Don Shirley: Pianists make history
Iris Schneider on Annie Leibovitz
A Change.org petition by Rob Eshman asks Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to make it happen.
Archive: City Hall
A Change.org petition by Rob Eshman asks Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to make it happen.
The mayor has now been to the four early nominating states for the 2020 presidential election. But Monday it's a speech in Los Angeles.
The total jumped 23 percent over last year despite many more homeless people being moved into housing. So it could have been even worse.
Also: Monica Rodriguez elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Board of Education member Steve Zimmer lost.
Challenger to Councilman Gil Cedillo says he remains in the race for May 16 runoff.
"As Mayor, there’s no issue I spend more time on," Garcetti says in his annual state of the city speech.
He's under 50 percent in the final vote tally and becomes the first councilman since 1999 to face a reelection runoff.
The county homeless measure and Gil Cedillo's reelection are too close to call, but there will be runoffs for the school board and in the Valley's council district 7.
One candidate who might have had a chance against Eric Garcetti cites "our nightmare of a national election" in getting out of the 2017 race.
New attorney general appointed. An anchor leaves the news desk. What to do with P-45.
Councilman Jose Huizar has had enough already, tweeting "If we acquiesce to his falsehoods, we fall victim to tyrannical government."
Author, activist and former California state assemblyman and senator Tom Hayden has died in Santa Monica after a lengthy illness.
Edelman represented the Westside and the Fairfax area for 29 years and led the fight for children's services, AIDS treatment, mental health services and the arts.
Herb Wesson has received five default notices for being late with mortgage payments.
The councilman from the northeast Valley stayed less than one term.
People see what he backs as a politician, but they don’t see what he’s willing to fight for, says Los Angeles Magazine.
The Green Dot charter schools founder says he's in "to disrupt the political establishment and turn our city around."
The longtime Westside councilman and television host entered hospice care last month.
Aides of the Valley councilwoman and their family members have been called into a grand jury over $5 and $10.
Organizers say the measure belongs on a city ballot to be locally debated.
The mountain lion's long-term prognosis doesn't get any better on the news that he's probably preying on the LA Zoo's animals now.
"I’m hurting and I’m sad and mad...I’m beginning to feel the city isn’t good for me anymore," Gigi Graciette vents.
Los Angeles needs a mayor whose goal isn't climbing the ladder to the next office, Mitchell Schwartz says.
This is weird in an only-in-LA kind of way, given that he was fired from the Times just last year.
He is at home in Mar Vista and "gravely ill," his successor, Mike Bonin, announced on Facebook.
Carl Marziali is the former VP for media and public relations at USC.
After losing badly in his try to join the LA City Council, Davis is now on the media side of the presidential campaigns.
Steve Barr in photo by Kris Krug on Flickr via LA Weekly. Add Green Dot Charter Schools founder Steve Barr to the menu of candidates that might run against Mayor...
He's a Democratic strategist and environmentalist and a neighbor of the mayor's in Windsor Square.
Some details are getting out about the federal criminal investigation that seems to involve City Councilwoman Nury Martinez and her staff. City Hall reporter David Zahniser reports in the LA...
Former LA City Councilman state lawmaker Richard Alarcon and his wife have already served their sentences in a case about where they officially lived for voting purposes.
The sidewalk on Prosser Avenue in Rancho Park has been a trip-and-fall waiting to happen since at least 2012. We have the pictures.
Wendy Greuel with Bill Clinton at Langer's Deli during the 2013 mayoral campaign. Photo: Gary Leonard. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel were City Hall allies, and I believe friends, before...
For the first time in a long while, crime is up in all categories and in all police divisions across Los Angeles.
The father of City Attorney Mike Feuer died today. His talks with students at Castle Heights Elementary School were featured in a Steve Lopez column this year.
"It’s the climate equivalent of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico," the Guardian says. More than 3,000 Angelenos remain out of their homes.
"If Los Angeles had another 100 Leonard Shapiros we'd be in a lot better shape than we are today," his wife wrote in a 1984 letter to the editor.
In the end he did endorse Clinton, but it took the mayor's staff a while to get there.
There are openings for deputy director of communications, speechwriter and press secretary, per LinkedIn.
Yahoo Politics profile says LA's mayor may be the future of the Democrats. Plus Garcetti on the set of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."
Lisker Chronicles update: The City Council first must approve the settlement. "It’s been a very emotional ordeal,” Lisker said.
A community forum in Jefferson Park was cut short by protesters and, in front of TV cameras, the mayor was hustled out through a pressing crowd.
He is a bean counter "actually worth writing about" and the point man in City Hall on the homeless issue, says the Downtown News.
The U.S. Olympic Committee designates LA after the City Council takes a 15-0 vote in support.
Mayor Garcetti and Council President Wesson will talk about the City Council's Olympics vote way out in Santa Monica.
Jeff Millman is going to work for the effort preparing LA's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The City Council says OK but there are some official hurdles still to jump.
Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday signed an executive order ordering departments to report back with ways to reduce traffic deaths in Los Angeles -- to zero.
City Council members have other ideas on some of the mayor's favorite things. Plus: Calling the pols on setting impossible goals.
The city's utility overcharged by about $44 million while trying to roll out a new, apparently flawed billing system.
He's also the most influential City Council president since John Ferraro and possibly ever.
Statewide officials and the county Supes are next. Garcetti is an "earnest booster" who needs to get to the hard work, Times publisher says.
"Unfortunately, our concerns are becoming reality," the LAT opinion side says in its latest report card.
Reports are that Ontario will reimburse LA for its investment at the airport and settle a lawsuit alleging poor management.
Council member Mitch O'Farrell jumped in the new Hollywood pool fully clothed.
Identity theft, manslaughter and driving under the influence were among the convictions of Uber drivers that would bar them driving an LA taxi.
Herb Wesson's report card, Ted Rall fights back and new mountain lion cubs in the Santa Monicas. Plus more.
The narrative of Mayor Eric Garcetti as an overly cautious waffler continues to take hold.
The LA Times editorial board wants Controller Ron Galperin to think bigger and be noisier.
Connie Llanos, formerly of the Daily News, works now for Councilman Curren Price and was a spokesperson for Wendy Greuel in the 2013 mayoral campaign.
New LA Times analysis shows the downward trend in LA crime stats is over and that crime is up in all major categories except homicide.
On the eve of his second anniversary in office, the mayor faces a test on the homeless issue. He changed his tune last night on Warren Olney's show.
Catherine Saillant left the LA Times on Friday and will be a communications deputy in one of the newest city departments.
The 13-0 vote allows construction to begin soon at the former May Co. building at Wilshire and Fairfax.
UCLA and the Sean Combs arrest. Minimum wage, homeless camps and farewell to Tom LaBonge at City Hall. Plus more.
Sarah Dusseault is fresh off guiding the unsuccessful supervisor campaign of Bobby Shriver.
The City Hall press corps seems to be tiring of the mayor's style.
The mayor left the city at a tense moment for a Georgetown fundraiser, then obfuscated in the face of questions by the Times.
A retired video technician is charged with steering $4 million in contracts to friends and back to himself.
The officers who shot and killed Ford in South LA were partly justified but also acted partly outside of department policy.
Plans for the 6th Street bridge. Anne Gust Brown profiled. More talk of exemptions from the $15 minimum wage. How much do City Council members pay their help? Drivers for drunk senators. And more.
Eric Garcetti's deputy mayor for budget and innovation is a veteran local city official who formerly was mayor of Pasadena and the top staffer in Ventura.
He become the first Korean-American elected to the Los Angeles City Council. The race wasn't that close.
The council votes 14-1 to tell the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would make $15-an-hour the minimum wage in the city of Los Angeles by 2020. Mayor Garcetti signed on to the final deal.
Partner Magic Johnson calls the 22,000-seat, $250 million home for an MLS expansion team a jobs plus for South LA.
The 1920s landslide zone apparently is safe enough to let people in during the day.
Seligman says she "has helped end the careers of some of the most corrupt members of Congress, targeted the NRA and its allies, exposed front groups covering for corporate interests, and rooted out misinformation in the media."
The ACLU drops its support after the policy allows officers to view footage before writing reports. Chief Beck also says he won't release footage publicly.
Garcetti has his night, but was anybody listening. Is Hollywood divided on Clinton or what? Politico to launch California Playbook.
The City Council has paid dearly to get some of the pending liabilities off its docket. They might still try to make you pay for their sidewalk damage.
The city's Board of Cultural Heritage Commissioners today voted unanimously to extend history-cultural monument status to the threatened Norms coffee shop on North La Cienega.
The mayor also filed the paperwork to begin raising money for 2017.
Read the memo: The mayor's top spokesman is off "to pursue new opportunities."
