Bradley Asks Exemption From Rittenberg Review

Citing “extraordinary circumstances,” Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Wednesday asked that he be disqualified from acting on a city Personnel Department report about the performance of Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg.

“The plain fact is that, because of my relationship to parts of this matter, any action I might take concerning the report would be questioned,” Bradley said in a letter to City Atty. James K. Hahn.

Bradley had requested the Personnel Department inquiry after disclosures were made about possible irregularities involving city deposits placed in Far East National Bank, for which Bradley was a paid consultant. Bradley made a phone call to Rittenberg just before the treasurer decided to invest $2 million in Far East, but both men deny that the mayor attempted to influence the decision.

The mayor’s office received the report on Rittenberg late Wednesday, but the envelope will remain sealed until Hahn offers an opinion on the matter, according to a spokesman for the mayor. Normally, Bradley would make a recommendation on possible sanctions against Rittenberg.