Maury Weiner, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s first chief of staff and deputy mayor, who played key roles in several Bradley campaigns, died on Sept. 30. He was 82.
A progressive Jewish activist from New York, Weiner was an advocate for racial justice, gender equality and workers’ rights. Weiner and Bradley, the latter then a young police officer, met while working on Ed Roybal’s unsuccessful 1958 campaign for L.A. County supervisor. By 1963, Weiner had become Bradley’s chief strategist, continuing in that role until Bradley’s first term as mayor, beginning in 1973.
Bradley described Weiner, a key figure in the black-Jewish coalition that aided his mayoral victory in 1973, as “a man who had great political skill and a keen sense of strategy.”
Chairman of the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation at UCLA, Weiner held leadership positions in many highly respected nonprofit organizations.
“There are tens of thousands of people whose rights were protected by Maury’s efforts as a top city official, a nonprofit leader and as an active citizen,” L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
Weiner is survived by his brother, Herbert Weiner, sister Elaine Reynoso and nephew Dean.
A memorial service was held at Mount Sinai Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills.
In lieu of flowers, Weiner’s family is requesting donations be sent to causes close to his heart: the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation and/or Amnesty International.
