Recently in Election 2009 Category

Mayor committed to city
Chastened and humbled, Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa took the oath of office Wednesday for a second term, saying he wants to be held accountable for promises he will "write in concrete rather than poetry" and pledging to focus on "deadlines over headlines." Daily News.

On a warm and sunny afternoon with more than 1,000 supporters on the South Lawn of City Hall, Villaraigosa said he recognizes he still has much to do to return to the popularity he had when he first took office four years ago.

Greuel, Trutanich promise transparency

A paper name plate reading City Attorney Carmen Trutanich covered the Rocky Delgadillo signs on his eighth floor office Wednesday as workers also finished installing Controller Wendy Greuel's new signs on her third floor office. Daily News

And, on the first day of their new job, the two showed clearly they plan to be different from their predecessors with the promise of greater independendence and more public transparency.

New LAUSD members
Two new school board members were sworn in to the Los Angeles Unified School District's board of education Wednesday, launching the district's 155th year. Connie Llanos in the Daily News

Nury Martinez, representing the east San Fernando Valley, replaced 22-year school board veteran Julie Korenstein in District 6. Steve Zimmer, representing parts of West Los Angeles and the West Valley, replaced Marlene Canter in District 4.

With the city facing one of its worst economic crises, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be sworn in today to his second term of office, with a more humble tone and promises of specific goals to get the city moving.Daily News.

"You can call it a rededication to the job and a demand for accountability," spokesman Matt Szabo said. "Accountability from him and from others."

Villaraigosa, who was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote last March against a crowded field of relatively unknown and underfunded candidates, feels a sense of humility and appreciation in being re-elected to a second term, Szabo said.

Greuel optimistic about Controller's job

Her last day as a member of the City Council carried a number of surprises for Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. Daily News

They included proclamations, flowers, a sudden appearance by her husband, Dean Schramm and son, Thomas, in the City Council chambers and an hour-long tribute by the people she has worked with since 2002 - hailing her as the city's Pothole Queen for her inner toughness and sunny demeanor.

Bargain hunters at Woodland Hills Camera & Telescopes moaned this spring when a 1 percent increase in the sales tax boosted the cost of binoculars, tripods and lenses.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Customers at the San Fernando Valley shop and other stores in the region will grumble even louder this week, when the sales tax in Los Angeles County rises an additional half-percent or a half-cent on the dollar.

Beginning Wednesday, the sales tax in Los Angeles County will reach 9.75 percent because of voter-approved

Out with the old....

Every politician reaches that point when it's time to move on - usually because they've been voted out of office or, these days, face term limits. Daily News.

Los Angeles Unified school board members Julie Korenstein and Marlene Canter decided to step down on their own - allowing two new members to join the seven-person board at a time when many fear the district's basic survival is at risk.

In with the new....
Just days before the start of their terms on the Los Angeles Unified school board, Steve Zimmer and Nury Martinez are not daunted by the monumental challenge facing the nation's second-largest district. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The pair starts work Wednesday with the district shackled by a $1.1 billion deficit over the next three years, a frustrated work force frightened of further layoffs and a community clamoring for reform.

TIPOFFS: A new round of political guessing games to start.

City Council candidate Christene Essel announced Monday that she has hired a campaign team that has been among the most successful in recent local elections, including that of Councilwoman Wendy Greuel.
"My campaign is about making L.A. work," Essel said. "I have worked to put together a campaign team that will help me deliver this message to the voters of the 2nd District."
The race is to fill out the two years left in the seat being vacated by Greuel, who was elected at City Controller.
John Shallman, who managed Greuel's successful campaign for Controller as well as that of City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich, will serve as general consultant for the campaign. Shallman also has managed a number of other City Council races.
Essel also has hired pollsters John Fairbank and Jonathan Brown of Public Opinoin Research ***Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, whose campaigns have included Greuel, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavksy and Attorney General Jerry Brown, among others.
Tom Berman, who also worked on Greuel's campaign and several others, will serve as campaign manager.

Days from the start of his second term, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has earned tepid job approval ratings from city voters, and a plurality opposes his entrance into the upcoming race for governor, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll.

