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On Monday morning, Mayor Hahn packed the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on Washington Boulevard with his mother and sister, friends, supporters and department heads to hear the annual State of the City speech. His message came down to this: things are good, and getting better, so keep me around. He reveled in police stats in the morning LAT showing violent crime way down so far this year (rain is apparently a factor), and he earned one bona-fide standing O when he said, "I pledged to you I would make Los Angeles a safer city, and that is exactly what we've done."
When the press release from the mayor's office sent the media to the wrong address miles away, and a microphone crapped out on the Crenshaw High Elite Choir, some reporters wondered if this would be a repeat of last year's logistical debacle in Sherman Oaks. But it went smoothly. Hahn announced some new spending increases (and re-announced old ones, like the $100,000 for neighborhood councils to spend on street repairs.) Afterward, Councilman Jack Weiss stood in as designated hitter for Antonio Villaraigosa and called the mayor's speech "surprisingly devoid of specific solutions." Tuesday Stories: Times, Daily News, AP, Text of speech.
Also in the campaign: Times editorial writers are dismayed at what they saw from Villaraigosa in Sunday's debate. An editorial titled "Antonio, Come Home" says:
"In a stunning mix-up, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, rivals in the May 17 mayoral runoff, appear to have swapped personalities...What is disappointing is not Villaraigosa's outspokenness in his own defense but his seeming unwillingness to inspire and energize voters. Villaraigosa on Sunday not only stammered his lines, he repeated them over and over, so determined to stay "on message" that his message is out-blanding Hahn."
The Villaraigosa campaign, meanwhile, had Valley homeowner leader Gordon Murley demand that Hahn release his appointment schedule. Villaraigosa already released his, and he made Hahn's refusal a debate bullet point...Villaraigosa also had an endorsement event with a score of Jewish leaders, among them ex-Councilman Marvin Braude, former Tom Bradley deputy Maury Weiner and Donna Bojarsky, vice-chair of the county Human Relations Commission. Today, Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas and former secession leader Richard Katz sign on...Controller Laura Chick has called for public input on the performance of the Dept. of Building and Safety, which faces her audit gaze next.