Play It Again, Sam?

An exception among American mayors, who often seem overwhelmed by urban woes, peripatetic Sam Yorty of Los Angeles is an indomitable booster who proclaims that "this city is the envy of the world." If Los Angeles has some troubles and tensions, the reason, as Mayor Sam never tires of explaining, is simply that his own powers are severely limited in comparison with those of the numerous commissions and boards in the area. Anti-Yorty jokes, aimed at the mayor's do-nothingness, are as common in Los Angeles as smog, traffic jams and starlets. Cracks Jesse Unruh, former Democratic Speaker of the California Assembly and recent contender for Yorty's job: "Thank God we have a mayor who doesn't meddle in civic affairs."

Last week Yorty, at 63, the running-est politician this side of Harold Stassen, came in second to City Councilman Thomas Bradley, 55, in Los Angeles' nonpartisan mayoral primary. The two will meet in a runoff May 29. Trailing behind Bradley's 36% and Yorty's 29% in the primary were Unruh, with 19%, and former Los Angeles Police Chief Thomas Reddin, with 13%.

To Angelenos, the Bradley-Yorty runoff seems like a late show rerun. In the primary four years ago, Bradley, who is black, topped Yorty by an even greater margin (39% to 26%), but Mayor Sam won the runoff--after a campaign in which he injected the racial issue. This time Yorty vows that race will not be an issue but adds quickly: "Of course, Bradley will get the black-bloc vote." It will take much more than that to win; blacks make up only 18% of the electorate.

More than any other candidate, Bradley has campaigned on the issues. By "down zoning" and developing a long-range growth plan, he hopes to limit the city's population to 4,000,000 (it is now approaching 3,000,000). He calls for the building of a rapid-transit rail system, free public transportation for people over 65, and the appointment of a city ombudsman to help cut bureaucratic red tape. Yorty is content with merely echoing that Los Angeles is the greatest, and that he is the man to keep it going and growing the way it has been. As an aide says: "There is a kind of comfort with Sam Yorty." But pre-primary polls showed that this year, in a two-man runoff, Bradley would win handily and that Yorty was the candidate whom the largest share of voters (33%) least preferred in the whole field. In the unpredictable world of Los Angeles politics, contradictions and surprises are commonplace, and it is anyone's guess who will emerge the winner in next month's runoff.

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