Omar Bradley (politician)

Omar Bradley
Mayor of Compton, California
In office
1993–2001
Preceded by Walter R. Tucker III
Succeeded by Eric J. Perrodin
Member of the Compton (California) City Council from the 1st district
In office
1991–1993
Preceded by Maxcy D. Filer
Succeeded by Ronald Green
Personal details
Born (1958-05-09) May 9, 1958 [1]
Nationality American
Residence Compton, California
Occupation School teacher

Omar Bradley (born May 9, 1958)[1] is an American politician who served as mayor of Compton, California from 1993 until 2001.

Biography

Omar Bradley grew up in Compton, California. As an adult, he stayed in the neighborhood and taught high school before entering politics.

In 1991, Bradley defeated Pedro Pallan to become City Councilman for the 1st District of Compton. Despite winning the race decisively with 2,904 votes over Pallan's 1,577, Bradley adopted a very conciliatory tone, when he said, "My first priority is to extend the olive branch to the Latino community, find out what they lack in city services and find out how to meet them." [2]

Just two years later in the spring of 1993, Bradley faced off against Councilwoman Patricia A. Moore for the city's top job. In a bitterly fought runoff campaign, Bradley received just 349 votes over Moore to replace the outgoing Mayor Walter R. Tucker III.[3] Immediately upon taking office, Bradley stirred controversy. During his campaign he had garnered the support of many Latino voters with the promise that if he were elected mayor, he would appoint a Latino to replace him on the council. It was generally assumed that he would appoint his former opponent Pallan, who was the first Latino in Compton to qualify for a run-off election. On the night of the presumed appointment, Bradley joined two other council members to appoint political newcomer Ronald Green, an African American instead.[4][5][6]

That fall, comments he made regarding the violence in rap videos angered members of the Jewish community. When gangster rapper Eazy-E was seeking permission to film a music video in Compton, Bradley scolded him during a council meeting by saying that he was being exploited by a "specific ethnic group" that was "having a bar mitzvah at the same time."[5] On October 13, 1993 he held a press conference with Eazy-E to announce his approval of the music video and to apologize for his previous remarks.[7]

In 2001, Bradley narrowly lost his bid for re-election to a third term to political novice Eric J. Perrodin.

Controversies

After leaving office, Bradley was investigated and convicted of misappropriating public funds during his tenure as City Mayor. Bradley was convicted of using a city-issued credit card to pay for golf rounds, hotel rooms, clothing and in-room movies, among other things. He was convicted of taking cash advances for city business expenses and then charging those items to his city credit cards and pocketing the money. Bradley charged over $3,800 in personal expenses on his City credit card, double-billed the City over $3,700 and in addition failed to return travel advances for two conferences that the jury could infer he failed to attend.[8] The district attorneys office alleged that Bradley misspent closer to $19,000.[9]

City Manager John D. Johnson II and council member Amen Rahh were convicted on similar charges of misappropriating public funds and were sentenced to prison.[10]

On May 14, 2004 Bradley was sentenced to three years in state prison on felony corruption charges.[11] Bradley served his time in a halfway house, from which he was allowed to leave five days a week to work in a job-training program for the developmentally disabled in Carson, California. Bradley was released in August 2005 because he had served jail time while awaiting trial.[9] Bradley's corruption conviction was overturned by an appeals court in August 2012.[12]

2013 Campaign for Mayor of Compton

Omar Bradley again ran for mayor of Compton, Ca in 2013.[13] The primary nominating election on April 2013 was close. Bradley came in second with 25.5% of the vote after Aja Brown who had 27.8 percent of the vote beating incumbent mayoral candidate Eric J. Perrodin who obtained only 24.5% of the vote.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "California Birth Index, 1905-1995 [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  2. ↑ "Bradley, Robbins Leading in Compton Council Vote". The Long Beach Press-Telegram. 1991-06-05. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  3. ↑ Griego, Tina (1993-06-02). "Councilman Bradley wins mayoral contest". The Los Angeles Times. p. B1.
  4. ↑ Vaca, N.C. (2009). The Presumed Alliance. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061750205. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  5. 1 2 Krikorian, Greg (1997-01-12). "Office Politics". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ Adams, Emily (1993-06-10). "Vote to Put Bradley Ally on Council Angers Latinos : Politics: New mayor joins colleagues in appointing political newcomer to fill his vacant seat. Community leaders say he betrayed them". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ↑ Adams, Emily (1993-10-14). "Singer, mayor rap up a comprise". The Los Angeles Times. p. B1.
  8. ↑ "THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. OMAR BRADLEY et al., Defendants and Appellants.". Lexis Nexis. 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
  9. 1 2 Thermos, Wendy (2004-07-30). "Ex-Compton Mayor Avoids Prison". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2004-07-30.
  10. ↑ "Former Compton Mayor, Two Others Convicted". Los Angeles County District Attorney Office. 2004-02-10. Retrieved 2004-02-10.
  11. ↑ Daniels, Cynthia (2004-05-14). "Former Mayor Gets 3 Years". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2004-05-14.
  12. ↑ Sewell, Abby (2012-08-03). "Court overturns former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley's conviction". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  13. ↑ "Compton’s Former ‘Gangster Mayor’ Omar Bradley Wants His Old Job Back « CBS Los Angeles". losangeles.cbslocal.com. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  14. ↑ "Primary Nominating Election, April 16, 2013 Summary Report" (PDF). Comptoncity.org. City of Compton. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
Political offices
Preceded by
Maxcy D. Filer		 Compton, California City Council
1st District
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Ronald Green
Preceded by
Walter R. Tucker III		 Mayor of Compton, California
1993 – 2001 		Succeeded by
Eric J. Perrodin
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