Notes from LA

Obama’s Senate seat for sale. Illinois governor arrested:

The criminal complaint filed today against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich contains a remarkable section detailing the Democratic politician’s alleged attempt to cash in on his ability to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Update:

When political news breaks, I like to check in on MSNBC. Unfortunately, people often set MSNBC as their browser home page and even rely on it as their sole internet news source; it’s helpful to know what your friends and colleagues are absorbing. Anyway, today MSNBC didn’t disappoint, tempering the arrest of Illinois’ governor on corruption charges with the latest news on Larry Craig’s bathroom shenanigans.

Linda Boyd is out as LA County Republican Party Chairman. A whole lot of good that Prop 8 support did her. Mayor Sam, BoiFromTroy.

Sadly, the Right has ‘em too and similarly indulges them for election support. Politico:

Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.

Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.

Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.

Meanwhile, I’m cautiously warming up to the guy.

Or, so it was called less than six weeks ago:

Screen capture from October 24, 2008

The event has since been re-branded as the 3rd Annual El Sereno Winter Wonderland. So why the low profile this year, José? Could it be that in the current economic climate you don’t want your name on an event that is costing taxpayers $5,168?

Zuma Dogg spent the past few weeks collecting signatures to put his name on the ballot as candidate for mayor. Last night, he reached his goal:

I got my 1000th signature this evening in Silverlake in front of Trader Joe’s. Plus, I picked up the 30-40 signature petitions my other helpers collected. So that’s over 1000 by just enough to cross a few off. But I have been crossing off anything that didn’t look valid, all along. So out of the 1000…hopefully 500 people aren’t mistaken as to their registration address.

The absence of a high-profile mayoral contender will allow Zuma Dogg to attract far more media attention than would otherwise be possible.

How’s this for leadership: Councilmember Janice Hahn placed an ill-conceived parcel tax on the ballot, then kicked back and waited for it to pass with a cynical assumption that Obama’s voters would stick it to homeowners. Well, they certified the vote this morning and she miscalculated by half a percentage point. Orlov:

…a city parcel tax to generate $30 million annually to pay for gang prevention and anti-violence intervention programs received 66.27 percent of votes; it failed by less than half a percentage point. The parcel tax, Measure A, drew 712,039 yes votes and 362,396 no votes.

Ms. Hahn, consider this your cue to start working for us, not against us. The lazy approach didn’t work out this time. Meanwhile the problem isn’t solved, and you’re still sitting there empty-handed. I trust that if you really care about gang prevention, you’ll find $30 million in the existing budget. You and I both know it’s there.

Just another City Hall power play.

Ron Kaye on Mayor Villaraigosa:

Merely winning the election already is a foregone conclusion but it means nothing if you have lost the confidence of the people in your leadership, in the future of the city.

More

Rick Caruso will not run for mayor this time around:

…while I am genuinely grateful for all the encouragement I have received from people all over this city to run for mayor and the confidence they put in me, I have decided that the obligation of serving as mayor would put a burden on my family that is too much at this point in their lives and, as a result, I will not be a candidate in the upcoming campaign for mayor. Having worked closely with Mayors in the past, I understand the commitment necessary to properly fill that role, and it is not the right time for me to commit myself wholly to the City at the expense of my family, particularly my young children…

Yesterday, Mayor Villaraigosa made formal his bid for re-election. Today, he’s in Chicago, meeting with President-elect Barack Obama as a member of Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board — a group described as “experts on the economy” and whose members include Warren Buffett and several former Treasury Secretaries.

Memo to Mr. Obama.

Right or wrong, the LA Times is again at the center of a storm in the final days of a big election; this time, for what the paper won’t publish. Politico blogger Ben Smith is right: the Times’ explanation for not releasing the Obama/Khalidi video is a hard one to argue with, but that doesn’t make the explanation any more plausible.