal fees, as well as $43,000 in back wages.

One question tossed around town Wednesday was whether the council will try to reverse that action when Perrodin resumes office--provided that the Supreme Court does not intervene on Bradley’s behalf.

Some residents flatly opposed the payments. “Today I am saddened to see the City Council and how you voted,” Gladys Russell, 75, told the council. “God is all over you.... I wish no bad on you, but it’s coming.”

In this city of 93,000, where civic engagement is often avid, residents were desperately searching Wednesday for something of which to be proud. Some of the beleaguered citizens even waxed nostalgic about Compton’s recent, infamous, past.

“Remember when the only time people ever talked about Compton was to talk about gangs or shootings?” said 25-year-old Elena Torrez to her brother Eddie.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Those were the days.”

The Torrez siblings were like many residents who knew few details about the battle for City Hall--but enough to feel frustration and embarrassment, and a sense that the city is rudderless at a time when crime and unemployment remain serious problems.

Thieves have stolen Lisa Perry’s car and burglarized her house--they even snatched baby food from the freezer--so she’s soon moving out of the city. With all the political commotion going on, she doesn’t think things will improve any time soon.

“What they need to do is get the drug dealers and gangsters out of Compton,” said Perry. “I never had this problem in other places I’ve lived.”

For some, a sense of hopelessness has set in. “There’s nothing we can do but watch,” said Manuel Richard, a 17-year resident.

The disaffection has given rise to conspiracy theories.

Williams, the token seller, wonders why the appeals court heard Perrodin’s matter so quickly, when he had to wait years for his appeal on a burglary conviction.

“It took me two years to get an appeal,” said Williams. “I guess you can do these things when you’re a district attorney.”

That reference to Perrodin, a deputy district attorney, is a frequent refrain among Bradley supporters. In a stunning upset, the mayor was narrowly defeated by Perrodin in June’s election. Bradley sued the city, Perrodin and City Clerk Charles Davis, alleging election fraud that led to his defeat.

On Feb. 8, a Superior Court judge found that city officials had illegally placed Perrodin’s name before Bradley’s on the ballot--just as it had been on the primary ballot.

Citing testimony about the statistical advantage Perrodin allegedly had gained by the ballot order, the judge ousted Perrodin and another elected council member. She ordered Bradley sworn in as mayor.

But now the appellate decision has changed the civic order--again--and Perrodin’s attorney saw some value to the seesaw battle.

“The one good thing to have come from the Superior Court decision is that it has energized a portion of the population to know that they have to watch carefully what goes on in their government--and that the courts are available to redress wrongs that occur,” said attorney Fred Woocher.

But some residents said Wednesday that they no longer care whether Perrodin or Bradley prevails. They just want it over.

“It doesn’t look good when you turn the leadership over every other day on the strength of the court, not the strength of the people,” said Lenon Tolbert, 71, a barber. “We deserve better. We need some stable government.”

Some residents said they believe that the political chaos of City Hall is preventing officials from fixing problems the community already had.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Ethel Gatus, 64, a retired nurse doing her daily shopping. “I’ve been in Compton since 1965, and I’ve seen this place go down.... [City officials] are not on their jobs.”

Some City Hall employees would agree.

Although many workers said that they were going about their daily jobs and that parking tickets still needed to be paid and gas bills collected, tension seemed to prevail.

Asked Wednesday how the business of Compton government was functioning, one City Hall worker said, “Barely.”

City Clerk Davis had already been interviewed by three TV stations before lunch, but said his office was coping under the circumstances.

“This morning we had a staff meeting like we normally do after council meetings,” Davis said. “We’re going about our business--oh, the dude from Channel 7 is here--we’re doing what needs to be done.”

Times staff writers Nancy Wride and Jose Cardenas contributed to this report.