On the day after Tuesday's sleepy city election, everyone seems to be suddenly concerned that almost no one votes in Los Angeles anymore.
Councilwoman Nury Martinez also reelected and Marqueece Harris Dawson elected to LA City Council. One runoff awaits.
Some LA City Council, some U.S. Senate, some Republican state convention and more.
State Sen. Isadore Hall is already running, so Buscaino said today "my future is here in Los Angeles, not 3,000 miles away."
The Star Wars Episode VII director and his wife are hosting a Santa Monica fundraiser for Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is a candidate for the open City Council seat in South LA.
"I don’t think the chamber had seen such a large crowd since the city considered banning lap dances." Heh.
Plus: Molina and Huizar debate. California's aging voters. LA's non-voters. And more.
Sometimes the choices newspaper editorial boards make are not fully predictable. Here are the latest in a few races.
The embodiment of a mensch, said Mayor Eric Garcetti. The Daily News photo gallery includes Orlov's longtime Rolodex.
Colleagues and friends react to the passing of the Daily News' longtime presence at City Hall.
The Daily News announced this afternoon that Orlov died of diabetes complications. Mayor Garcetti: "City Hall is in mourning."
Ex-councilman could not go in the backyard, but he could drive downtown, take meetings and play a lot of online poker.
Willie Brown urges the birthday boy not to run. The national media is on the Villaraigosa beat now. Plus Gloria Molina.
The owner of Norms wants to stay. The owner of the land under Norms got the demo permit (and an architect) but has no immediate plans.
City Cultural Heritage Commission votes to take Norms status under advisement.
Before moving on to Hollywood, Kaltman was a press deputy to Jim Hahn and Wendy Greuel in City Hall.
Tom Rothmann is the senior city planner overseeing Re:code LA, which could rein in some of the confusion and excesses of LA's protection of neighborhoods.
LACMA's VP in charge of getting the Levitated Mass boulder in place. A noted liberal rabbi. A former LA City Council member.
Autopsy shows that the mentally ill black man in South LA was shot in the side, arm and back. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck met the media and took questions.
The New Yorker takes a serious look at the future of Los Angeles taxicabs through the eyes of Eric Spiegelman, the president of Mayor Garcetti's taxi commission, and a believer that taxis can move into the app era.
None of it matters until this final certified list of the candidates who actually completed their paperwork to run for office and get on the ballot. Only one City Council member is unopposed.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and his advisor, seismologist Lucy Jones, unveiled an earthquake plan for Los Angeles that requires vulnerable pre-1980 apartments to retrofit within five years. Concrete buildings at risk get 25 years.
The deputy in Controller Ron Galperin's office will become Vice President of Projects at the Times. She was the youngest deputy mayor in the Villaraigosa administration.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in China on a trade mission, posed at the Great Wall with City Council members Joe Buscaino, Mike Bonin, Curren Price and Gilbert Cedillo
Former mayor says the current mayor "has a lot to learn” and is surrounded by weak people.
The LA Times veteran devotes his final column to a menu of proposed fixes, such as expanding the City Council, abolishing the school board and doing away with term limits.
I first wrote about negotiations between the Owens Valley and Los Angeles over the noxious dust that blows off of Owens Lake 25 years ago. So it seems a little bizarre that they finally have a deal both sides can live with.
Elizabeth Warren visits with LA and Hollywood progressives. City Council races start to take an interesting shape. Still counting in that Valley assembly race, possibly "the biggest political upset of the year" in LA. Monday columns and much more.
I haven't yet read former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan's autobiography, but Jim Rainey of the LA Times has. Rainey covered City Hall when Riordan was mayor.
This news from the state geologist won't be good for the developers of the proposed Millennium Hollywood tower or their friends in City Hall.
Renata Simril previously worked in City Hall for Mayor James Hahn and then-Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. She will be a senior vice president of the LA Times.
The former councilman and state lawmaker is banned from ever holding office again and must perform 600 hours of community service in his old Valley district. Alarcon's wife gets no jail time.
But neither will Perez commit to an endorsement either way. Coverage is starting to crank up for the showdown in the Eastside and Downtown district.
Termed out supervisor tells the LA Times that she has moved into the district and hired a campaign manager. "I am concerned that there is only one woman on the City Council."
The Hahnies came out for a reunion and Mayor Garcetti had nice things to say about the mayor who brought Bratton to the LAPD and defeated Valley secession.
Now everyone knows that a generation of Los Angeles officials has fumbled the infrastructure ball and that Garcetti and the City Council don't yet have a workable answer.
Minimum wage raises are popular with the people, but Garcetti risks his image as a politico who can work with business and labor. Having Eli Broad at your kick-off event doesn't hurt.
The LA Times' weekend revelation about under-played numbers of aggravated assaults has legs — the IG will look into years of LAPD stats and the department put out a statement. Plus more.
Garcetti was absent for a lot of local news during his summer vacation. Plus: Does Garcetti have a big enough vision for LA?
Enough water to sustain 100 families for a year was lost in the pipeline break that flooded parts of UCLA. More than 900 cars are stranded in underground garages and half of those may have been submerged.
The City Council returned this week from a summer recess, but the office of Mayor Eric Garcetti informed the media that "Mayor Garcetti will be traveling with his family out of the state from July 25 until August 4."
Advantage Garcetti: He posts a YouTube message to officers since the union doesn't want him to speak at stations.
Former Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife were acquitted on most charges, but convicted on enough. Alarcon said he would probably appeal.
Assistant Chief Ralph Terrazas would be the LAFD's first Latino chief.
Nothing that you would probably call truly great is envisioned, but the idea is to freshen up the streetscape a bit — in one strip per City Council district.
Campaign 2014 primary races saunter toward the end, SCOTUS won't hear James Risen case, Isla Vista fathers meet, what the Academy will pay LACMA for May Co., Long Beach Register may cut back, and much more.
While the NBA considers the Clippers sold, Donald Sterling sues in federal court.
After being lobbied by Mayor Eric Garcetti and river activists, the Army Corps of Engineers said it would recommend an ambitious $1 billion makeover of 11 miles of the Los Angeles River upstream from downtown. "The greatest thing to happen to the river since it was paved over,” say advocates.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's staff has posted another set of Facebook photos showing him as a regular guy. This time he's riding a bike to work in Koreatown
Howard Sunkin opens a new firm with City Hall lobbyist John Ek. Read the email inside.
Garcetti has been using his personal account to post pics from inside the rope lines and events such as his walk to work on Wilshire Boulevard a few weeks ago. The NYT takes notice.
Brooklyn's most famous music mogul is at City Hall this morning to announce plans for a festival downtown this summer.
In his first State of the City speech, Garcetti doesn't make much news but lists some early accomplishments and some plans.
Before Mayor Eric Garcetti could give his first state of the city address this afternoon, the LA 2020 Commission appointed by Council President Herb Wesson stole his thunder a bit by announcing yesterday the civic group's ideas to improve LA. But that's OK, because everybody sounds underwhelmed.
Mayor Eric Garcetti rode on a Chatsworth trail ride with other electeds this weekend — it's kind of a tradition for LA City Hall politicians. Photos inside.
Los Angeles Magazine is posting the full video this week of a breakfast session with Mayor Eric Garcetti held last week at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. He chats in the free-flowing interview with editor Mary Melton.
The new wrinkle is swipe cards for access. The Society of Professional Journalists LA chapter and the Radio-TV News Association of Southern California have scheduled an urgent meeting to make a protest.
The mayor held a wide-ranging interview with reporters and editors and said the city cannot afford raises for workers for a few years.
In Los Angeles, Garcetti is known to speak pretty decent LA media Spanish — early in their careers he was the one giving Spanish speaking tips to Antonio Villaraigosa. In Mexico City, people are appreciative and forgiving of the details.
There has been a new species of journalist spied recently at Los Angeles City Hall. That would be reporters for the as-yet-unseen LA Register.
Eric Garcetti picked a good few days to be in Mexico City on a trade mission (the subject of today's LA Observed segment on KCRW.) Toronto's goofy mayor was in town to do Jimmy Kimmel and take Twitter pictures at City Hall.
The LA City Council wants action on the Weather Channel-DirecTV dispute — weather or not you agree.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA Weekly politics writer Gene Maddaus have a different view of how the mayor is doing so far. "His head is swirling with ideas, but...his record is surprisingly thin," Maddaus writes.
Staffers had a little birthday spread today for Mayor Eric Garcetti at City Hall.
Peter Marx has been vice president of business development at Qualcomm Labs and vice president of the technology and digital studio at Mattel.
Marcie Edwards, Mayor Eric Garcetti's choice to become general manager of the Department of Water and Power, worked at the utility for 24 years before taking a senior job in Anaheim. Most recently she has been the Anaheim city manager.
