Results tagged “mayor”

This morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he will tap Deputy Chief Charlie Beck as the newest head of the LAPD. While we all wish him luck, we are simply dumbstruck by the uncanny and positively eerie resemblance to Mr. Magnum, P.I. himself. Coincidence or underhanded push to increase film production in Los Angeles?

Chatsworth is Los Angeles. San Fernando is not. Hollywood is Los Angeles. West Hollywood is Not. Venice is Los Angeles. Marina del Rey is not. Studio City is Los Angeles. Culver City is not. Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered decided to inform listeners about their NPR West studio's location, interviewing the very proud Andrew Weissman, mayor of Culver City

Mayor Villaraigosa walked the red carpet at the 2009 Primetime Emmys on Sunday and voiced his support for the celebration and the importance of the industry to the economy of the region.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may be out of town until the end of the week, but his office is still working to keep the finances of the City under control. One unexpected expense this week: The estimated $4 Million cost of hosting the public memorial service for the late King of Pop Michael Jackson. Although City Councilmember Jan Perry, acting in her capacity as Mayor pro tem, went public with a plea for donations, much like the manner in which the costly Lakers Championship parade and rally was funded, no major donors, including the Jackson family or Staples Center owner AEG have come forward with funds.

A new fiscal year means a new Metro Board chair at the helms of L.A. County public transportation. Meet Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian, who has served the city since 2005 and once as the rotating Mayor from 2007 to 2008. “As the new Board Chair, I look forward to providing the leadership necessary to enhance transportation options throughout the region,” Najarian said in a statement. “This next year will be both challenging and rewarding as we move the agency through difficult financial times while at the same time, begin implementing transportation improvement projects voted by the public with the passage of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax initiative.” Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA notes that Najarian could be a plus for the pedestrian and bicycle communities.

Los Angeles' "photo-op" Mayor has spent the past few weeks with the word 'FAILURE' hanging over him, so to speak, thanks to Los Angeles Magazine's recent cover story on Villaraigosa's approaching second term in office. Now it seems that the bulk of his Partnership schools within the LAUSD have also given the Mayor an 'F' in the form of a "thumbs down from teachers," according to the LA Times, adding:

Eight out of 10 schools delivered a "no confidence" vote, and we're talking landslides (84 to 17 at Santee Education Complex, 96 to 13 at Stevenson Middle School, 70 to 13 at Gompers Middle School, 61 to 8 at Markham Middle School and 184 to 15 at Roosevelt High, which the mayor himself once attended).

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will release his proposed budget later this morning promising to to close the $530 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year (July '09 through June '10) all while continuing to build the LAPD and preventing layoffs--up to 2,800 by his estimates--by asking employees to share the sacrifice.

Former Daily News Editor turned grassroots activist Ron Kaye last week took an in-depth look at the preliminary election results district by district. He came to some interesting conclusions and one thing that surprised us most was that five of the fifteen council districts--in the Valley and on the Westside--hold nearly half of the city's voting population:

If LA was just the Northwest Valley (you know, the 12th district neighborhoods (PDF map) including Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, Northridge and Granada Hills) Mayor Villaraigosa would have lost the primary election to runner up candidate Walter Moore, found the LA Times in an analysis of preliminary election results. Villaraigosa won the election outright after getting just 55% of the vote. With 5% less, he would have been in a runoff with Moore. Despite that, he told CNN the he "won overwhelmingly."

Just short of four months from the last election day, tomorrow Los Angeles will vote. Traditionally, the March election is not exactly a well attended one, but tomorrow we vote for Mayor, half of the City Council districts, City Attorney and Controller, some LAUSD and Community College seats and a five ballot propositions. Who and what are we voting on? Here are some recommended ballot guides.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is packing this weekend full of man-about-town stops where he can meet the people and pose for photos all in prep for Tuesday's municipal election, when he hopes the voters will put him into office for a second term.

Incumbent Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa wouldn't take Steve Lopez up on the offer of comparing french dip sandwiches along with his challengers a few days ago, but according to his Twitter feed, he's happy to shake a few hands with voters at another famous LA meat sandwich shop: Langer's Deli. Villaraigosa is kissing babies and finding photo ops as part of a very busy weekend campaign bus tour of the city. Already today he has "rallied the troops in support of the solar plan Measure B" and "open[ed] a Fire Station in the Pico Union area." His campaign blog lists many such visits today and tomorrow (although the midday ones are absent from today's agenda) and includes an awful lot of greeting, and a lot of potential meat-eating. His late-night nosh stops include Canter's Deli at 10 pm and Pink's Hot Dogs at 11.

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez had what he thought was an ingenious way to gather the candidates City of Los Angeles voters have to choose from in Tuesday's Mayoral election. His plan was to get them together to chat and to determine "who makes the best French dip sandwich in Los Angeles, Phillipe the Original or Cole's?" he explains in his column this weekend.

