Saturday Scrum

Issue 1: Glory Days / Rockygate

How can you tell if a lawyer is lying? His lips move. Rocky Delgadillo, the City Attorney running for Attorney General has told people over the years that, in the words of the L.A. Times, "he made it out of his Eastside neighborhood by winning a football scholarship to Harvard University, where he was an Academic All-American before going on to become a professional football player." Turns out that what he meant to say all these years was, again in the words of the L.A. Times, "he never played in a pro football game and . . . his Harvard financial aid was not an athletic scholarship . . . ."

Issue 2: How Do You Say "Hypocrite" In Spanglish?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says speaking English in the United States is “common sense" and Congress should worry about "real” problems. This is the same man, you may recall, who responded to the President's State of the Union Address, on behalf of the Democratic Party, in Spanish.

Issue 3: Someone Wasn't Paying Attention In Corporations Class

In an effort to explain why he should control the LAUSD, Villaraigosa told NBC Channel 4's reporters, " Part of why we have a lack of accountability is we have seven school board members that are running the district instead of a superintendent running the district. If you went to a business, the board of directors do not run the company. The CEO and president runs the business."

Actually, Mr. Mayor, California Corporations Code Section 300 states, "the business and affairs of the corporation shall be managed and all corporate powers shall be exercised by or under the direction of the board." Plus, if his proposal goes through, how many people will be looking over the new superintendent's shoulder? Let's see: the Mayor himself; 15 City Council Members; and the mayors of what, 26 other cities?

Also, last time I checked, there actually is a Superintendent. His name is Romer. Does that ring a bell, Mr. Mayor?

Issue 4: Don't Like Montanez or Padilla? Vote Brown.

Someone recently asked me whether to vote for Montanez or Padilla -- and no, it wasn't my imaginary friend, Mr. Krendelfarb. I could only recount someone else's great quip from the mayoral general election: it's like chosing between Lyle and Eric Menendez. It turns out, there actually is an alternative candidate for whom you can vote: Pam Brown, a economics professor at Pierce College. Alas, I don't think she has any website. And some of you might be scared by the L-word: she's a Libertarian. But you do have an alternative, and if I lived in the relevant district, I would vote for her.

Issue 5: The Civics Portion of the High School Exit Exam

Remember the injunction requiring high schools to give diplomas to kids who fail the exit exam -- thereby slapping in the face all the students who worked their bottoms off to pass? Well, to their credit, lawyers for the California Department of Education pulled a clever manuver, bypassing the Court of Appeal and instead filing an appeal directly with the Supreme Court, which has decided to retain jurisdiction. So don't be surprised if, sometime next week, the Superior Court injunction is vacated.