Sherak was Mayor Eric Garcetti's designated ambassador between the film industry, City Hall and Sacremento. He died today after a long battle with prostate cancer.
The mayor says anti-poverty money will go south of the 10 freeway, but there is a lot of upset and finger pointing.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced this morning that Ron Nichols, the general manager of the city's Department of Water and Power for three years, will leave at the end of the month. A letter from Nichols said he was going for personal reasons.
Peter Dreier offers the New York City mayor some advice from the progressive side after eight years of Antonio Villaraigosa. Plus: Bill Bratton takes over (again) at the NYPD.
The hike means that most workers with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions have received increases totaling 24.5 percent since 2007, the Times says.
While Mayor Eric Garcetti and his family are headed off to Australia today for a ten-day vacation, his staff has posted an invitation to suggest what the city can do better next year.
After the fire department shut down its popular Twitter feeds, citing some new lawyer advice, Mayor Eric Garcetti's spokesman told them to not be ridiculous. The feeds are back up.
Amy Wakeland, the wife of Mayor Eric Garcetti, attended Thursday night's meeting of the Windsor Square Association to break the news. A new slate of events are on tap, she says.
Six members of the Los Angeles City Council spotted at Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Last night's Hillary Clinton for president fundraiser at the Exchange club on Spring Street featured addresses by former city controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, among others.
This just in: Villaraigosa has been hired to replace Dodger manager Don Mattingly and will also take over as West Coast adviser for Cheetos.
One of Villaraigosa’s first projects will be to lead the newly-formed USC Villaraigosa Initiative for Restoring the California Dream.
The City Council president quietly formed a panel several months ago to look into allegations against an unnamed council member, probably Jose Huizar. Now Wesson makes nice — very nice — in front of a political insiders crowd.
Huizar spoke to Times reporter David Zahniser — in a stairwell — before today's City Council meeting.
Vilma Martinez, until recently President Obama's ambassador to Argentina, is among the five appointees of varying political background who will guide things for the mayor at the Port of Los Angeles.
City Council President Herb Wesson is billed as the "special guest" at a fundraiser on Tuesday to launch Councilman Jose Huizar's reelection campaign. Awkward timing, eh?
The suit says that Englander himself made offensive sexual comments and allowed the culture to permeate his office. Englander said he was "surprised" by her allegations.
Hours after former deputy chief of staff files job retaliation lawsuit, Councilman Jose Huizar admits having "an occasional and consensual relationship" but denies her allegations.
New York Times video says that Mayor Eric Garcetti "connected with Mexican-Americans at a recent celebration in the city."
The current Los Angeles Fire Chief, Brian Cummings, will retire in February, Mayor Eric Garcetti just announced. An acting chief has been named.
Of the 84 people chosen by Garcetti to serve on boards and commissions, at least three-fourths are friends, former staffers, campaign backers or relatives of campaign backers.
Dowie is the former Daily News managing editor who went to federal prison in 2011 on charges arising from the overcharging of the DWP for PR work during the Hahn Administration. Dowie ran the LA office of Fleishman-Hillard.
Shopping center developer Rick Caruso told Los Angeles magazine that he was all set to run for mayor last year until his family hesitated. No longer a Republican, he says he still may run someday and he hopes that Eric Garcetti is bold enough to risk his job every day.
The ex-chief of staff to mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Richard Riordan talks about not getting late-night calls from City Hall anymore, her last traffic ticket and the dearth of women at the City Council horseshoe. Plus Alice Walton too.
Only one holdover from the Villaraigosa planning commission — plus two key Wendy Greuel backers in the last election and some more Garcetti contributors.
Insipid web listicle omits the inconvenient truths that Garcetti is married and a father.
From his initial comments, it sounds as if Soboroff intends to be heard from in the post.
It's not clear in Monday's LA Times story about the controversy over Airbnb rentals in Silver Lake that the editors realize that the neighborhood isn't a legal entity and doesn't have its own "officials."
The council opted for the opt-in version of the mural ordinance, requiring that neighborhoods take an affirmatives act before murals would be allowed in areas zoned for residential use. A final vote is needed next week.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has decided to reactivate the mayor's office of immigrant affairs, which existed briefly at the end of the Hahn administration. Linda Lopez, a political scientist who had been associate dean for diversity and strategic initiatives at USC's Dornsife College, will run the office.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today that he will be concluding his active service with the Navy Reserve at the end of the year.
The LA Observed segment on KCRW tonight covered the database created by Controller Ron Galperin to compare the salaries paid at the Department of Water and Power to those paid to other city of Los Angeles employees. The LA Currents website has gone further and massaged Galperin's data a bit to tease out easier comparisons.
Steve Soboroff, Paula Madison and two other new faces will give the Garcetti police commission a new look. Emanuel Pleitez gets a pension commission slot.
Included on the politically important panel are close friend Sean Burton, former City Council member Jackie Goldberg and others with connections.
Francine Godoy, who left Councilman Jose Huizar's staff in April for a job with the Department of Sanitation, reportedly says in a complaint that she was harassed and endured retaliation because of her gender and "refusal to engage in sex." Huizar's spokesman said the councilman "strongly and emphatically denies the assertions."
Jacobs is founder of the Courage Campaign, a big part of the effort to discourage Tribune from selling the Los Angeles Times to the conservative Koch brothers, and a big fundraiser for Garcetti.
I just glanced at the New York Times home page and there at the top were the faces of Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, standing awkwardly at some long-forgotten debate in the mayoral race. No, it wasn't my web browser's cache or a mistake by the Times. It's a story by LA bureau chief Adam Nagourney.
The awkward bed that Mayor Eric Garcetti has made with former radio anger talk host Kevin James continues to be one of the weirdest pairings in City Hall. But it's those who believed in James' right-wing rantings who are the most upset.
LAT puts staffers on the Garcetti beat, the Board of Supervisors, MTA and a new assignment to explore the use of power here and around California.
This move on Wednesday by the City Council means that Martinez can handle some business for the council district in the Valley, before she is formally sworn in as the new council member. Also: how she won.
Martinez defeated Cindy Montanez tonight for the vacant seat on the Los Angeles City Council — in a battle of former San Fernando City Council members who represent rival factions of Northeast Valley Democrats. That's a 30-point swing from the primary election results.
Sonenshein, head of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, helps new Mayor Eric Garcetti prioritize his to-do list in a light take for Los Angeles Magazine's CityThink blog.
The march of appointments by new Mayor Eric Garcetti continues. He names two city councilmen to the Metro board, plus activist "Jackie" Dupont-Walker.
Bryan Frank, who posts pics of the scene last night, regrets not being there when reporter Dave Bryan and photographer Scott Torrens were assaulted. Mayor Garcetti urges peaceful protest tonight.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's office announced this morning that the boss will be returning to Los Angeles several days early, "out of an abundance of caution." He also offers to help "resolve" a protest supporter's ticket.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's whereabouts as his police department is on tactical alert are not publicly known. The press schedule released to the media says only that he will be gone at least through Friday, July 19, ending up in Washington.
Mayor Garcetti announced his most interesting appointments so far. In addition to Kevin James and Matt Szabo on the public works board, he named former Pasadena mayor Rick Cole as deputy mayor for innovation and the budget.
Eric Garcetti knows his audience: When on HuffPost Live... Watch the whole interview here.
Perry was only out of a job for one day. Garcetti makes a bunch of other appointments as well. The whole list is inside.
Josh Joy Kamensky helped stage Eric Garcetti's first campaign for office out of his Silver Lake apartment. As an OG, and as a writer who can be amusing, he offers some suggestions to the new mayor.
Villaraigosa's press secretary joins the Garcetti administration. City Attorney Mike Feuer announces some key appointments.
Eric Garcetti took a ceremonial oath of office from Kenia Castillo, an 8th grader at Luther Burbank Magnet Middle School in Highland Park, on Sunday evening while his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, looked on. Garcetti will become the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles at midnight tonight. Excerpts from his speech inside.
Eric Garcetti will take the ceremonial oath of office in the 6 p.m. hour in the swelter on the west steps of City Hall. He intends to call himself the "salesman-in-chief" for Los Angeles and in his speech will pledge to bring more jobs to the city. Here's the program as scheduled.
Shot at noon Saturday outside the door to the mayoral suite in Los Angeles City Hall. Click for more.
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti was sworn in for real today on the island in Echo Park Lake. The Sunday event is for show and includes the other new city officials and a public party in Grand Park.
Deputy Mayor Torie Osborn addresses her note to the staff but uses it to defend the legacy of Antonio Villaraigosa, who she calls a great mayor and a better boss. Jane Usher sends her exit email to the media.
