A little help from his friends

In the six years he has been in office, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has made public safety and the LAPD his top priority _ imposing a trash fee to hire more cops and protecting officers from teh furloughs other workers face.
Well, he;s getting a little love back as he deals with the controversy over tickets to events he has received and his appearnaces at high-profile games and concerts.
The Los Angeles Police Protedtive League _ the union representing officers _ posted a blog item defending the mayor's apperances
In part, it reads:

"The recent stories about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's acceptance of free tickets to entertainment and sporting events, which are now the subject of several investigations, avoids a very important subject that should be discussed: the need for the City of Los Angeles to have a Mayor (no matter who it is) who is dedicated to the economic growth of our community by strengthening existing business, attracting new people to the City and being our ambassador to the world.

In our view, the Mayor would not be doing his job if he were not attending the high-profile events that spotlight our City's accomplishments. We understand and support all the reporting requirements now in place, but if the issue comes down to money, then the Council should put money in the City budget to pay for the Mayor to attend high-profile events.

In order to keep the City of Los Angeles' economic engine going, we need our Mayor promoting Los Angeles as a great place to do business and to live. We need to have a Mayor who promotes business development, supports local professional sports teams, works with the business and development community and civic organizations to further economic development and bring jobs to Los Angeles."