Council Asked to Step Into Williams Issue

Mounting what could be a last-gasp effort on behalf of Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams, Councilwoman Rita Walters on Friday introduced a motion calling on the City Council to take over the Williams issue and decide whether he deserves a second term as chief.

Initially, Walters’ motion would summon police commissioners to the council so they could be questioned about the reasons for their unanimous vote rejecting Williams’ application for reappointment.

Even as that idea was being pursued Friday, others were urging Williams to consider dropping his bid to keep his job for another five-year term and instead agree to leave early in return for a compensation package that would pay him to the end of his term.

Sources said that idea has been broached to the chief, but they did not know whether Williams would agree. Williams’ term does not expire until July 6, and he previously has said he would like to serve it out.

Those discussions swirled as council members weighed the merits of wading into the controversy, one most members seem inclined to avoid but that others believe merits their review.

“Given the chief’s popularity and high regard among the people he serves, the commission owes the city a well-articulated explanation of how they reached their decision not to rehire him,” Walters’ motion stated. “Once the City Council hears the facts, they will be in a better position to decide what action will be in the best interest of the city.”

In her motion, Walters asks the council to assert jurisdiction over the Williams issue.

Others close to the process said Walters may file a substitute motion when the council reconvenes next week, and that version may back off somewhat, merely requesting that the commission appear before the council without specifically seeking a vote on whether to remove the issue altogether from the commission.

Either course seems likely to encounter opposition. Williams needs 10 votes of the 15-member council to overturn the commission action, and even the chief’s personal lobbying in recent days seems to have had little effect.

His efforts were further stymied on Wednesday, when former Secretary of State Warren Christopher released a statement praising the Police Commission and saying the process had worked in the way reform advocates and voters intended.

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All that has made Williams’ efforts to keep his job increasingly difficult, and some sources close to the chief said he has been asked to consider leaving before the end of his term.

According to those sources, that scenario would involve Williams leaving soon but continuing to draw his full salary through the end of his term.

Commission President Raymond C. Fisher said earlier this week that he would consider such an arrangement, and council sources said Friday that members of that body had raised the topic with Williams directly. One of the chief’s lawyers, Peter I. Ostroff, said Friday that the chief has not discussed the idea with him.

Meanwhile, some supporters continue to try to figure out a way to save Williams’ job--or, at least, to force a public discussion with the Police Commission.

Even before she had introduced it, Walters’ proposal was endorsed by a number of political and civic leaders, most of them African American, who attended Friday’s council session.

Several of those officials urged the council to ride herd on the commission and force its members to answer the critics’ questions about why they voted against Williams, the city’s first African American police chief.

“We feel that the decision was a dagger in the heart of the city,” said John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, adding that the council should “convene a hearing, let all the facts come out, and then, then, maybe we can move forward.”

Other speakers echoed that theme, though none referred to the 22-page report that the Police Commission already has released explaining its decision.

That report credited Williams with strong public outreach, but blamed him for poor management and highlighted a number of incidents in which the chief’s integrity and truthfulness were questioned.

The report was detailed and in some places bitingly specific: It accused Williams, for instance, of failing to notify the Police Commission about former Det. Mark Fuhrman’s plan to enter a plea in his perjury case, of making misleading comments about a lawsuit against the Police Department, of lying to the board about remarks he had made regarding a proposal for a new work schedule and of making inconsistent statements about accepting free air fare for his wife to travel to Europe.

Citing the report’s comprehensiveness, commission President Fisher has said he does not believe further elaboration would help clarify the board’s position but has added that he will comply if the council wants to meet with him or other members of the board.

Although Walters’ motion could set the stage for such a meeting, many council members continue to oppose overruling the commission or even holding a potentially contentious session with the members of the police panel.

“Why take this up?” one council member asked Friday as Williams’ supporters addressed the council. “The commission acted. The commission explained its decision, and it’s their decision to make. That’s it.”

Other council members sounded similar themes, and several predicted that the request to meet with the commission would come to a vote Tuesday.

Exactly how many votes it would take to win approval is murky: An aide to Councilman Nate Holden said it would take only eight votes if the commission were merely being requested to appear, but others said 10 votes would be required to move immediately on the matter, because council rules requiring the measure to be referred to committee would have to be waived.

In either event, it is not clear whether Williams has enough support to prevail. Although the Williams controversy has gripped City Hall for weeks, some council members said they see little evidence that community support is as deep as it is wide.

A recent Times poll showed that 66% of those surveyed rated the chief’s job performance favorably, but public reaction to the commission decision has been mostly muted.

One council member said Friday that his staff has received fewer than six calls in support of Williams, and only about 100 people showed up at City Hall to show their support for the chief during a rally and City Council session.

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Still, Williams has strong support in some quarters, and various prominent speakers Friday said they remain skeptical of the process that has led toward the chief’s rejection by his civilian bosses.

“They need to stand up to a public hearing,” state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) said. “The public has a right to know.”

Bishop Charles Blake, pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, agreed, adding that Williams had performed admirably in his main tasks--restoring public faith in the Police Department and uniting the city after the 1992 riots.

“The crisis is not yet over, we are not yet out of the fire,” Blake said. “If we crucify him, what will we do when the trouble comes?”