Greig Smith May Chair Public Safety
Rumor has it that Council President Alex Padilla will appoint Greig Smith as Chair of Public Safety over the loud objections of Councilman Jack Weiss.
I'd take a prosecutor over an out of shape reserve cop any day as Chair of Public Safety. When i was Chief my officers were unfortunately not known for their brains -- the DA was usually cleaning up the LAPD's messes and its the same today. Making Greig Smith chair doesn't do justice to anyone hoping for safer streets and better neighborhoods.
Padilla may have made a mistake here, you can appoint Greg Smith to that seat if you like, but you risk losing your Council Presidency if you upset Councilman Jack Weiss too much.
I know folks don't think i know too much, I mean nevermind the fact that there is building with my name on it across the street from City Hall, so how can i know anything at all.
But let the Chief warn Mr. Padilla now -- you are running for State Senate, Greig Smith will not oppose you, no matter what you do. But i do think we did see as a City what Jack can do -- if you forgot call up Jim Hahn.
I'd take a prosecutor over an out of shape reserve cop any day as Chair of Public Safety. When i was Chief my officers were unfortunately not known for their brains -- the DA was usually cleaning up the LAPD's messes and its the same today. Making Greig Smith chair doesn't do justice to anyone hoping for safer streets and better neighborhoods.
Padilla may have made a mistake here, you can appoint Greg Smith to that seat if you like, but you risk losing your Council Presidency if you upset Councilman Jack Weiss too much.
I know folks don't think i know too much, I mean nevermind the fact that there is building with my name on it across the street from City Hall, so how can i know anything at all.
But let the Chief warn Mr. Padilla now -- you are running for State Senate, Greig Smith will not oppose you, no matter what you do. But i do think we did see as a City what Jack can do -- if you forgot call up Jim Hahn.
Posted by Anonymous @ 6/08/2005 05:31:00 PM
20 Comments:
Stupid move by Padilla. Who has more power right now, Greig Smith (last time I saw him, he was asleep in a transportation commitee meeting) or Jack Weiss who delivered the Westside for Antonio and is one of AV's chief advisors. This is why Padilla is just an empty suit.
What exactly did Weiss prosecute? Rumor is it was fish and game stuff.
Its a generally accepted fact that Weiss is an idiot.
Who would win a spelling bee between Jack Weiss and Alex Padilla???
Who is a closer advisor to AV, Jack Weiss or Bob Hertzberg? Who will AV endorse for City Attorney in 2009, Jack Weiss or Bob Hertzberg?
Lameboy Padilla is the idiot. He doesn't have a clue. Weiss is also an idiot so its a toss up. Greg Smith at least had the brains put a proposal in front of council to get more cops. What has Weiss done? Nothing worth mentioning. You would never know he went to law school.
DUDE, weiss is running for city attorney in 2006 when delga doody get ag and runs every AMP (but not the aromatherapy joints in latino areas??) OUT OF the state.
Hertzberg ran to help his book of business at mayer brown. hertzberg has expensive tastes and even remembers me which means he is a complete reewinder. the great white hope is out of politics.
as for weiss, the guy won a seat in CD5 with the last name weiss and irell and manella backing him so that abshuzz guy could have his prick in there.
citywide? come on - any latino with any ganas runs, weiss will be back to billing hours at irell in the employment department.
This site is as useless as a hat full of busted assholes and your analysis of city politics (endorsing hertzberg??) sucks the ass of a thousand arabs.
Gotta agree with a lot, but disagree with some.
Weiss was an Assistant U.S. Attorney; they prosecute Federal crimes, not fish and game violations.
Weiss also beat Tom Hayden when Hatden was a big name and Weiss was unknown, so give him some credit; he has stones.
Abshez doesn't run Weiss or anyone else; he is a hack who talks too much.
No one runs Weiss; he makes judgements (not all good) and goes with them. But his recent picks in politics have been sound; Laura Chick and Antonio are solid vote getters and they both owe him.
