Melanie Lomax

The entire Los Angeles Police Commission may have been damaged by the furor surrounding Commissioner Melanie Lomax's release of confidential documents to lawyers for a group trying to remove Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, the panel's president said Thursday. "Based on what has happened, I am very concerned about whether the credibility of the entire commission has been damaged by this entire incident," said Police Commission President Dan Garcia.

An attorney representing a civil rights group that has filed suit in the controversy over who controls the Los Angeles Police Department told a Superior Court judge Wednesday that Police Commissioner Melanie Lomax leaked confidential documents to him, an action Lomax has repeatedly denied. The admission, made by Southern Christian Leadership Conference lawyer Peter Haviland during a court hearing, triggered a political tempest in which lawyers for Police Chief Daryl F.

Attorney Melanie Lomax easily won City Council approval Friday for a seat on the five-member police commission, the civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department. The council approved her nomination by Mayor Tom Bradley in an 11-1 vote. Only Councilman Hal Bernson voted against Lomax, but he did not offer any reason during the brief council debate.

The purpose of this letter is to point out certain errors and a misimpression which were created in your story on my appointment to the Los Angeles Police Commission ("Bradley Names Activist to Sit on Police Panel," Metro, Nov. 14). First of all, I did not "give" $27,000 to Mayor Tom Bradley between 1985 and the present time. I raised those funds by hosting fund-raisers, more than half of which came from many citizens who were very interested in Bradley's 1986 race for governor and believed in the viability of his candidacy.

In response to "Bradley Names Activist to Sit on Police Panel" (Metro, Nov. 14): Well, at least we know what a $27,000 mayoral campaign contribution will buy; an appointment to the Los Angeles Airport Commission. And, if aviation is over your head, you can become a police commissioner! Of course, Melanie Lomax is much more suited for this position. She is a civil rights activist and has a strong foundation in criminology since her grandfather used to run a bookmaking operation in Los Angeles.

Mayor Tom Bradley on Tuesday appointed Melanie Lomax, a longtime civil rights attorney and political supporter, to the Board of Police Commissioners--continuing his efforts to strengthen civilian oversight of the massive Los Angeles Police Department. The appointment, which requires City Council approval, apparently marks the first time that most of the members on the powerful civilian panel that monitors the LAPD will come from the minority community.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the appointment of attorney Melanie Lomax to the Airport Commission, despite earlier concerns about allegedly anti-Semitic remarks attributed to her. Lomax, who was nominated by Mayor Tom Bradley to replace Commissioner Jerry Epstein, assured council members at a hearing that she is not anti-Semitic and that the comments attributed to her in a book and newspaper were inaccurate and taken out of context.

Several Los Angeles City Council members said Friday they may hold up the nomination of attorney Melanie Lomax to the city's Airport Commission because of allegedly anti-Jewish remarks attributed to her in two publications. Lomax, 39, is a civil rights lawyer and former vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP. Lomax said Friday she is not "anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish," has never made anti-Jewish comments and is "upset" by the allegations, which she called "nonsense."

I feel it is worthwhile--and necessary--to clarify for the public at least a few examples of incorrect information which appeared recently in two articles on the editorial pages ("Sour Fallout From L.A. Teachers' Bonanza," Sept. 15, written by Supt. Ted Kimbrough and attorney Melanie Lomax from the Compton Unified School District, and a subsequent letter on the same subject, Sept. 30, written by United Teachers-Los Angeles President Wayne Johnson). First, the Kimbrough/Lomax article suggested that teachers have "traditionally" received limited salary increases which equal the state COLA (cost of living)

Attorney Melanie Lomax, a leader of the Los Angeles NAACP, will be honored at the Black Agenda's Christmas luncheon Saturday at the Los Angeles Airport Hyatt Hotel. Lomax led the Los Angeles branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People to "fair share" agreements that extracted pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars in minority community investments from the Adolph Coors Co. and McDonald's restaurants.