10th District Challenger : Key to Broome’s Campaign Is Strong Self-Confidence

The sign in the flower bed proclaimed “Nate Holden for City Council,” but Homer Broome Jr. says he likes challenges. With his wife, Marian, at his side, Broome strode up the walkway and rang the doorbell.

“Oh, no,” said the woman who answered the door.

“Oh, yes!” Broome replied.

The woman did a double take and laughed. “I thought you were Jehovah’s Witnesses!”

Broome, challenging the front-running Holden for the vacant 10th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, was on a mission to win political converts. A few minutes later, when the chat was over, Edwin and Odessa Stanfield didn’t rush out and tear down the Holden sign, but they said they would reconsider their support.

Broome seemed not the least bit surprised. Even though he got only 15.6% of the vote in the April primary to Holden’s 21.1%, even though two other candidates almost beat him for a spot in the runoff, even though he pursued but lost some key endorsements to Holden, Broome projects nothing if not stolid self-confidence about Tuesday’s election.

“I’m not aware he’s so far ahead of me,” Broome said of Holden at a recent press conference. “Right now I feel very, very good. He’s the one who’s running and hiding. I’m not.” Broome alleges that Holden has been avoiding direct debates.

Although Broome is praised by such supporters as Mayor Tom Bradley as a “gentleman,” he has taken the rhetorical gloves off as Election Day nears, accusing Holden of incompetence.

“If the man’s incompetent, he’s incompetent,” Broome declared. “That’s not being critical. That’s just stating what the record shows.” Holden, an aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn who served one term in the state Senate in the 1970s, accuses Broome of mudslinging.

Tall and broad-shouldered, with flecks of gray in his hair and mustache, Broome has the air of a man who is accustomed to leadership and respect. He has always tried to “max out,” as he put it, in the pursuit of career goals.

Broome was, for example, the first black to achieve the ranks of captain and commander in the Los Angeles Police Department. He was with the department for 25 years and co-authored a history of blacks in the department. Later, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to a high-level post in the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.

Bradley, who has known Broome since the early 1950s when they both were on the police force, baptized Broome for city politics by appointing him to the city’s Board of Public Works in 1981. When Dave Cunningham resigned his 10th District City Council seat to enter private business, Bradley encouraged Broome to run.

Although his background makes him an appealing candidate--especially in the 10th District, where crime is a dominant issue--Broome said he did not plan it that way.

“That had not been one of the goals in my life, to be a politician,” he said. “I decided to run only after considerable thought.” Taking a swipe at perennial candidate Holden, he added: “I would never run for office eight times like somebody else.”

“Homer is a very methodical individual. He never tried to put himself in a position that would launch a political career,” said supporter Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade. “Sometimes he had to be pushed. But I think he is prepared to be pushed.

“His style is very mannerable. He’s a gentleman, and he believes in being able to negotiate things. . . . He’s very methodical but not stubborn.”

State Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), former Los Angeles police chief, recalls Broome as “an honest, competent person” who achieved success by “the dint of his own drive and hard work.”

Asked to describe himself, Broome offered comments that parallel those of supporters: “Thoughtful. . . . I certainly don’t respond in a knee-jerk fashion. . . . I try to be reasonable, logical.”

Ambitious Family

Ambition has been a family trait for generations, he said.

While helping Broome on his political pursuit, his wife of 25 years, Marian Broome, is the founding director of the Emeriti Center at UCLA, a faculty retirement program. Broome’s grandfather, William Alexander Payne, was a co-founder in 1908 of Allensworth in Imperial County, a state historical monument registered as the first black settlement in California. Broome’s parents were separated when he was very young; he was raised by his mother and grandparents.

Rather than allow himself to be drafted when the Korean War started, Broome enlisted in the Army and qualified for Officer Candidate School. At age 20 he was a 2nd lieutenant, spending the war stateside. After his hitch was over, he moved to Los Angeles and decided on a career in law enforcement.

More than 20 years later, Broome found himself at a career crossroads. When the city sought a successor to Davis in 1978, Broome applied and was judged third in a field of 25 candidates in written tests. When seniority was considered, Broome was moved to fourth position. The top three candidates received further consideration, with Daryl F. Gates emerging as chief.

Broome said he never had a burning ambition to be chief. When the opportunity presented itself, he said, he went for it because he was as qualified as anyone.

His aspirations to elected office, he said, are quite recent, encouraged in part by the mayor and others. He seems, however, to be genuinely offended by questions about his ties to Bradley.

‘Independent Stands’

“After 30 years of service, it became, ‘Are you in the mayor’s back pocket?’ I’m proud of my independent stands,” he said. “Why is this suddenly a media focal point? Why don’t we talk about the role of Hahn (backing Holden) to the same extent?”

Broome is fond of reminding reporters that Holden, a veteran politico and board member of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, is making his eighth run for office. He won only one of those races.

Broome’s pride is such that it seems to rankle him to be trailing Holden, a man he regards as a lightweight who is more show than substance. Broome looks at himself and sees a pattern of success. He looks at his opponent and sees failure.

“I clearly have more ability. I’m clearly more qualified,” Broome said. “There is just absolutely no comparison. It’s like night and day.”

So why is Holden the front-runner?

Name identification, Broome said. After eight campaigns, “everybody knows old Nate,” he said ruefully. He does not mention that Holden has been endorsed by several unions and the third-place finisher in the primary, Geneva Cox.

‘Out of Order’

“I don’t think endorsements win elections. Candidates do,” said Broome. “Homer Broome will win or lose on the basis of being Homer Broome.”

And what if Homer Broome loses? The public works post has not been filled, and there is speculation that Bradley simply will reappoint Broome to his old $60,500-a-year job. Questioned about that possibility, Broome turned testy.

“I think that question is really out of order,” he said. “I think you need to talk to the mayor. I have taken the step of resigning. I don’t think you realize what resigning means, but I have resigned from the board of public works.”

Would Broome rule out rejoining the board?

“I am ruling out only the concern that people express about what I might do if I lose,” he said. “I think that is a negative approach, and I only have one focus and that is on winning the race.”

Times staff writer Victor Merina contributed to this story.