A few days ago, I found this article summing up some of Mayor Villaraigosa’s accomplishments and shortcomings in the past year. I think that this quote from David Diaz, an urban policy professor at Cal State LA captures Villaraigosa’s recent actions and/or inactions quite well:
“He hasn’t really had a singular achievement. Even though he campaigned for Obama, I think most people will remember he was for Hillary. And she lost. He isn’t really dealing with the city’s fiscal crisis. I will give him that no one envisioned the economic problems we have and that has made it difficult to be proactive.”
The article then goes on to mention that Mayor Villaraigosa has met his goal of filling one million potholes and is on target to hire 1,000 more police officers. Filling potholes is great, but I don’t think that Los Angeles necessarily needs more cops. I wonder what kind of relationship Villaraigosa has forged with the police officers union to warrant promising more for law enforcement. I would rather there be more teachers than cops, but law and order and appealing to people’s fear always seems to win points with the masses. I do want to note that I did find this information in the LA Weekly regarding a trash collection fee that Villaraigosa pitched to the public to fund 1,000 additional police officers:
“In May 2006, the City Council announced a trash-collection fee that Villaraigosa sold to residents by publicly promising it would go to hiring 1,000 new cops. In concert with that, the City Council has boosted the trash fee 330 percent, from $11 to $36.32.
The fee hike goes far beyond the actual cost of collecting and dumping trash. By this fall, it had generated a $137 million mountain of cash. But Villaraigosa’s vow that the excess funds would go to hiring cops proved untrue. An audit by city Controller Laura Chick has shown that Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton spent only $47.2 million hiring new officers. Much of the rest went to raises and perks for the powerful police union.”
There is still much speculation if Mayor Villaraigosa will run for Governor in 2010, but I think that he definitely has his work cut out for him in Los Angeles before setting his sights upon statewide office. Jerry Brown, Gavin Newson, and John Garamendi would all make formidable candidates. One thing that strikes me about Mayor Villaraigosa is that he has always lived off the public dime to a certain extent, coming from the unions to the California State Assembly to Los Angeles City Hall. He has never had to run a business in the private sector and has never taken on a client as a lawyer (which he is trained to do, but is unlicensed since he failed the state bar four times), so it looks like he’s going to be a lifer in public service. And all parties and ethnic groups have their career politicians and public servants, but it certainly disconnects Villaraigosa from the struggles that his constituents face in dealing with the private sector on a daily basis.
40 responses so far ↓
1 Michaelr // Dec 28, 2008 at 12:33 pm
More documented proof that Antonio Villaraigosa is way over his head in his attempts to manage the City of Los Angeles. He neither has the brains, the political fortitude, nor the common sense to accept the reality that the campaign promises that carried him into office are still unfilled. Villaraigosa, like Loretta Sanchez, and Fabian Nunez continue to enflame that negative Latino politician stereotype that flaunts the whole entitled above the law persona. Do they even understand what the phrase “Public Servant” means? Or have they distorted it with delusions of aristocracy?
2 political // Dec 28, 2008 at 3:22 pm
nice blog – how do we learn more about you? thanks for keeping up and keeping current. from http://www.politicalfortunes.wordpress.com
3 Sandogg // Dec 28, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Very good LA Weekly article documenting Villaraigosa’s media whoring antics: http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor/
4 DfD // Dec 28, 2008 at 10:14 pm
The 11% mayor?
5 politicalfortune // Dec 28, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Amigos – Villaraigosa is awesome. That LA Weekly article is whacked – listen, even if it is true – thank God you guys have a Mayor who is out promoting himself and L.A. People think of L.A. when they hear and see Villaraigosa. Also, read the 4 hour work week dudes – Antonio is super efficient and having a great time governing a great city. WHy does he need to work 80 hours when he has great people running the show??
6 DfD // Dec 29, 2008 at 8:18 am
Absolutely, never mind about those 7400 rape kits that were not processed. Those women weren’t important anyway, right?
7 Gustavo Arellano // Dec 29, 2008 at 11:37 am
On a separate note, congrats on getting a mention in the NY Times!
8 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Those kits go back over 30 years, long before Villaraigosa arrived. They’re being processed now, which is more than any of his predecessors ever did with them.
As for the Mayor, he can only do so much with this budget crisis.
Half the city is poor and uneducated, and a big chunk are here illegally. He is correctly putting pressure on the federal government to solve the immigration/NAFTA crisis, and he is trying to reform the schools despite much resistance from people who profit from the staus quo, such as the prison industry.
