Jan Perry to appear Thursday with Garcetti

It looks as if this is the day that City Councilwoman Jan Perry endorses Eric Garcetti for mayor. They have called a joint media op for 11 a.m. "to discuss the LA mayor's race" at the 28th Street YMCA. It's an auspicious time for Garcetti to roll out Perry, if as I expect that's what happens. First, Garcetti hasn't been heard from much lately. Rival Wendy Greuel has scored clean hits with the recent endorsements of former President Bill Clinton and county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Both of those endorsements should help Greuel especially with black voters, and Perry — who represents some of South LA and downtown and who is black — gives Garcetti an effective response. Perry finished fourth in the mayoral primary with 16 percent of the vote, and while that's only 58,000 votes, she appealed both to black voters and to fiscally skeptical voters of all races who weren't wowed by Greuel or Garcetti as fixers of the city's ailments. Having her on Team Garcetti helps him defend against charges that he will be soft on fiscal belt-tightening. On the other hand, Greuel also recently added ex-mayor Richard Riordan, who is seen by many as a voice of reform on City Hall pensions.