Gregory Rodriguez of Zocalo Public Square calls his exit essay on the mayoralty of Antonio Villaraigosa "Why I’ll Miss Our Flawed Mayor.".
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti just announced that the chief of staff in his City Council office, Ana Guerrero, will fill the same role when Garcetti moves down to the mayor's third floor suite. "Ana was the key player in my work to cut budget costs and revitalize neighborhoods," Garcetti said in a statement. "Together, we're going to build on this foundation with new solutions to fix City Hall and strengthen communities citywide."
Councilman Paul Koretz interrupted Dave Davies' encore at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills to present the former Kinks member with a proclamation — then he sang along on "Living on a Thin Line."
That's the Van Nuys city hall, where the Los Angeles City Council will hold its Friday meeting. Davies is in town to perform at the Canyon Club and elsewhere. Vintage videos inside.
When his term ends July 1, making Villaraigosa a bachelor free agent, he apparently wants to move even further to the west. A source tells LA Observed that Villaraigosa is looking hard at Venice (or already there.)
City Attorney-elect Mike Feuer named his transition team today. The co-chairs are police commission president Andrea Sheridan Ordin and former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg. The co-executive directors are Miriam Aroni Krinsky and Alex Ponder. Inside: team members and the communications director.
Rich Llewellyn, currently the chief of staff to City Councilman Paul Kortez, was the first chief of staff for Eric Garcetti when he joined the City Council in 2001. Llewellyn moved over to City Hall East as chief deputy to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
The consultants for Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti talk to Warren Olney about what went right and what went wrong in the just-concluded race for mayor of Los Angeles — and John Shallman repeats his complaint that the LA Times coverage didn't help.
John Shallman, the Valley-based lead consultant for Wendy Greuel's campaign for mayor, didn't care for Times columnist Jim Newton's analysis of what went wrong. He also suggests the Times cheerled for Eric Garcetti, saying in a piece for the LAT website that "The Times was to Eric Garcetti what Fox News was to Mitt Romney."
I don't think any politician who moved on from Los Angeles City Hall in recent times has invented a new life for himself (or herself) more successfully than Joel Wachs. The former city councilman from the Valley has been the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation in New York for more than a decade now — and his moves have made him a transformative figure in the art world.
You would be hard-pressed to find a more complimentary opinion piece about Eric Garcetti as the future mayor than Harold Meyerson's op-ed column in the Washington Post. Plus the LA Times looks at Amy Wakeland's role in Garcetti's political life.
A story with more anecdote and commentary than actual data or on the record sources argues that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will struggle to keep up his "one percent" lifestyle.
Gary took photos throughout the runoff campaign for mayor between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. Here is a selection of our favorites.
Quotes often tell the story. These are from a variety of sources, all uttered today as far as I can tell. "One of the worst run campaigns I've ever seen in my life," a veteran LA political strategist says of the Greuel campaign.
It's not just labor. Elected officials such as Gloria Molina and Jose Huizar backed Wendy Greuel, but Eric Garcetti "represents the 2.0 model of Latinos in LA," argues the former editor of Ciudad magazine.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky welcomes the election of Eric Garcetti, Mike Feuer and Ron Galperin as "a new generation of leadership for the city." He says he's comfortable with his decision last year not to run.
Eric Garcetti chose a playground in Echo Park for his debut as the mayor-elect of Los Angeles. He thanked Wendy Greuel for a good campaign and says they will always be friends.
The voter turnout in Tuesday's Los Angeles city election will be shamefully low by the time the ballots are all counted. But it won't be the 19 percent that some in the media are using.
In order to become the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, analysts believed that Controller Wendy Greuel needed to win a majority of female voters and pick up a solid majority in her home turf in the Valley and, as the somewhat less liberal of the candidates, win the niche of Republicans who vote in LA. Kevin James' endorsement was crucial in the end.
Today seems like a good day to bring back out the cute photo that Eric Garcetti posted to Facebook a few years ago, of him and his father Gil. "Nice mustache, Dad!," Garcetti wrote.
Eric Garcetti is 42 years old, the youngest mayor of Los Angeles in more than a century, and he will be the city's first Jewish mayor. He won with 53.9 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Wendy Greuel.
The Loyola Marymount exit poll conducted by students under the Center for the Study of Los Angeles forecasts Eric Garcetti will win the mayoral election with 54 percent of the vote. In actual votes counted so far, Wendy Greuel is slightly ahead.
Greuel and Garcetti vote. Both will hit the Apple Pan this morning — at almost the same time. A ton of Campaign 2013 links from across the US. More phone numbers for me to call from Greuel. Plus: Tanaka slams Baca again. Fox 11 promotes Pablo Pereira. KCET promotes Juan Devis. Sherwood Forest gets postal recognition. And SoCal firefighters head for OKC.
After two full weekend days of campaigning, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel were back at it before sunrise this morning. Here's a snapshot of the day, the weekend and the final hours of Campaign 2013.
The ten-point Garcetti lead over Greuel that only the USC-LAT poll found last month has shrunk a bit. But it's better for Garcetti than the dead heat that the last major poll in the race found.
The women's magazine thinks that Greuel's first politics mentor was Tom Brady, but gets to the bottom of her preferred "go-to look."
As a user's guide for voters, the LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus summarizes some areas where there is daylight between Garcetti and Greuel. Such as on education, development, the DWP — minor issues like that.
Doug McIntrye of KABC and the Daily News comes out for Greuel, but after all her husband is his agent. Plus: The candidates fan out for Mother's Day and the Garcetti daughter makes a video appearance. And a roundup of media coverage.
There has never been an LA mayor who grew up on the San Fernando Valley side of the city's geographic and cultural divide. Good story in the Times on Greuel and Garcetti — but look what Austin Beutner says.
City Controller hopefuls Dennis Zine and Ron Galperin sat down with Warren Olney on "Which Way, LA?" to debate issues in the race. They are both trying to persuade voters they will continue the role of controller as watchdog of city spending, even though that is kind of an exaggerated image.
In the latest financial reports filed by the mayoral candidates, Eric Garcetti has a big edge in cash left to finish the final eleven days of campaigning. But in the end, more money may be spent on Greuel's behalf.
if you were hoping for an uplifting message about why you should vote for Wendy Greuel to be your mayor, you will be disappointed. At least she is on TV again. Clip inside.
In making my choice, says publisher David Abel, "I hope to prod many of my friends, who, like me, have remained uncommitted to date, to again engage in electoral politics and to vote."
Rosalind Wyman will throw out the first pitch before tonight's game with the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Roz Wyman was the youngest member of the Los Angeles City Council in 1957 when she joined with Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn to bring the team to LA.
The weekly's editorial hopes that Garcetti "would grow in the job," and says it's "a pity" that Greuel is too close to unions. It's the LABJ's first endorsement for mayor.
After Sunday, there are only two more weekends before the next mayor is chosen. I still don't detect much bubbling interest among the populace, but Garcetti did get about 150 people to come out to the Tapia Brothers farm in Encino on Sunday. Inside: The latest news and coverage.
When I was on Facebook tonight, this invitation popped up for a Wendy Greuel fundraising reception in Venice scheduled for Friday. Notice the ad next to the invite.
No one knows how seriously the Koch brothers might want to buy the Tribune newspapers — or how they might run them if they did become publishers — or even what kind of buyer the Tribune board is looking for. (If any.) But liberal groups have been campaigning on the prospect of a Koch-led LA Times, and now the candidates for mayor and controller have signed on.
Chad Molnar will be the chief of staff to incoming Westside city council member Mike Bonin. Laura McLennan will be deputy chief of staff. Both work for Councilman Bill Rosendahl, as did Bonin.
A new USC Price/Los Angeles Times Poll in the mayoral race is good for Eric Garcetti and bad for Wendy Greuel. The poll of 500 likely voters finds Garcetti in front, 50% to 40%, and with leads among Latinos, younger voters and women. Greuel also is not getting the solid base in the Valley she hoped for. Details inside.
Challenger Mike Feuer is sitting pretty good with a month to go in the runoff race for city attorney. Trutanich would need to win a big majority of the undecideds to keep his job.
All the electronic billboards I usually see on the Westside were turned off today. The companies that operate 77 digital boards in the city of Los Angeles, Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor, were told by a judge to darken the signs by 5 p.m.
Wendy Gruel's new TV spot in the Los Angeles mayoral race focuses on gun violence and says she will work with police and mental health experts to improve safety. She is shown driving and also mentions a murder-suicide at her family's hardware business. Watch inside.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge Terry Green has ordered that Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor turn off most of their digital billboards in Los Angeles by 5 p.m. today. These are some of the signs that the City Council told the companies they could fire up as part of a controversial settlement deal in 2006 that allowed the conversion of up to 840 existing billboards.