Los Angeles' brooding electorate, battered by job losses and home foreclosures that rise above national and state trends, feels strongly that the city is on the wrong track. And almost half believes the city needs to move in a direction different from that charted by Villaraigosa, rebuking the policies of a mayor they reelected a little more than three months ago.

Councilman-elect Paul Koretz said today he has hired Chief Deputy City Attorney Rich Llewellyn to serve as his chief of staff for when he takes office on July 1.
Llewellyn has an extensive City Hall background, having worked as chief deputy for City Council President Eric Garcetti and for former Councilman Marvin Braude.
former Supervisor Ed Edelman.
Koretz said he is continuing to interview for other staff jobs.
One interesting tidbit is that Koretz and his opponent, Neighborhood Council leader David Vahedi, have yet to have direct contact over the election.
Vahedi has conceded the contest, but only through the media and messages he left for Koretz.
"I understand it," Koretz said. "It was a pretty rough and tumble campaign and neither of us feel particularly warm and fuzzy toward each other at this point."

With his opponent finally conceding last month's runoff election, former Assemblyman Paul Koretz on Saturday said he finally feels comfortable with the title of councilman-elect for the 5th City Council District.
"I guess that makes it somewhat semi-official," Koretz said after being told that opponent David Vahedi was conceding the election. "It gives me a chance to complete some interviews and begin to hire a staff."
Vahedi, on Friday, told the Daily News he was conceding the close-fought election as returns continue to come in and widening the gap between the two.
The most recent figures show Vahedi trailing 17,825 to 19,547 for Koretz.The final returns are expected June 19.
Koretz said he also has begun to think about committee assignments he would like to see once he takes office officially on July 1.
"Transportation is one of the top issues for the district," Koretz said. "On the west side, we have severe problems and in the Valley, I would like to see us expand the Orange Line."
He also is interested in government efficiency and environmental issues, areas in which he has worked as a member of the state Assembly.
Koretz is succeeding Councilman Jack Weiss, who gave up the seat to run for City Attorney.
Since the election, Koretz said he has been trying to deal with calls from constituents who are urging him to try to influence city decisions.
"I'm not in the office yet and I tell them to wait just a bit longer," Koretz said.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and mayors from some of the state's largest cities head off to Sacramento again on Tuesday to try to head of more cuts as the state goes back into its gudget.
Vilaraigosa and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin will meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.
The state has a $24 billion shortfall and and is considering plans to borrow money from local government as well as cuts in services, taking local gas tax dollars and reducing funding for police, fire and transportation services.
It is the second trip by Villaraigosa and the mayors to Sacrament since the special election where voters rejected four ballot propostions.

Tipoffs: Wendy Greuel prepares to take office: City Council facing its own furloughs.

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, is renting an apartment in Valley Glen to meet the residency deadline as he considers a run for the Los Angeles City Council. Daily News.

The last day to move into the district to be eligible to run in the special election is Saturday.

Even before all the ballots were counted in the race for city attorney, the rumors began flying that Councilman Jack Weiss would be hired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for a $200,000 a year job in his office. Daily News.

Villaraigosa and his aides deny it. Weiss also denies it.

Yet it continues to make its way around, usually with a subject header: "Can you believe this?" or "This cannot be allowed to stand."

The Los Angeles County government stands to lose a "catastrophic" $1.8 billion under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget-balancing plan, officials said Wednesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

In a report to the Board of Supervisors, CEO Bill Fujioka warned that the county could lose $1.5 billion in state revenues through June 30, 2010, plus an additional $302 million in property tax revenues the state may seek to borrow from the county.

That action could force the county to cut more than 380,000 people from the welfare rolls and make numerous other reductions in mental health, health and social service programs. The county would also lose $109 million earmarked to repair potholes and maintain infrastructure.

Even as conservative groups bask in their recent legal victory upholding the ban on gay marriage in California, gay-rights supporters remain confident the tide of history is on their side.
Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Calling their cause a logical extension of the civil-rights struggle in America, they see the success of that movement predicting their own eventual victory, whether through the courts or new ballot measures.

Backers of traditional marriage, however, say it's unfair to compare the two - that the question of defining marriage does not parallel the struggle against the repression of ethnic minorities.