It is just that he probably supported Garcetti in the recent go around and Padilla probably had Greig's vote. If that is correct (it is just a guess), it would provide the reason for Smith to be rewarded, albeit temporarily.
It's just that it won't last long, because the deal is for Padilla to keep a tenuous hold on the gavel for a little while more and then for Eric to be President and Alex goes off to campaign for the Senate.
When Eric takes over, he'll make wholesale changes in favor of those who supported him, so it will be a whole reshuffle and Jack will be back (just in time to run for CA when it is open).
Right about Hertzberg wanting CA but Weiss can beat him, especially with AV's endorsement.
Hertzberg already has his "payoff" from AV; he's "Chair of the Transition Committee", all 82 of them. Think they are meeting and making appointments? Guess again. It is all show. The commmittee is collecting and sorting resumes, period.
The actual appointments are made by AV with recomendations by Robin Kramer.
Hertzberg's title is what he bargained for in the endorsement derby. He had to sign an ethics pledge that he would not do business with the City for a year to get it. Why would he do that? Maybe ego?
Bobzilla is through as a candidate, similar to Soboroff, he took his shot and lost. Having lost (not just lost, ran third) he won't get the support again since he no longer looks like a winner. This is his 15 minutes.
To be AG, Rocky has to get past Jerry Brown. He might just do it, but if he does, Jack is the odds on favorite now to follow him.
Finally, Alex is a smart guy, not an idiot. He just tries to play it a bit close to the vest.
Remember, Alex has an engineering degree from MIT, Jack went to Princton and has a J.D. from UCLA; Eric has a degree from Harvard and was a Rhodes Scholar. What about Greig?
Just for some perspective and to defunct the importance of the Public Safety Chair position, do you guys know who was the Chair of this Committee when the Rodney King riots broke? It was Richard Alatorre. Chief Gates got what he wanted from the city because he had the goods on Alatorre's drug habit - buyers, film, witnesses - the whole deal. The Public Safety Committee was nothing more than an extension of the LAPD and Gates and his officers acted as such, in full view of the world.
Since then more emphasis and power has been placed on the police commission. The public safety chair is an honorable exile at best, a dead end council position at worst. Do you guys actually think Weiss wants this position when Tony the Liar bucks the national trend and enforces article 40? With all those criminal illegal aliens out there and a city that just overwhlmeningly elected a Latino as mayor, Alex is doing Weiss a favor here. Bratton won't let anyone else take credit for his efforts, glory seekers Tony, Alex and Weiss know this, Smith is indifferent - just like Alatorre, the perfect Chair for this position.
The two most powerful chair positions are Public Safety and Budget Finance. People were shocked that Lameboy Padilla gave that to Parks last year. Smith would be better chair on Public Safety. He's a reserve officer and knows the ins and outs. Weiss made a complete ass out of himself last year with the Stanley Miller flashlight beating. When Bratton was in chambers giving a report to councilmembers, knowing full well Stanley Miller's attorney had to be watching Idiot Weiss asked the most sensitive questions Bratton could not answer in front of TV cameras and he knew it. Weiss was grandstanding and people were shocked he would be that stupid.
No way in hell Latinos would vote for Weiss with AV endorsement or not. Just because AV is mayor-elect people are putting too much emphasis on his support. AV has his own baggage and it's slowly coming out.
Los Angeles County's former AIDS program director violated state law and "created the appearance or concern of bias" when he asked county employees and contractors to give money to Antonio Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign, according to a confidential report obtained Wednesday by The Times.
Charles L. "Chuck" Henry solicited contributions from five county employees as well as from officials with at least five AIDS-treatment community groups while he ran the office that helps pick which vendors receive lucrative county treatment contracts, the report said.
State law prohibits local government employees from asking colleagues for campaign money.
I've seen Bobzilla in City hall at least twice a week since being named, so I doubt it is window dressing as "crackhead" states. He's way to smart to have gotten himself involved, signed a pledge which would cost him business, and then just become a puppet. In Sac he was the brains behind Tony's polished salesman routine, and that will probably continue now.
