Mayor's School Takeover Teetering?
The San Jose Mercury News reports that Villaraigosa's plan to take over the LAUSD "is in danger of collapsing in the Legislature where Democrats are deeply divided over its reach and impact on teachers." "Speaker Fabian Nunez, a close friend of the mayor, warned him in a phone call Thursday that it could fall apart unless Villaraigosa makes a lobbying trip to Sacramento next week to personally pressure legislators and interest groups."
The Mayor, the story goes, will therefore spend yet another week away from L.A., supposedly because he needs to lobby legislators.
So here's the question for you: Do you think the plan is actually in danger of collapsing in the Legislature? Or is this instead just a "set-up" by the Mayor and Nunez to create the appearance of a challenge that the Mayor, through charisma, hard work, and airfare, will overcome?
In answering, please address the following issue: How the heck would we know what Nunez said to Villaraigosa in a phone call unless they WANTED us to know, and why would they want us to know this?
Me, I think it smells like a puppet show.
Posted by Walter Moore @ 6/15/2006 05:00:00 PM
18 Comments:
Do you hurt? When the two amigos pull puppet strings, it hurts.
I can't decide which ethnopolitician I like less. Villaraigosa, Nunez or Cedillo? They're all so dislikable.
Wacko, this time you may be on to something. Or Fabian might just be a big mouth.
Of course its a set up. AV doesn't have the brains to resolve anything on his own. He waits and works other people and then when all is said and done comes to the rescue as if he's the hero. Don't trust Fabian! Why isn't any LA media reporting how much time AV has spent out of the city since being elected? ARe they afraid of him?
When is the La Antonio Times going to end the honeymoon ?
Where there is AV and Fabian, there is sure to be "little buddy Kevin". Wonder where he weighs in with all of this? After all, he's the supposed winner this fall to represent us. First he tells the union he's on their side, then he ditches them for AV's endorsement and supports AV's plan. I'll make a wager. Actually, I'll make two wagers for bragging rights. First I'll bet you that Kevin is holding his breath because this issue will either make him or break him this fall. I also wager that we won't see much of Kevin around the district in July because he will have gone to the World Cup with Fabian on the $25K fundraiser trip. NOTE: there is a mumps epidemic in Germany. So Kevin can either have puffy cheeks due to holding his breath or catching the mumps.
BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fallow DreamsEmpty talk doomed South Central Farm
By DANIEL HERNANDEZ
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - 7:00 pm
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/fallow-dreams/13785/
For almost a year, the farmers had tried to arrange for the city to buy the property from Horowitz, who publicly stated he was amenable to the idea as long as he could get his asking price of $16 million. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had tried to negotiate that sale on Monday morning, but said Horowitz refused the offer.
“Today’s events are unfortunate, disheartening, and unnecessary,” said Villaraigosa in a statement Tuesday.
Open Letter to Antonio Villaraigosa, Re: Evictions
259 Reads
SOUTH CENTRAL FARMERS AND LINCOLN PLACE EVICTIONS -
OPEN LETTER TO ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA
From: Jim Smith
Memo to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa:
Dear Brother Antonio,
It�s been a long time since our union days when we could sit down together and have a drink with friends while discussing the issues of the day. But if we could do it today, I'd like to steer the conversation to the South Central farmers www.southcentralfarmers.com, who are fighting to save L.A.'s largest urban farm and a source of nutritious food for poor people and to Lincoln Place www.lincolnplace.net, where tenants are fighting to save their homes and 696 affordable garden apartments. As you well know, there have been massive evictions at both Lincoln Place and the South Central Farm ...
Could we have a civil conversation? I understand that you sometimes get angry when the tenants and the farmers demand that you take action on their behalf. Well, politics is a funny "business." Lots of people have entered the arena with intentions of doing what's right for the poor and powerless only to be seduced by big money and power.
Before you know it, political officials who come from working class neighborhoods are wearing sharkskin suits, living high on lobbyists' bankrolls and being "pragmatic" about issues that used to inspire them. Let's just hope, Antonio, that you can conquer this addicting demon, and return to being a "peoples hero." Everybody knows that you've got a touch of the disease. Some of us saw it coming a few years ago when you tried to ace out your boyhood chum, Gilbert Cedillo, and grab a state senate seat for which he had been campaigning. I believe Gil endorsed Hahn in the last mayoral election. Too bad.
Now the L.A. Times says you're playing footsie with the Terminator, because you want to succeed Schwarzenegger as Governor in four years. Others say it's the Vice Presidency that you're after. In either case, the Lincoln Place tenants and the South Central farmers can't do much for you. They certainly won't fatten your campaign treasury. Only AIMCO and other big corporations and developers can do that for you. Another clue that you�re focusing on higher office came during Mexican President Vicente Fox's visit to L.A. in May when you refused to even discuss immigration policy with him. Have we already lost you to the political consultants for your next campaign?
So what�s it gonna be, Antonio? Do you want to be just another slick media star who will do almost anything to move up the political ladder? Or do you want to do something meaningful with your life and your position?
It just might be that the tenants and the farmers could be your salvation. If you step in and push the city council to declare eminent domain at Lincoln Place and at the Farm, and then help to raise the money to pay for it, you'll be hailed as a real "peoples hero."
Let me suggest a role model. When he was elected mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was confronted with even bigger problems than you are. Instead of hob-nobbing with the rich, he ended corruption, put thousands to work with public works projects, planned - and completed - extensions to the subway system, and on top of it, instituted a monthly stipend of $65 U.S. for all senior citizens. That's enough to buy food, prescription drugs or pay the rent in Mexico.