"There is no strategic plan or vision which could result in an ineffective use of resources over the long-term," City Controller Laura Chick wrote in her summary findings released today (.pdf) on the city's strategy for fighting gang violence. A year ago she recommended (.pdf) that there be "a single point of accountability... a centralized, empowered entity--directly under the Mayor--" to oversee the millions of dollars being spent. But "a majority of these dollars are still strewn throughout City departments," which means there's "a risk that the City will continue to have disjointed programs resulting in duplicated services and an inefficient process," she wrote.

With just over a week to go before the City of Los Angeles takes to the polls to elect--or re-elect--a Mayor, candidates for the job have been participating in public forums to get their platforms and pot-shots out. Yesterday, five of the nine candidates gathered in Tujunga at an event moderated by the Daily News' Ron Kaye; one of those five was decidedly not incumbent Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

"The American people are watching," Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House today, saying he would call them out if the public's money went to waste.

Last week, LA Times columnist Steve Lopez asked readers if they wanted to see incumbent Mayor Villaraigosa debate his top challenger, Walter Moore, and he reveals today that a resounding 97% say yes.

We've spent much of the past few weeks reviewing the year that was, in music, movies, TV, food, and more. We've talked New Year's resolutions but now's the time to get real: What is really gonna go down over the next 12 months? Below are some of our early predictions -- what are yours? MTA installs turnstiles at all Metro subway stations, securing millions of dollars of unrealized revenue from erstwhile freeloaders. Construction begins on...

Mayor Villaraigosa said he and President-Elect Barack Obama had a "conversation" in mid-November about joining the administration, but said he wanted to stay in Los Angeles and focus on his reelection campaign and other city issues. "I'm honored and flattered to have been considered for an appointment in the Obama administration," Villaraigosa told The LA Times. "I made it clear I love what I do. And I feel that at this moment in my life, this is the job in which I can best serve my city and country." It has been widely speculated that Villaraigosa will run for Governor, but he denies that rumor as well.

Following remarks made by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just before 10 o'clock this morning, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke at a press conference held at Hansen Dam regarding the Sayre Fire.

In a press conference held at 8:00 this morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the continuing concerns for the City of Los Angeles created by the Sayre Fire, which is being battled by a "unified command" of the LA Fire Department, the LA County Fire Department, the US Forestry Service, and the LAPD.

Saturday at noon marked the deadline for hopeful candidates to take out filing papers for the March 3rd local election for multiple local offices from City Council to School Board, including the Mayor's. Those hoping to run have "until Dec. 3 to return their nominating petitions and qualifying signatures of eligible Los Angeles voters," explains the LA Times' Opinion LA blog.

On Friday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa flew to Chicago to serve on President-Elect Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board. With the likes of Warren Buffet and Paul Volcker as fellow board members, how does the mayor of a city that is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt get asked to such a committee? Add to that, he co-chaired Democratic Presidential contender Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Following the Presidential Elections is another election in March. It won't draw as many people to the polls, but there will be some contested battles for city positions such as City Controller and the seat for Council District 5 (for those in West LA, parts of Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Encino). And while Mayor Villaraigosa has a stronghold when it comes to campaign fundraising, there are a group of other not-so-well funded residents vying for the position.

       

West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang chimed in on LAist's Sarah Palin effigy post yesterday. Like 99.9999% of everyone else, he's not cool with it.

Grove and Americana developer Rick Caruso is running for Mayor. No wait, he is not running for Mayor, but he is, oh no he isn't... and so the broken record goes. Today the LA Weekly takes a look at Rick Caruso, his background, his developments and his political aspirations. Some worry as mayor he would turn the city into one big Disneyland-like development with Cheesecake Factories everywhere, but the Weekly looks at the closer into the man who has influenced a lot of what Los Angeles is today. Here's a little from the large profile:

"We need to redouble our efforts now to match the flood of money raised by supporters of Prop 8," Villaraigosa said in a statement announcing his $25,000 donation to defeat Proposition 8, which seeks to eliminate gay marriage in California. Although Villaraigosa has not officially said so, Top of the Ticket on the LA Times hints towards his higher aspirations that have been long rumored: "Villaraigosa is seriously toying with the idea of running for governor in 2010."

Water Moore, who is up against Antonio Villaraigosa for Mayor in the March 3 election has made a big announcement today. He says he's raised over $150,000 which qualifies him for the city's Public Matching Funds Program that begins in November. As of June 30, Moore had raised $113,734.90, still significantly less than Mayor Villaraigosa who claimed $1.6 million in contributions. The latest numbers will be posted after October 10, which marks the end of the current filing period.

Not only will there tens of thousands of volunteers participating in Heal The Bay's Coastal Cleanup Day tomorrow morning, but thousands more will be tree planting, painting our graffiti, taking a workshop and picking up trash at 40 or so sites around South LA for the Mayor's Day of Service.