Frankly, I don’t think LAUSD will really ever change. It needs to be dismantled and in it’s place they need to create smaller districts that don’t have so much overhead. That money should be spent on hiring outstanding teachers, not wasted on administrators.
I’m going to get in trouble for this, but people need to change their culture, and their belief system and
no politician can do it for them.
For instance, I read an AP article this weekend about efforts by the Boy Scouts to recruit more Latino children. Sounds like a good way for them to learn some skills and to gain independence. Right? Hold on.
Some fool from Arizona State quoted in the article says that if the Boy Scouts recruit Latinos they will have to abandon the emphasis on individual achievement and instead have carne asada days in the park with the family.
Yeah, because children
learn so many skills sitting around in the park all day eating meat. I guess if you have on a Boy Scout uniform it’s different. lol
This is the mentality I’m talking about. This “professor” for whatever reason is opposed to Latinos developing a culture of individualism and competition. Even the Boy Scouts is too threatening for him.
People need to try new things and to be exposed to different kinds of people. There are only two kinds of cultures: successful ones and unsuccessful ones. That’s the case regardless of race/ethnicity.
9 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Did this website get mentioned in the NY Times. That’s what non-stop Latino bashing gets you. Saves them from having to do it themselves.
10 DfD // Dec 29, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Ooooooops! Anna is either wrong or lying again…
http://www.lacity.org/ctr/audits/DNA_FinalReport_102008.pdf
What a shill…..
Hey Anna, what are ya doin’ this weekend?
11 DfD // Dec 29, 2008 at 1:00 pm
That little putz, Tony V., intentionally disreguards those rape kits. How does he look at the women in his life with a straight face?
12 Michaelr // Dec 29, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Anna: Thanks again for sharing with us more of your brain farts. And we should commend our Latino politicians for selling their public offices, and generating as little legislation as possible? It doesn’t benefit Latino culture to have politicians who are only committed to enriching themselves. That’s not public service. That’s self-service. I guess you enjoy paying 30% of your net income so people like Antonio Villaraigosa, Fabian Nunez, Loretta Sanchez and Xavier Becerra can generate public theft and circumvent laws to put felons back on the streets amongst other things. Santa Ana is already beginning to resemble Tijuana. Is that what you want Los Angeles to resemble? You want to stop at a traffic light and worry about being carjacked?
13 DfD // Dec 29, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Would that be a successful cultural norm?
14 Sandogg // Dec 29, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Anna is funny!
15 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Michaelr:
I hate to break this to you, but you’re blaming local politicians for problems over which they have no control. If Santa Ana is beginning to resemble Tijuana (and I have only your word ) maybe it’s because you have thousands (millions?) of illegal immigrants there who are relegated to lives of menial labor. You can move all the companies in the world into those districts and you will still have poor illegal immigrants who are barred from working in them. And that creates poverty and crime.
That issue has to be solved by the federal government, and no matter what they do (probably nothing) somebody will complain. Do you want to deport all of them? If not, what do you think people will say if they legalize all of them in this bad economy when jobs are so scarce? Newsflash: Obama is not going to touch this in his first term, if at all.
As for the rest of your post and the lies and the Latino bashing, get lost. None of these elected officials have ever been charged with ethics violations or anything else. They aren’t Ted Stevens, or the Illinois Governor. The people in their districts reelect them every two years. If you don’t like your Congressman, then help elect a new one. Or move.
As for crime–the crime level is down in Los Angeles. But don’t let the facts get in the way of your rant.
16 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Sandogg:
The LA Weekly criticized Hahn for not being a more high profile Mayor. Now they’re criticizing Villaraigosa for being too visible.
This is racist. The LA Media ignore Mexican-Americans, except to report something negative. They prefer Mexican-Americans to be invisible, silently mowing lawns and picking fruit, or some criminal locked up in jail.
Mexican-Americans, especially those from East LA, aren’t supposed to be Mayor. The LA Weekly’s whole attitude towards Villaraigosa is one of Who Does He Think He Is? Steve “I’m Spanish” Lopez of the LA Times takes that attitude as well.
You need to read between the lines.
Nobody says anything when Mayor Bloomberg or Mayor Gavin Newsom are on TV everyday, and Villaraigosa is not nearly as visible as they are.
