Keeping in focus
Even as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivered his last citywide speech Monday before beginning a re-election campaign, political observers said he faces a challenging year ahead narrowing his focus and delivering on his promises for improvements to the city. Daily News.
In his third State of the City address, Villaraigosa outlined plans to attack Los Angeles' gang and financial crises, but political and city analysts said the mayor now needs to demonstrate to Los Angeles - and the state - that he can effect real change in governing the nation's second-largest city.
"Last year was a difficult year for him and, even though he seems on the uptick now, he has to have measurable deliverables," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles.