“It’s a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit there.” —Will Rogers
President-elect Barack Obama is still deciding, but Transition Team member, Mayor Villaraigosa, candidate for mayor, is pro-Israel all the way, baby:
No country would sit silently while innocent families are threatened and civilian lives are at risk. … Israel is no different. It must act against the Hamas leaders targeting the innocent. And it must be allowed to exercise its right and responsibility to defend itself.
Polls close March 3, 2009 at 8 PM.
Read this Curbed item. UCLA urban planning professor, Donald Shoup says expensive parking meters are good policy because the revenues are spent improving the immediate vicinity, citing Old Town Pasadena as a case study.
The suggestion that LA’s additional meter revenue will be spent in this way is false and misleading. Mayor Villaraigosa and City Council increased spending by 32% since 2005, mostly on salaries and new-hires … an increase that outpaced the largest revenue increases in LA history. Resulting is the $400+ million budget shortfall we’re saddled with today. LA’s parking meter scheme was devised specifically to help close the budget gap, i.e, pay for existing spending, not improve anything.
I don’t expect Curbed writer Dakota to catch this, but KPCC host David Lazarus knows better … or should.
More than once, Ron Kaye has called for an iron-fisted mayor … the theory being that such a figure would smash through roadblocks and get things done. I’ve long held the opposite view — that we’re much better off with weak mayors, even if this means we “get less done.” I think Kaye’s post today re: the hot-topic solar boondoggle bolsters my argument:
Back room deals, critical reports kept secret, basic processes violated, insiders get the money, the public be damned — that’s what City Controller Laura Chick sees in the mayor and City Council’s mad rush to put the largest solar energy plan in U.S. history on the ballot in just three weeks.
Controller Chick says the whole thing smacks of “Chicago-style politics.” Of course, there is no stronger mayor than Chicago’s Daley. … and, yes, he gets things done, whether you like it or not. It’s no coincidence that Mayor Villaraigosa looks to him for inspiration.
On days like these, I’m thankful that Bernie Parks didn’t make the Big Leagues. When it comes to city budget battles, he’s the only councilmember with the cojones to call BS on Villaraigosa and Bratton. … And, boy, is the Chief ever full of it today. DN:
[Bratton] noted that voters this year approved a hike in the city’s trash fee to pay for more police officers. The mayor hopes to add 1,000 officers to bring the total force to more than 10,000.
“It’s unfortunate there are those who would blame the city deficit on the hiring of police officers,” Bratton said. “For them to renege on the city’s promise to hire more police officers … I will be happy to remind the voters of that.”
While he reminds you of that, here’s a reminder of what the trash tax was actually spent on.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a longtime friend of the Nuñez family, said he was convinced of Esteban Nuñez’s innocence. “He’s a great kid,” Villaraigosa said. “I’ve known him since he was a little boy. He’s a great kid, a good boy.”
Convinced? Someone get this guy out of town. His stock is plummeting.
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.
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.
A new book is out detailing the “inner workings, secret meetings, and elaborate murder plots” that make up the Mexican Mafia’s daily routine, written in cooperation with Rene Enriquez, an Eme boss-turned-informant.
The Black Hand, by Chris Blatchford
Wally Fay—editor of In The Hat, and author of his own book on the subject—says this one is required reading for policymakers:
The people who should be forced to read this book, or have it read to them while jetting around the country or riding in the back of chaufered limos are the politicians and policy makers. Policy decisions and laws cannot and should not be made based on information filtered through staff panels, social scientists, mis-informed or biased “advocates, ” or groups who have a financial interest in the outcome of policies.
Enriquez holds “prisoner rights” advocates directly responsible for the organization’s growing muscle and warns that while the feds have made steady progress in the streets, local pols and law enforcers are out to lunch. For a major eye-opener, listen to the interview below in its entirety.
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Steve Hymon blogs about the Mayor’s media event marking the one-millionth pothole filled during his administration, and asks:
I’m curious what readers think. Does it feel like 1 million potholes have been filled in L.A. since summer July 2005? Or do you believe the roads in Baghdad may be better?
Steve has obviously never toured America’s other major cities by motorcar.
In particular, Chicago’s potholes better resemble craters, and will eat your car. LA’s roads, by contrast, are impressively well-maintained for a big city—with the exception of Wilshire Boulevard, which has noticeably deteriorated in recent years.
Steve, take it from a driver who loves driving; it was the first thing I noticed when I moved here (incidentally, the second thing I noticed was how clean the streets and sidewalks were).
If you want to talk Baghdad, let’s talk DWP.
Mayoral candidate Walter Moore has raised $150,000, the threshold he needed to qualify for matching funds and a seat at the debates. Mayor Villaraigosa, who has already raised over $1 million, must now decide if it’s worth risking a debate with Moore in order to receive another million in matching funds. You can bet his advisors are cautioning against it.