17 webmaster // Dec 29, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Anna,
Mayor Bloomberg works in a cubicle. Can you ever imagine Villar working a cubicle? And Bloomberg has brought real results to NYC.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050277,00.html
Read the short Time article and tell me if you think that Villaraigosa has been as efficient.
I don’t care if Mayor Villaraigosa was from East LA, Echo Park, MacArthur Park, Brentwood, the westside or Watts for that matter… what I do care about is producing some results. It looks like it was a Latino professor at CSULA who offered the damning assessment in this original blog post.
18 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Webmaster: The corporate media convince me of nothing. They want people in office who will cater to their needs. They bash elected officials who sympathize with working people, and who favor increased corporate regulation.
Wall Street just suffered a huge collpase, and NYC’s economy is reeling.
Yet I’m supposed to believe that Bloomberg, a billionaire Wall St. mayor who is trying to change the city’s laws so that he can serve a third term, has brought good results to NYC just because Time Magazine says so.
Give me a break.
19 Michaelr // Dec 29, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Obviously Anna, we can’t give you a break. Especially since you’ve never sat in Villaraigosa’s office and listen to him talk off the cuff while he expresses the mind-boggling job he evades doing everyday. But you’re entitled to your illusions. If you can’t imagine the roles local politicians play in the lawlessness that reeks through the various Los Angeles communities, then you have a very limited comprehension of how local government functions, and how deep that reach extends too. Again, you’re entitled to your perception of the world and how it rolls about. Competence is color-blind. Gloria Molina would be five times the Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is. Not only is she 20 times smarter than him, but she isn’t as easily sold to those who feast on public money. Villaraigosa has never met a commercial developer he didn’t like, and vice versa. But that’s just one of his public vices. You apparently suffer from an abject sense of denial. However, that’s okay…at least you can write, which is a lot more than some of the people leaving comments on this blog.
20 political // Dec 29, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Yo amigos – image is everything. In Sactown and around the U.S, the Mayor is seen as smart, gregarious, building L.A, hip like Obama – he’s a political wizard making things look easy. He draws good feelings to LA yo – you should be proud! And he has excellent people running the joint. He ain’t Pepsi which taste better – but he’s Coke (which is marketed a million times betters)
21 Johnny Dilznik // Dec 29, 2008 at 9:38 pm
And the fact that he is marketed well will mean that working latinos will continue to remain unrepresented and in the place they find themselves today. This guy does nothing for the common man.
22 YolandaR // Dec 29, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Political– stop smoking crack before you write your LA Mayor comments. Mayor V is as smart and hip as the Obama the Magic Negro CD sent to Republicans!
23 Michaelr // Dec 29, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Comparing Antonio Villaraigosa to Barack Obama is sacrilegious. Obama is an idealist with backbone and intelligence. Villaraigosa is a five minute memory flimflam man without the work ethic or conscience. Political may write stupid commentary, but he managed to spell Political correctly. So let’s give him that.
24 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Re: “Especially since you’ve never sat in Villaraigosa’s office and listen to him talk off the cuff …”
Neither have you.
25 Anna // Dec 29, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Re: ” Obama is an idealist with backbone and intelligence.”
Backbone? That remains to be seen. At some point he will have to take a stand on something. What will he do then?
26 Michaelr // Dec 29, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I’ve engaged with him a lot more than just listening to him talk. Even though you talk out of the side of your mouth, I am sure you have enough brains that if you were to spend ten minutes in his office conversing face to face, you’d be very disappointed.
27 political // Dec 29, 2008 at 11:46 pm
yo Mike – can you get me 20 minutes with the big V? I got some politics to discuss if you know what I’m saying. The Big V is a lawyer yo, dated Mirtha (he has big time taste!!), travels internationally, speaks Spanish, campaigned with Obama, drinks Diet Coke and knows how to salsa. and dress. Man, you guys got it good in LA.
28 Sandogg // Dec 30, 2008 at 9:58 am
The “Big V” went to an unaccredited law school and never passed the bar He gave up after four attempts. I don’t think even he would call himself a lawyer.
29 Michaelr // Dec 30, 2008 at 11:53 am
Actually the Big V is not very big…5’ 5” at the most. And yo, he is not a licensed lawyer. Dating Mirthala didn’t acquire the Big V any big time taste, especially since he officially played sloppy thirds to Fabian Nunez and Alex Padilla. He does travel internationally on the Angeleno’s dime, and he does speak Spanglish with a real guttural edge when he gets angry. He campaigned with Hillary Clinton, and when it was evitable she was going to lose the Democratic nomination, the Big V shamelessly shifted camps. Yes, he loves to spend public money on himself. Before we get into more reflections on the character of this man, who is your Mayor? Maybe we’d like to make a trade.
