Times dings Nu�ez

The top editorial in today's Times sets its sights on that $35,000 a year that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nu�ez gets paid by his friends in Los Angeles' labor movement (see Campaign Monday below). The criticism begins with a recitation of Nu�ez's entry into politics via labor and winning the speakership in part due to his ability to raise a lot of campaign money from unions.

There's nothing wrong with that.

That history, however, has led him to something that is clearly wrong, even if it is technically legal. He's being paid $35,000 a year, personally, not as a campaign contribution, by a nonprofit arm of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which is led by Nu�ez's old pal, Miguel Contreras.

The Assembly speaker is, even under term limits, the most powerful force in the Legislature (along with the Senate leader). It doesn't pass the laugh test that Nu�ez is merely consulting on effective methods of voter registration.

Also in the LAT: On the op-ed page, a piece by author Mona Gable bemoans her son's experience in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the family's attempts to get into private schools. Gable's husband is Joel Sappell, the editor in charge of the Hollywood beat in the LAT business section, and a candidate to be named Business Editor.