Weiss couldn't fight his way out of a paperbag. Head to head Bobzilla would destroy him. The only reason Weiss was all over the city is because his lips were stuck to Tony's ass in an effort to get the endorsement 4 years from now. Once Bob was out, he dragged Bob all over the city for support, whereas Weiss chased Tony around to join the spotlight.
Garcetti rearranges anyways, so this new assignmentis the true window dressing.
weiss over hayden was like zine over hirshberg. all that happened was a few hundred more people got to the polls (in zine's case no doubt his buddies at the frisky kitty strip club and in weiss' case the repubs in CD5 all 250 of em).
bob hertzberg does whatever will get him closer to any one or more of an open checkbook with a $50,000 retainer or a klieg light. Given his looks, he shoudl stick with the former.
AV got all the westside money which is hertzberg's last hope to generate biz his existing clients consisting of garbagemen (no shit).
As for weiss, look, he is a natural hack. his folks have been running him for politics since the advent of the wheel. he hates the job i am sure, but it is critical to his dad that he win. weiss took a big gamble against hayden, he could have run for something smaller or waited for an opening in the assembly, but our boy weiss is going to washington - even if he has to throw waxman over the 405 to do it - berman's seat will be gone in 2010 and it will be between waxman's son and weiss and maybe some of the other rans (koretz, svonkin, land, cherny, waldman (lol), levine).
Hertzberg teamed up with AV not to get work from the city, he wants work from dick ziman. If bob gets AV to give arden favors who do you think gets the reach around?
Dummmies.
best money bob did not spend was to come in third.
Anon 1:07
While you think you know a lot, you know very little. You sound like a bitter staffer.
Being Bob's assistant, I can personally vouch for the fact that
a) Bob doesn't need to chase retainers around to make money. If he did, why would he sign the pledge prohibiting him from doing business with the city. Doesn't make much sense, now does it.
b) AV and Bob both got plenty of westside money, and as even AV's people will tell you, the Westside money didn't free up until Bob lost in the primary.
c) Actually knowing who his clients are, I can tell you none of them are "garbagemen".
d) Hertzberg didn't team up with AV to get Ziman or his business. Check the dates. ZiMAN CHAIRED Hertzberg's campaign against Antonio in the primary, long before Bob endorsed AV. The go way back.
My advice, go climb back under your rock.
Weiss was the only guy on the council smart enough to side with MEAV. He is an amiable but serious guy and will be the next City Attorney.
Weiss is a self-important creep who walks around thinking that he is better than everyone else.
Ask anyone: Jack thinks he is better than the people that elected him.
Didn't it come out that Hertzberg had those energy clients that hurt him in the election? Not only that Huggy was being paid $20,000 per month by his law firm while campaigning. I want to know what for?
Weiss is a lost cause. No one on council likes him. He's been kissing Antonio's ass for months now. If the election was held today Weiss vs Huggy I would put my money on the Golden Bear. All anyone has to do is watch council tapes and see what an idiot Weiss sounds like when he tries to grandstand. Losing support fast on Westside.
The chief is offering wisdom to the dum-dums.
"Weiss is a lost cause. No one on council likes him."
To me, that's a good sign...
Jack Weiss defines what we should all want in our public servants. The readers of this blog might think this statement is coming from a Weiss true believer, but rest assured, there is no such thing.
Jack has not been a perfect councilman to date but where he has failed in his district came at the expense of his helping our city as a whole.
Instead of being a partner in a major law firm now, Jack has forgone the easy road of private sector life for the high profile thankless grind of public life.
Nothing will deter him from his pursuit of public service and striving for the greater good.
He'll continue this commitment as City Attorney. Unlike Bob, Jack has a real interest in using this office as an enforcer of the law, a tool to make Los Angeles a safer city. Bob is trying to stay relevant and from what I hear in the Villaraigosa transition world his relevance is quickly disappearing.
Come on people, Jack Weiss is the real thing. It has been so long since the real thing has existed in politics that we forget to look for it.
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