30 wendy carrillo // Dec 30, 2008 at 12:07 pm
congrats on the NY Times mention! That’s great! It’s interesting to read about Mirthala regarding this post. I mean, yeah, the woman got around and she seemed to have a weakness for men with titles… and while i dont agree with her conduct, i do still believe there is a double standard on women and sexuality. with that said, i think what the Mayor did was terrible. his affairs tagged him with the name Latin Lover. Surely we have come farther than that in Latino Politics. Again, there is so much that we dont know, but what is aired is often dirty.
Gavin Newsome is going to give Mayor V a run for his money that’s for sure.
31 wendy carrillo // Dec 30, 2008 at 12:09 pm
btw, if Councilman Eric Garcetti ever runs for Mayor of Los Angeles…it’s going to get interesting!
32 Anna // Dec 30, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Re: “He campaigned with Hillary Clinton, and when it was evitable she was going to lose the Democratic nomination, the Big V shamelessly shifted camps.”
You mean like every other Democrat?
33 DfD // Jan 1, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Great article on media bias in Tony Villar’s L.A. Times…
http://patterico.com/2008/12/31/patterico%E2%80%99s-los-angeles-dog-trainer-year-in-review-2008/
34 DfD // Jan 2, 2009 at 11:04 am
This will be one of Whorehay Boooooosh and Tony Villar’s legacy issues…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PUBLIC_HOUSING_IMMIGRANTS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
35 Anna // Jan 2, 2009 at 6:42 pm
His legacy is just fine. It’s not like he presided over the 1992 LA Riots, the biggest riot in US History.
36 Anna // Jan 2, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Re: “Gavin Newsome is going to give Mayor V a run for his money that’s for sure.”
Newsom had an affair too.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1585094,00.html
The Scandal of San Francisco
By Laura Locke / San Francisco Friday, Feb. 02, 2007
Mayor Gavin Newsom recently admitted to an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his re-election campaign manager Alex Tourk who resigned on January 31 after learning of the affair
37 Michaelr // Jan 3, 2009 at 10:59 pm
However, Gavin Newsom is a genuine capitalist, a former restaurateur (PlumpJack Wine Shops) who sold his business interests when he entered municipal politics. Antonio Villaraigosa is a career politician, and is virtually clueless when it comes to the needed entrepreneurial skills to manage any large enterprise, and how they apply to the organizational management structure needed to run a large city. Villaraigosa hasn’t accomplished anything of public value as Mayor, nor has he followed up on his political promises to make changes to the LAUSD. On the other hand, Gavin Newsom has provided universal health care for all citizens of San Francisco, committed the city of San Francisco to the Kyoto Protocol, and succeeded in officially approving Gay Marriage within the city limits of San Francisco. All Villaraigosa has done is travel on the Angeleno’s dime, drive the city of Los Angeles into debt, and continue engaging in unethical backdoor behavior involving pursued clemency for felons, notably Carlos Vignali Jr., George Torres, and a whole group of lowlife street businessmen who have actively contributed to his campaign. Accomplishment says a lot about the ability to push forward different agendas to elevate the public good. Newsom has done that in a very short time. Villaraigosa is extremely unaccomplished in that area.
38 theKaiser // Jan 4, 2009 at 3:47 am
Villaraigosa is still the 11% Mayor. This is the only mayor of a major U.S. city who doesn’t hold policy meetings, or even seeks to redefine city government. I’m still looking for various groupings of those one million trees, and some evidence that Los Angeles is becoming the greenest city in the United States. I won’t even start on the LAUSD saga. However, it does seem that all the self promotional hot air generated by the Mayor’s office has continued to inflate that fat head of his with lowering the IQ level of his cerebral functions. Does he really believe no one is noticing this? This is one reason network and local news telecasts have such little creditably with the public.
39 BECCA // Jan 9, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Welfare for illegal Immigrants in L.A. County
costs millions per month. Is this fair? What is
Villaraigo doing about it??
40 End up week update: Villaraigosa for Senate?, Joe Baca and Tiger Woods, + More! // Dec 10, 2009 at 10:26 pm
[...] in Los Angeles to be taken seriously. As the LA Weekly has pointed out, he has been rather mediocre as mayor, and of course, he has proven to be more interested in globe trotting and photo ops than [...]
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