Morning Buzz: Monday 4.29.13 *

Of the $17.5 million raised so far in the mayoral race, $6.1 million has gone to so-called independent committees and this is not subject to donation limits. "This is not the system that the reformers envisioned," said Benjamin Bycel, executive director of the city's Ethics Commission in the 1990s. LAT

The Times editorial page again endorses Eric Garcetti for mayor, but tepidly. LAT editorial

Cast aside the campaigns and look closely at their records, and both candidates emerge as earnest, ambitious and talented politicians, each of whom has made some good moves and some bad ones over the course of their careers, each of whom could have done a better job crafting city policy and safeguarding city resources.

But Greuel disappointed as city controller. It's not that she didn't do her job; she did, performing audits, unmasking some problems on her own, responding to others as they emerged, offering appropriately conservative estimates of revenue and careful critiques of spending....But she didn't earn a promotion.

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Neither candidate is ready, but Greuel seems like a completed project that falls short of what's needed, while Garcetti comes off as a creative work in progress with potential to meet the challenge. That makes the choice easy. It's Garcetti.

Greuel and Garcetti take different approaches to mixing family and politics. She often includes her son Thomas, 9, while Garcetti "has shied away from speaking extensively about his adopted 16-month-old daughter Maya." DN

The candidates debate Monday evening at Sinai Temple in Westwood [* fixed.] Jim Newton of the LA Times and Jill Stewart of the LA Weekly are the panelists, with Frank Stoltze of KPCC the moderator.

Magic Johnson, Norman Lear and others in Hollywood are co-hosting a Greuel fundraiser March 6 at the House of Blues. THR

On Sunday's "News Conference" on NBC 4, city attorney candidates Carmen Trutanich and Mike Feuer debated.

Since 1980, Los Angeles has added 1 million residents but lost 165,000 net jobs. What are the candidates' plans for LAX, the port, the convention center and city-owned real estate? Op-ed, Jim Newton column

In the 13th council district runoff race, things get complicated in Little Armenia. LAT

Rick Orlov's Monday Tipoff column. DN

Since the LAPD said it would review Christopher Dorner's firing, 40 dismissed cops who did not turn into homicidal maniacs have asked for their cases to be reviewed too. LAT

New York Times LA bureau trend story alert: the long-known transformation of San Marino from John Birch Society turf to majority Asian "illustrates a drastic shift in California immigration trends over the last decade, one that can easily be seen all over the area: more than twice as many immigrants to the nation’s most populous state now come from Asia than from Latin America." NYT

LA Times columnist Sandy Banks writes that "I couldn't have imagined saying this a few years ago, but I wish Antonio Villaraigosa could run again for mayor of Los Angeles." LAT

NBC 4 plans a piece by Lolita Lopez tonight at 11 p.m. looking at how police train for high-speed pursuits. NBC 4

Dagoberto Gilb discusses his new literary magazine, Huizache, with Hector Tobar. Jacket Copy

The New York Times is rethinking the use of blogs on its website and has already killed Media Decoder, in favor of running posts as articles on the Media page. NYT, Capital NY, New Republic

The Orange County Register is looking for a community engagement editor. "Yes, it is sunny all the time here," says editor Michelle Nicolosi. Twitter

Kajon Cermak, the traffic reporter on KCRW, took to Twitter to celebrate a magic LA driving moment last week: "That was great! Every traffic light from Malibu to Santa Monica green all the way woo hoo!"

Very short book excerpt: "A Thousand Years of Sex Talk in Arab Culture—in 1 Paragraph." Atlantic

Andrea Gjestvang of Norway won the top prize in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. All winners, In Focus

Mary Thom, a former editor in chief of Ms magazine, died in a motorcycle accident in Yonkers, NY. NYT

President Obama visits Mexico this week "amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels." LAT

The trial in the Jackson family's wrongful death lawsuit against Anschutz Entertainment Group is set to begin Monday. LAT

Hundreds of items owned by Bob and Dolores Hope will go on sale for charity next weekend at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood. DN

Dave Gold, the entrepreneur behind the "99 Cents Only" stores, died at age 80 of a heart attack. LAT