Ed Leibowitz wrote the 2009 cover story for Los Angeles Magazine that pronounced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mostly a failure at the end of his first term. The cover image went a long way toward turning the mayor's media treatment at the time.
Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to deliver his eighth and final State of the City speech as mayor starting at 5 p.m. in Royce Hall at UCLA. His people are billing the address as a call to mayoral hopefuls Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel to seriously address education issues. He also gets personal about his life arc. Inside: full text of the prepared speech and the opening video.
Controller Wendy Greuel will officially unveil the backing of Rep. Maxine Waters at a 10 a.m. media op on the City Hall steps. A couple of hours after Team Greuel alerted the media, Councilman Eric Garcetti's campaign posted to YouTube a video of Rep. Karen Bass endorsing him.
Kate Linthicum, one of the City Hall reporters for the Los Angeles Times, had written about Alex Renteria two years ago for a feature on the opening of the building's newly opened Homeboy Diner. In Monday's paper she writes about Renteria again, this time as someone she had come to know and who became the subject of a tragic news story.
This has the looks of another quality endorsement day for mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. Plus: She and Eric Garcetti talk about City Hall finances. And Garcetti to roll out Councilman Tom LaBonge.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said today that President Obama doesn't plan to weigh in on the Los Angeles mayoral race. Both Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel are Democrats and Obama supporters.
Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti has a 10 a.m. presser scheduled with Kevin James, the former radio talk show host who came in third in the March 5 city primary election. They are doing the deed outside the Van Nuys city hall, officially the Valley Municipal Building, on Sylvan Street.
The chess game of South LA endorsements in the mayoral race continues. Today at 11 a.m., City Councilman Bernard Parks is scheduled to publicly endorse Eric Garcetti at the Garcetti headquarters on south Crenshaw Boulevard.
This is kind of fun to watch. Hours after Eric Garcetti put out the word that he was endorsed by City Councilwoman Jan Perry, and before the media op was even held, Wendy Greuel's team announced that she has been endorsed by Magic Johnson. That presser is scheduled for 1 p.m. outside the West Angeles Church of God in Christ on Crenshaw Boulevard.
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 an endorsement by Perry, if indeed that's what happens. People were starting to ask where Garcetti has been.
Greuel includes Mayor Villaraigosa as an example of a leader who has failed to bring jobs or fix the economy, just days after hiring one of his top deputies to be her campaign manager.
Gil Cedillo falls short of 50% and has to face Jose Gardea in the runoff. There's no change in the order of finish in the mayoral race or other contests, but as expected the low voter turnout to be moaned about creeps up to 20.79 percent.
Not unexpectedly, both Los Angeles mayoral candidates — Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, or their staffers for them — showed their support for gay marriage by switching their Facebook profile images on Tuesday. As you can see from the screen grab, Councilwoman Jan Perry did not.
"I saw this strength of Wendy's first-hand in 1994, when she was a valued member of my administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development," Clinton says in a statement. "When the Northridge Earthquake struck -- causing so much loss of life and destruction -- Wendy sprang into action."
Controller Wendy Greuel's campaign for mayor made headlines for the wrong reasons in the past few days, losing four key operatives with experience on the Obama campaign, bringing in two new key people, then switching up campaign managers — against a backdrop of what the LA Times calls "missteps." She did, however, add the support of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan signed on today as an unpaid adviser to Wendy Greuel, shortly after former mayoral candidate Steven Soboroff endorsed Eric Garcetti. Several months ago, Riordan dismissed all the candidates as a bunch of losers.
They are meeting any media that comes out on a Saturday afternoon at the Doll Factory, the Temple Street home of the Derby Dolls near downtown. Unless they are going to strap on skates, I'm assuming this is where Pleitez announces he is endorsing Garcetti in the runoff for mayor. Plus: Greuel gets Emily's List.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office issued the following statement regarding AEG Chairman Phil Anschutz's decision to not sell the company. Villaraigosa does not address the departure of the top Anschutz executive...
The County Federation of Labor's political unit voted to endorse Wendy Greuel for mayor after she told a closed-door meeting, "I'm gonna stand with labor, not stand up to labor." County Democrats, meanwhile, gave more support to Eric Garcetti but failed to make an endorsement.
Campaign consultants for Greuel, Garcetti and Perry dissect the mayoral primary races that are behind us — turnout is the story — and look cautiously ahead. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee's cartoonist lampoons Angelenos for not voting.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nominated the former state assemblyman, school board president and college board president -- and losing candidate for City Council -- to the Board of Public Works. That's the city's one true plum full-time paid commission.
On the day after Los Angeles voters eliminated the also-rans for mayor and other offices, the survivors began jockeying for position for the 11-week sprint to the runoff. Greuel got another union behind her, Garcetti dropped that oil lease in Beverly Hills and hands were wrung about voter turnout.
The vote counting in Tuesday's City of Los Angeles primary election provided no real surprises. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel will face off in a May 21 runoff for mayor, as every poll said that they would. There will be runoffs in the other citywide races, and in at least two City Council districts.
Front-runners Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel got out early Sunday and took the campaign for mayor to the streets. Unlike Saturday, at least a few TV cameras followed along — and LA Observed too.
Trutanich, who is running for reelection in Tuesday's election, has suspended campaign activities. His mother, Esther, died this afternoon at San Pedro Hospital from complications involving pneumonia.
SpaceX capsule in trouble, digital billboards ruling, California's dry winter, mayoral candidates and Hollywood, Pleitez still running, LA invites South Pasadena journo to vote, 99 essential LA restaurants and more.
Wendy Greuel called the media to her Van Nuys Airport-adjacent headquarters this morning to attack Councilman Eric Garcetti for endangering children and profiting from oil drilling near Beverly Hills High School. Except it appears that no oil has been drilled for under Garcetti's property, no children have been endangered, and any profit has been extraordinarily slim.
The pope leaves Rome, Bradley Manning pleads guilty, LA asks for OK to remove homeless property in TB fight, who will buy the LA Times?, indie spending tops
$3 million in mayoral race, Jan Perry's old tax liens and more from the campaign trail.
Wendy Greuel goes negative, Kevin James goes noir, Boxer urges history, Linda Griego recalls history and a roundup of media coverage in the race for City Hall. Election is next Tuesday.
How power works here, sobering wisdom on mayoral candidates from Mike Woo, a doctor spends $150K on Greuel, Jan Perry day in the media plus much more. Election Day is a week from today.
Yet another controversy over a mayoral campaign mailer by candidate Jan Perry. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky released a statement this morning criticizing Perry's use of his name in a mailer. He does not endorse Perry.
Newton on Garcetti and UTLA, new union spending for Greuel, the Kevin James and Jennifer Aniston connection, Rick Orlov's Monday Tipoffs, the voters aren't voting, new endorsements and who the Socialists like (or don't like) for mayor — plus a roundup of more media coverage of the races.
Trying to trick voters with the fake Republican tag is a loser's move, said John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party. "To suggest that Wendy Greuel is anything other than a proud Democrat is absurd.”
Thursday's latest filing of campaign finance reports in the mayoral race shows the top two candidates essentially as matched in fundraising as they are in positions on the issues. There's no real news in the numbers.
There are at least two schools of thought on the long-standing practice of holding Los Angeles city elections in odd-numbered years. The former city controller argues that bundling with the national elections will raise voter participation. But maybe that's not the problem.
Debate carried on Channel 7 finds the candidates for mayor firming up their positions. Plus: A video spot for Greuel, Mr. D'Arcy's DWP, Zine's Mountaineer and links to media coverage galore.
The LAT praise is better than lukewarm, but not quite love. Garcetti has "the most potential to rise to the occasion and lead Los Angeles out of its current malaise.... At this time, out of this field, he's the best choice." Also this: "It is hard to see how [Greuel] would rise to the challenge..."
Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt — I guess we should call him the Dodger Stadium parking lots owner now? — shows up in the filings as a donor of $50,000 to Working Californians to elect Wendy Greuel Mayor 2013. That's the officially independent committee that says it will use big contributions from labor and the entertainment industry to buy TV ads for Greuel.
Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen lead the way with $150,000. Boxer will headline fundraiser at Haim Saban's Feb. 20. Plus: Will Ferrell video for Garcetti and more campaign notes.
Here is the second 30-second TV spot from the Wendy Greuel for mayor campaign. Script and video inside, plus a response from Eric Garcetti.
Councilman Eric Garcetti is the first of the mayoral candidates, I believe, to air a TV spot in Spanish. He calls it "Comprobado" and speaks in Spanish about his record. Watch.
