Bratton's renown aids utility tax campaign
The police chief -- not the mayor -- is helping to get yes votes on Proposition S.
Seeking to capitalize on his popularity, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton has embraced a starring role in a high-stakes campaign to persuade voters to preserve a utility tax this week that would bolster the city's flagging revenues.
Bratton's effort reflects his growing influence as a city power-broker, overshadowing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- at least on this issue. Campaign officials strategized that Bratton's star power was more appealing to voters, across party lines, than that of the mayor or any city official.
If the referendum to amend and extend a current telephone utility tax doesn't pass, city leaders fear that legal challenges could wipe out that revenue and deprive the city of about $270 million from already depleted coffers. A simple majority is needed to approve the measure.
Bratton, with his reputation as a no-nonsense cop who has overseen dramatic drops in crime since coming to Los Angeles six years ago, was the obvious choice to carry the message, political strategists said.
"From a strategic point of view, in addition to being the most credible person to talk about the potential impact of this, Bratton tells it like is," said political consultant Steve Barkan, who is running the campaign in support of the measure, Proposition S. "He's a straight-talker, and people respond to that."
For his part, Bratton has moved easily into the role. He has used flare-ups in violence to highlight the need for Proposition S. At a news conference Friday to announce arrests in a spate of recent gang shootings in South L.A., Bratton, speaking off the cuff, said that additional officers had been sent to the area to stem escalating tensions. Then, without missing a beat, he made his pitch.
"A defeat," he said, referring to the referendum, "would seriously mitigate the ability to do what we've done this past week . . . . The actions of the past week are a re-enforcement of one of the critical needs we have, which are resources to work with."
Before the Proposition S campaign, Bratton had frequently spoken out about sensitive or high-profile issues related to policing in Los Angeles; for example, joining the effort two years ago to rein in California's three-strikes sentencing law and recently pressing the City Council to back off its review of a controversial department policy.
But rarely, if ever, has he put himself so squarely in the public eye to lobby for something since taking the top law enforcement job in the city in 2002.