I moderated a town hall of the five leading mayoral candidates on Sunday in Hancock Park, and their plans for Getty House — the official city residence — became an issue. Plus the cost to Wendy Greuel of her half-baked LAPD expansion plan, the Times endorses Galperin and more campaign coverage from the weekend.
Supporters of Measure A on the March 5 ballot say that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take part in a Monday news conference announcing support for the sales tax increase, along with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and LAFD Chief Brian Cummings.
For Wendy Greuel's mayoral campaign, these were a couple of good if expected endorsements. She has campaigned hard in the Valley. The National Women's Political Caucus of Los Angeles County also announced its endorsement.
In the race for mayor of Los Angeles, Councilman Eric Garcetti doesn't have a record of accomplishment that stands out among the others, or better connections, or more popular positions, or much more money. One advantage, though, with some voters is his image as a blogger, bike rider, composer, chef and performer — like at last night's appearance alongside Moby.
Both Greuel and Garcetti have bases in Hollywood. The race is pitting mogul against mogul, agent against agent, says the Hollywood Reporter.
Los Angeles Magazine in a new piece up today calls Kevin James "the surprise of the mayor’s race." The story, though, is really about how candidate James has softened the kinds of things he used to say when he was an anger talk radio host.
For some reason, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent out a statement on Friday trying to quash once and for all any talk that he will be taking a job with the Obama Administration before his term ends June 30. Which likely means he wasn't going to get an appointment.
Ex-mayor Jim Hahn is handling small claims cases in the Santa Monica courthouse, living nearby with his wife and enjoying not being in the spotlight. "It's a pretty great thing to be mayor of Los Angeles," Hahn tells KCRW's Saul Gonzalez. But, "I have to say this is the happiest time of my life."
Salma Hayek endorses Eric Garcetti for mayor: "He has the heart of a hero. He's romantic..." She also cites that he plays piano, gardens, cooks and speaks Spanish and French as well as English. Watch the video.
Wendy Greuel's platform to run for mayor is that, as city controller, the audits by her office found $160 million "in waste and fraud." It's the theme of her first 30-second spot going on the air today. Watch here.
Not every single story story out of Washington on Ray LaHood leaving the Obama Cabinet mentions Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a possible successor. Just most of them.
Fred Davis posts his first hit video on Garcetti, Greuel and Perry, plus barreling across the Valley with Dennis Zine at the wheel and Monday is TV debate night.
Jack Klunder, the president of the Los Angeles News Group and publisher of most if not all of the chain's newspapers, is not a voter in the city of Los Angeles. But he has given $750 to mayoral candidate Kevin James, in three separate contributions since 2011, and also reportedly provided him with tickets to Lakers, Dodgers and Kings games.
Teddy Davis, a top press spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa since 2011, was announced today as the director of strategic communications for Maryland governor Martin O'Malley. Expect to see a series of these exits in the coming months.
The reason that the office of city controller is viewed as a fiscal watchdog and audit factory is due largely to Laura Chick, who came before Wendy Greuel. Chick's endorsement helps City Hall newcomer Ron Galperin.
Diversity makes the news, Times video of the candidates, a media coverage roundup and more — including a wonderful Steve Lopez line summarizing Antonio Villaraigosa.
The president of the Board of Public Works apologized for unspecified actions and said she has learned that her top job is "being a mom." Possible prosecution still looms for leaving her 11-year-daughter alone in City Hall to go drinking on a Friday night.
The union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers today gave its mayoral nod to Controller Wendy Greuel.
Kitty Felde, KPCC's reporter in Washington, connects the dots and sees an opportunity for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the second Obama Administration, "should his personal life survive the vetting process."
Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti is sitting today for what the Reddit online community calls an AMA. He posted about two hours ago: "Hi I'm Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Councilmember and candidate for Mayor. Ask me anything. I will be back around 4:00 PT to answer your questions."
Daily News profiles Greuel, Perry hangs in, the mayor's hollow claim on LAPD strength, the energizer mayor and more notes for a Monday.
What you need to know about the fundraising race, coveting Obama and the Clintons, talking about housing, Greuel moves into South LA and more from around the campaigns.
Carmen Trutanich is, of course, the incumbent city attorney. I guess those future meetings with the mayor's office will be kind of chilly.
Sheen didn't say whether his comments about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa partying with him in Baja for two hours and being able to "drink with the best of 'em" were untrue — but late this afternoon Sheen did apologize "if any of my words have been misconstrued.”
Actor Charlie Sheen tells TMZ that his photograph with an arm around Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was taken in Sheen's suite at the new Hotel El Ganzo near Cabo San Lucas. He also says that this was not just a brief photo encounter as Villaraigosa suggested under questioning Sunday by NBC 4's Conan Nolan on "News Conference."
Controller Wendy Greuel's prospects of being elected mayor "depend largely on how effectively she can repel" criticism that her publicized audits are for show and that her record, including a vote for the big 2007 raise for city employees, mark her as a City Hall insider, LA Times political writer Michael Finnegan says.
Four years ago, former Assembly Speaker and mayoral candidate Robert Hertzberg co-led the transition team for newly elected city attorney Carmen Trutanich.
Villaraigosa tells Conan Nolan on NBC 4's "News Conference" that he was in Cabo San Lucas on vacation, bumped into Charlie Sheen in the hotel, and that Sheen asked to take a photo. "I'm in the picture taking business. I've never said no to anyone that wants to take a picture."
The first of our regular updates looks at the Temple Beth Jacob debate, a Friday zing war between Garcetti and Greuel, who's covering the campaign for the LA Times and more.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up in a Twitpic by Charlie Sheen from the actor's new hotel bar that opened last night in Baja California. A spokesman for the mayor confirms he is in Mexico until Jan. 2.
Gun holders queued up in cars around the block at Exposition Park to exchange guns for Ralphs gift cards in front of the Sports Arena — no questions asked. Long lines were also reported at the Van Nuys Masonic Temple.
The Los Angeles Times ran a Sunday editorial urging people to recognize that the election on March 5 is a big one that could shape the future of the city for years to come. They're right, you know.
Rick Orlov in the Daily News looks at the lineup of ballot argument signers for the City Council's proposed sales tax increase. Some members are for it, some against. Same with labor.
The certified names and ballot titles from the city clerk for mayor, city attorney, controller, city council, board of education and community college district board of trustees.
The current death toll in Newtown, Conn. stands at 28, 20 of them children aged five to ten.
Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon's future as an LA political figure got a little more clouded today, at least temporarily.
Reaction to the news that Henry's will close has been swift and intense. Krekorian felt moved to post a lengthy statement denying that his office is aware of any development plans for the site.
I chatted briefly Wednesday with hospitalized city attorney candidate Mike Feuer. He said he's up and around, isn't in too much pain, and even got to drink some apple juice. He should be out of the hospital in a few more days.
It will remain a ticketing offense to park at a broken meter in LA. But for the first time, valet parkers have to be licensed and insured.
The jaws of life were needed to free city attorney candidate Mike Feuer from his damaged Toyota Prius, and he is in intensive care in stable condition, campaign strategist John Shallman now says. Feuer tweets his thanks to @LAFD and @911LAPD.
President Obama today tweeted that he would like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to remain as chair of the Democratic National Committee. That's one post Antonio Villaraigosa won't get.
Feuer's Prius was hit by a truck that ran a red light. The candidate for city attorney will remain in the hospital for a few days, but his campaign says the injuries are not life threatening.
When the Center for the Study of Los Angeles sent out undergrads to conduct exit polling of voters on Nov. 6, the center had them tack on questions about next year's mayor's race. Meanwhile: Garcetti wins the endorsement of Valley Democrats.
Both the Times and Daily News are reporting, with somewhat differing details, that Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon was at the Doubletree Hotel in Little Tokyo when her unattended 11-year-old daughter was taken from City Hall to a nearby LAPD station about 11:45 on a recent Friday night, following a party.
Those signs are outdated and never were a perk, and they are coming down, says the spokesman for Councilman Mitchell Englander.
How Latino voters go could obviously be a big factor in deciding the next mayor, especially if the Latino vote falls heavily toward one candidate. Controller Wendy Greuel took a big step on Monday, announcing the endorsements of State Sen. Alex Padilla and two members of the City Council.
Interviewed by Warren Olney on KCRW's "Which Way, LA?," former mayor Richard Riordan rejected criticism by Mayor Villaraigosa and others that his pension reform plan would have cost the city money. Plus: Little digs at Herb Wesson, Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti.
Former mayor Richard Riordan and his Save Los Angeles group are shutting down the effort to place a pension reform measure on next spring's city of Los Angeles ballot.
Making Angelenos suffer to park their cars is all the rage in City Hall these days. But if you work for Councilman Mitch Englander and want to park at the Chatsworth Metro station, there are a couple of nice spots right in front. (Updated.)
The story on Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon being in trouble for the handling of her 11-year-old daughter inched forward a tiny bit on Friday.
"My daughter is my top priority and nothing could be more important to me than her well-being," says the president of LA's Board of Public Works. "In order for me to be the best parent possible, I have decided to seek professional help and treatment." Her 11-year-old daughter was found unattended in City Hall at almost midnight.
Former mayor Richard Riordan spent Tuesday night at St. John's for observation and tests after calling the paramedics because of dizziness and chest pains. Riordan was released the next day and says he did not have a heart attack.
Villaraigosa was in a forgiving mood about that "Failure" cover back in 2009. He even joked about his "General Petraeus moment."
In which the third floor at City Hall fills up and numerous staffers and reporters post Facebook pictures of themselves with Snoop Dogg and a certain new Lakers center. Video from the office of Councilman Joe Buscaino.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is being talked up as a possible chair of the Democratic National Committee during President Obama's second term, should there be a change.
Spotted on Councilman Eric Garcetti's TwitPic page, from last month but worth a reprise.
City Councilman and candidate for mayor Eric Garcetti up in the saddle, posted to his TwitPic account in October with the message "Happy Horse Day." While we're on the subject,...
Councilwoman Jan Perry's move last week to re-brand herself as the business-minded reform candidate in the race for mayor is at least "viable," Times columnist Jim Newton says. What choice does she have really?
On Sunday it was mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel's turn to go for a trail ride with the equestrians of Chatsworth. It's a rite of political passage in LA: we even have a pic of Antonio Villaraigosa in the saddle.
Self-serving questions from constituents for the 'Ask Paul" column on AOL Patch are actually written by the councilman's press deputy. But let's hope you knew that.
The mayor vows he's staying, but his new reformer mode sounds a lot like a statewide candidate. This week he kisses and makes up with Los Angeles Magazine, three years after the "Failure" cover.
Snyder represented Northeast LA's 14th district on the Los Angeles City Council for 18 years, until 1985. He was a City Hall deputy before that. Born in Los Angeles, Snyder attended Los Angeles City College, Pepperdine University and USC. He became a lobbyist after leaving office and was living in Huntington Beach, where he owned Don the Beachcomber, when he died in his sleep on Wednesday.
Well, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa certainly seemed to be enjoying himself at Tuesday's opening of the Endeavour exhibit at the California Science Center. But now the video has been taken down.
The City Council's deal several years ago to introduce digital billboards to Los Angeles is likely to be invalidated by the 2nd District Court of Appeal, a panel of the court's judges told lawyers on Tuesday.
Measures to raise the California sales tax (Proposition 30) and to extend the already-higher sales tax in Los Angeles County (Measure J) are up for a vote on the November 5 ballot. Now City Council President Herb Wesson is floating the idea of an additional half-cent sales tax increase within the city of Los Angeles to be voted on next March.
The former City Controller sent out email this afternoon endorsing her successor in next year's mayoral election. Here's the full text of what she said.
Maury Weiner was Mayor Tom Bradley's first chief of staff and a key figure in the black-Jewish liberal coalition that helped elect Bradley in 1973 and that was dominant in city politics for awhile. More recently Weiner was chairman of the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation at UCLA. Weiner died on Sept. 30.
Statement just in from developer Rick Caruso, putting an end to speculation that he would join the mayoral race late.
Candidates for mayor in next spring's election have already raised $9.2 million — including the $1.8 million collected by Austin Beutner before he dropped out. Reports filed on Wednesday show City Councilman Eric Garcetti with a slight lead in both the total money raised so far and in the amount taken in during the latest reporting period — as you can see in our handy charts.
Councilman and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti is not only a Rhodes Scholar who plays jazz piano. He also was in a junior high school breakdancing group and has the moves to prove it.
LA Times City Hall reporter Kate Linthicum was struck by how many personal bridges that ailing Councilman Bill Rosendahl appeared to burn in a speech today about his decision not to run for reelection.
Here's the full text of the email that just landed around the 11th council district (Brentwood to LAX, basically) from Councilman Bill Rosendahl. He tells supporters that he intends to become a cancer survivor, but is dropping his reelection campaign and endorsing chief deputy Mike Bonin.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who has been fighting cancer, plans to announce in a letter to his district tomorrow that he will not seek reelection in the spring, the LA Times reports.
Garcetti gets Salma Hayek but few LA names, a bunch of other endorsements, what will be in the news today and more.
Ad buyers have inquired about TV time in November, sources say, and Caruso also reportedly begged off a sizable commitment of money to pension reform citing large upcoming political expenses of his own. We'll see.
Former City Controller Laura Chick found herself in a feud with City Attorney Carmen Trutanich almost as soon as he took office in 2009 — with her endorsement, by the way. Now she's with Mike Feuer, and calling Trutanich a liar and a demagogue. There's a backstory.
Gene Maddaus at the LA Weekly got the list of contributors to the account City Attorney is using to make good on his promise to raise $100,000 for after-schol programs if he broke his previous promise not to run for any office other than the one he now has. (Which he did.)
Councilman and candidate for mayor Eric Garcetti plays the part of the Los Angeles mayor in the forthcoming film, "End of Watch." They got together with campaign supporters at a preview screening.
City Clerk June Lagmay just announced that the proponents of a referendum to undo the Los Angeles City Council ban on medical marijuana outlets submitted enough signatures to force the issue. Or, as Lagmay's office puts it, "has achieved sufficiency." One of three things now has to happen.
City Councilman Eric Garcetti plans to "outline some of his thoughts on the future of Los Angeles" in a Thursday evening speech at Los Angeles City College.
The Los Angeles City Council gave preliminary approval of new campaign rules that raise contribution limits to $700 in City Council races and $1,300 in citywide races. Plus more matching funds.
Looking gaunt after losing 45 pounds, and using a walker, Rosendahl said he will decide by the first week of October whether he will run for reelection next year.
Renata Simril, deputy mayor for economic development when James Hahn was in the corner office, will be the team's new senior vice president for external affairs. The new director of community relations comes from the Villaraigosa Administration.
Instead of a Thursday press conference to appeal to the public for help, Councilman Paul Krekorian might shame his fellow council members into taking care of it like they do so many, many lesser things — or just absorb the bills in his office slush fund.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn't doing much for the people who elected him this week — and he'll likely do even less next week when the Democrats meet. He's in Tampa now doing CNN every morning with Soledad O'Brien, filling the role of Democratic counterpoint to the Republican convention. He also sat down Monday with KPCC's Larry Mantle and mingled with the gathered journalists on the convention's Radio Row.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced creation of an official city of Los Angeles’ poet laureate program, to "serve as the official ambassador of Los Angeles’ vibrant poetry and literary culture." It will pay $10,000 a year. Let the machinations, hushed lunches and jealousies begin.
Now that he's out of the race for mayor, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky warned that whoever does get the job will be faced with an immediate financial crisis and echoed Richard Riordan's warning that the unions must be tamed.
Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan sounds pretty disappointed that Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky opted out of the race for mayor. Of the candidates who are in the race, Riordan said Thursday, "I think we have to look hard for other candidates" — and joked that his best suggestion for voters might be "to move out of the city." A Garcetti spokesman replied, "Dick's out of control."
City Controller Wendy Greuel and Concilman Eric Garcetti put out statements on Zev Yaroslavsky's decision to remain on the Board of Supervisors and not join the field seeking to become mayor of Los Angeles.
Zev Yaroslavsky said today that he will finish out his term on the county Board of Supervisors and not make a bid to become mayor of Los Angeles. "While I have never been a supporter of term limits, I do believe that four decades is long enough for any citizen to hold elective office, especially in an executive capacity."
Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel unveiled three more endorsements today that are actually kind of interesting. One of them is Robert Hertzberg, the former Speaker of the Assembly who ran for mayor in 2005 as sort of a voice from the Valley, lost in the primary then joined Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign and had the title role in the transition.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich kinda sorta comes through with some of the $100,000 for kids that he promised as penance for violating his no-run pledge. But mostly not. "It was a stupid pledge to begin with," his flack said Thursday.
The judge presiding over Councilman Richard Alarcon's preliminary hearing today is M. L. Villar de Longoria, the sister of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A really nice, detailed and clearly told cover story in the LA Weekly by Gene Maddaus reconstructs how corruption and under-the-table payments at the Coliseum offices came to be commonplace under general manager Pat Lynch — while the appointed overseers on the Coliseum Commission failed to oversee. It came to light only due to an accident, Maddaus writes.
In her bid to become the first mayor of Los Angeles from the Valley since Sam Yorty, Controller Wendy Greuel has put together an early list of supporters that has some range to it.
The racial politics of City Hall seldom gets bared this nakedly. City Council President Herb Wesson told a gathering of black ministers in Los Angeles that in the recent political skirmishing over drawing new city council district lines, he was out to protect African American seats. And more.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl writes that a persistent back pain led him to the doctor. He says he will run for reelection to a third term.
All that live streaming on the job threatens to melt down the city's computer system, so please stop, LA's chief technology officer pleads.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who the LA Times calls a longtime proponent of legalizing marijuana, told David Zahniser that he has had his own medical marijuana prescription for a decade. The pot helps him with painful neuropathy in his feet, Rosendahl says. He also has taken campaign money from pot dispensaries and their supporters.
For the first time since a class of new firefighters was inducted in 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department will crank up the hiring and training of recruits. The numbers won't be big — 300 slots over the coming two years.
Kim announced today that he's resigning as general manager of the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment on August 4 — and departing Los Angeles — to take a position in San Diego. This means he's out of the race for the 13th Council District, the crowded derby to choose a successor next year to termed-out mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti.
Last night on Facebook, Mayor Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff updated his profile photo and included a sly comment: "Hmmm...I feel like this pic makes me look like I'm running for office. Perhaps I should change it ... ;)" Today he let it be known that he has submitted his resignation to the mayor and will join the crowded race for the open City Council seat in the 13th district.
The City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles City Historical Society have worked together to finish an online database — finally! — of past and current elected officials. The project started, I kid you not, during the FDR Administration.
Mayor Villaraigosa has appointed Andrea Sheridan Ordin to fill a term on the city's Board of Police Commissioners — a panel she sat on for five years earlier in the mayor's administration. Most recently she was the county counsel, a post she retired from earlier this year.
The Los Angeles City Council today blocked the airport's plans to offer free wireless at LAX, complaining that the deal reached by airport officials did not pass the smell test. Not that it was really going to be like other cities' free wireless — you would likely have to watch an ad — but it sounded better than the $9.95 that T-Mobile charges LAX inmates now.
Councilman Joe Buscaino, a former LAPD cop, went with firefighters from Watts to put out a sizable fire in an alley. While there, he made a quip about the city firefighters outperforming LA county firefighters.
Take my picture Gary Leonard.
Mayor Villaraigosa's budget calls for adding 50 more part-time parking officers to walk foot beats in crowded areas such as Downtown, Hollywood and North Hollywood. There already were 100 of these part-timers hired last year. It's all about bringing in more fines.
Residents of Grand View Drive in Laurel Canyon are mad as hell about a "scofflaw" builder who has already mansionized one lot on the street and started work on two other parcels. They have banded together to make an effective and informative video — and have a little piece of local rock and roll history in their film.
Word got out this morning that Austin Beutner was telling friends and supporters that his quest to become mayor of Los Angeles next year was over. Mark Lacter had an item earlier at LA Biz Observed. Here's Beutner's statement this afternoon.
Parking fines in Los Angeles are already way disproportionate to the crime, but in his desperation to balance his budget Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is planning to ask for the sixth increase in his time in office. Is it a policy move because parking violations are becoming some kind of civic nuisance? Uh, no. It's about money — and parking after the street sweeper comes could cost you a day's pay.
Superior Court judge Kathleen Kennedy dismissed the DA's two-year-old perjury and voter fraud case against City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca Alarcon, saying the prosecution failed to present evidence to the grand jury that undercut its case. Prosecutors indicated they would refile the charges.
I missed this note on Alice Walton's site this morning. The City Hall reporter who launched The City Maven in 2010 as a newly minted master's degree holder will now blog on the KPCC website. Read more
City Attorney opinions "failed to exercise the skill, prudence, and diligence required of attorneys when they are formulating advice," says the mayor's lawyer. The chief deputy city attorney scoffs in response.
Jon Regardie, editor of the Downtown News, has some Mobius Strip-inspired fun with the Los Angeles Fire Department's confusing messages about its response time on fire and ambulance calls.
Mayor Villaraigosa just announced that he's appointing the police department's former crime stats head as Interim Director of Statistical Analysis and Review at the fire department.
Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner is providing this map letting residents click on any Los Angeles Fire Department station to see the local response time stats.
The Carmen Trutanich for DA campaign paid marketing firms to rustle up YouTube views for his campaign videos, then sent out a press release crowing about how the videos' popularity showed the city attorney had broad support, the LA Times reports.
For Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino's inaugural party in San Pedro on Saturday, the other members of the City Council butcher his name for fun on video.
Assessor John Noguez under investigation, Sheriff Baca sorry for breaking the law, Rep. Brad Sherman not moving and more.
Assemblyman Mike Feuer formally announced his candidacy for City Attorney this morning. He lost to Rocky Delgadillo in 2001.
Martin Gomez, the head librarian for Los Angeles since 2009, will become vice dean in the USC Libraries on April 2.
Judy Graeme noticed an especially bad sidewalk rupture on Prosser Avenue, just below Pico in Rancho Park.
He shows up at the Lakers training gym going up against Rick Fox, and at the LAPD asking then-Chief Bernard Parks for a detective job, in this 2001 video spoof.
As City Attorney Carmen Trutanich inches closer to his inevitable admission that, yes, he is running for DA despite previously saying he wouldn't, some law enforcement say his campaign has been fudging its endorsement list.
Councilmembers Jan Perry and Bill Rosendahl reacted generally positively to the design, while Councilman Ed Reyes said the project should include more benefits for the area's residents.
When the last campaign fundraising reports came in six months ago, Austin Beutner's camp crowed how he was setting the money pace for the 2013 candidates for mayor. This time, they are pooh-poohing any of that.
Periodic campaign reports are due Tuesday, so the day before brings the press releases trying to grab a headline (or prevent a headline) for a factoid that matters little at this stage.
KCET's weekly news show "SoCal Connected" will receive this year's Public Service Award from the Los Angeles Press Club for exposing "lavish and out of control spending at the Los Angeles Housing Authority.
Ace Smith and Sean Clegg, the longtime Nothern California-based political advisers to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have left the mayoral campaign of businessman Austin Beutner in the days since he gave a policy speech criticizing City Hall.
Greuel joins City Council President Herb Wesson and the Times in backing the LAPD cop in the race. For the Times, the endorsement comes with a caution that Buscaino is not all that impressive.
The office of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has just distributed a summary of Occupy members charged, sentenced or awaiting a resolution of their arrests in the Nov. 30 raid outside City Hall
It can't be a bad sign for your chances when the incoming president of the City Council publicly endorses your campaign to be elected to said council.
City Councilman Paul Krekorian's latest emailed newsletter got my attention, and not for any of the headlines or stories.
In stories posted within minutes of each other, one top deputy to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the mayor most everything, and another says he knew nothing.
Even though Mayor Villaraigosa's office now admits the boss approved the sweet golden parachute with Rudolf Montiel, interim Housing Authority chief Ken Simmons "is resigning at the Mayor's request."
KCET quotes deputy chief of staff saying Villaraiogsa knew of and approved deal with Rudolf Montiel.
Controller Wendy Greuel and her predecessor issue letters on the deal given Rudolf Montiel.
Photographer Iris Schneider has been documenting the Occupy LA camp almost from the start, and she went back this morning to see what remains.
The breakdown is 290 booked for failure to disperse, one for battery on a police officer and one for interfering with an officer.
Raid looks like it's about to happen.
Deputy Mayor Matt Szabo told reporters today that Occupy LA will be cleared out some time next week, and the mayor's office followed with a statement.
Current president Eric Garcetti will nominate Councilman Herb Wesson to succeed him.
Bids are due on Friday to work four months for the City Council's redistricting commission, for as much as $100,000.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry talks with Conan Nolan on NBC 4's News Conference about the city's redistricting process being tainted by politics.
The news site has been a welcome addition from day one, reporting on City Hall moves and politics without rants, hidden agendas or anonymous comments.
It appears the relationship is chilling between City Hall's politicos and the encampment of protesters outside on the lawn.
Many cities ban plastic bags, but Los Angeles city councilman Paul Koretz also wants to forbid stores from providing you with paper bags.
The latest to form a fundraising committee is Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who filed so he can accept checks to finance a run for District Attorney, if DA Steve Cooley decides not to seek reelection in 2012.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-5 this morning to stop work on the annexation application of the heavily lobbied Las Lomas project in Newhall Pass. Rick Orlov and Kerry...
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Clinton fundraises in LA
Jim Henson Studios on La Brea became a presidential campaign stop on Thursday.
Brown declares disaster area
The natural gas leak above Porter Ranch now qualifies for various government actions. Story
Performing arts with cheer
Donna Perlmutter closes out 2015 with productions downtown and on the Westside.