Did thumbing his nose at the high rollers mean the end of L�pez Obrador�s political career? Just the opposite! He left office with an unheard of 83 percent favorable rating, and is now running for President as the candidate of a third party. And, he has a good chance of winning!
Granted, this is not Mexico (although it used to be). But we do have a lot in common with that country. Like a similar economic stratification pyramid. And a population that is fed up with business as usual, and is looking for someone, anyone, they can really trust. It could be you, Antonio. And it can all start by doing the right thing for Lincoln Place and the South Central farmers.
What's the downside? Well, there would be no more free rides in Ameriquest's private jet. But the upside could be the beginning of unimagined popularity, and perhaps the salvation of your immortal soul.
Your pal, Jim
http://www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1940
You dum dums... it's supposed to fail in the legislature.
With all the teacher's unions money in Sacramento, Antonio's plan never had a chance... by design.
This is a balloon, floated to get the prospect of failure into the media -- so that Antonio can look statesmanlike in succeeding chapters, even as he fails. With this fight, he plays in a big arena, with extra media attention, championing "better schools." It's a great role for him. It doesn't matter if he wins.
Antonio wins by failing, if Fabian helps him save face.
Pancho's taking over the schools would lay a ton of liability at his feet that he probably wouldn't have been able to successfully handle. Since the district will be in shambles regardless, he will come off being able to say, "well, if you'd only given me a shot, things might have been different."
Some of this is the most absurd, juvenile analysis of politics I have ever seen. I thought this was supposed to be the savvy crowd...? So far, from all I've seen, "dum-dums" is right.
Antonio doesn't win by losing. He loses by losing. Political defeats are rarely, if ever, by design - and when they prove to be fortuitous, it can only be attributed to the fickle winds of fate, not to clever strategy.
In fact, the Mayor is obsessed with winning this fight - so much so that, according to his staff, he doesn't have the mental RAM (or the attention span) to focus on anything else. No one is home. No one is running the show. There's no rooster in that henhouse. ...which is why, of course, his administration has done little or nothing but talk a big game and appoint a bunchy of surly commission members. There's no there there.
So the mayor is committed to this takeover and he will really go and try to win over the legislature next week. Maybe he will and maybe he won't. It is curious that they've put it all out there for our consideration.
But even if he does win, he loses, because it will be at the cost of the small vestige of support he still maintains among the politically active in LA.
Bypassing the voters...declaring war on grassroots political engagement by shutting out the NCs...creating a still-more massive bureacracy by combining an ailing city with a near-death school district... Antonio is going down and he's going down hard.
Have to say, it kind of makes me happy. And I voted for the guy.
Hard to tell who's more inept, LAUSD or AV. Even if AV doesn't put any more effort for this "takeover", LAUSD will do what it can to continue its spiral out of control. Along with the unions, it's not a power grab, it's a money grab. And who loses no matter what the scenario? The students of LAUSD, who continue to lose ground. Pathetic display by all.
I have to agree with Jim Smith. (which is kinda rare) I keep thinking that Antonio will return back to his former "people's guy" self too. Unfortunately, I think it's too far gone for that now. He's gone to the dark side.
This is a question, not an argument: do you think the teacher's union genuinely objects to having their former representative, Villaraigosa, become the titular head of the schools? (Beavis, he said "titular.")
I personally believe they do genuinely oppose it, because it's easier to control the schools if there's a separate entity, ignored by the public, with no other group throwing money at candidates.
But I could imagine that this, too, is a puppet show. Any thoughts?
The fact is a lot of the legislatures are asking "WHERE IS THE PROPOSAL?" How can they support something when there is nothing concrete being offered up? Good point. Also there are many schools in outlining LA like Glendale, Burbank etc. who are against this. Yup, the fact that Antonio is bypassing the voters has people upset. How much time, energy, and tax dollars has this cost us since AV's been in office. What has he done since being elected except whine about wanting this takeover? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Could there be another reason Fabian wants AV other then the school takeover and this is all a scam?
Villaraigosa is in deep shit from all sides. First of all, thanks to the Mar. 25 "Gran Marcha" and "We clean your toilets" fiasco, Angelenos have awakened from their deep sleep. And just last week it was the squatters on Alameda st. DEMANDING that they be allowed to continue squatting on private property. And two weeks ago, it was the huge defeat of Prop. 82.
At the heart of everything is the fact that Americans across the country are fed up and mad as hell over illegal immigration. And Villaraigosa will always have the mark of Zorro emblazoned on his forehead..."I" for ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION'.
He can never erase the stigma of anti-Americanisam that will plague him for the rest of what's left of his political career.
He will be the 'kiss of death' for any political party who chooses to endorse him on any level. He will become a 'political pariah'. This is only the beginning.
Because of his adulation of the tv lens, his anti-American remarks will follow him everywhere. He will never escape things like "I will work closely with Mexico in shaping my policies">
I hope that we can write his political epitaph sooner rather than later. Recall Villaraigosa LAwatchdog.com.
"Antonio wins by failing, if Fabian helps him save face."
This makes the most sense. Look at what Riordan did for his 8 years in office. He got re-elected just because "he tried" meaning half-assed attempts to accomplish something but folks smarter and wiser knowing it was going to fail.
LEt's take this a step further, What about the Subway to the Ocean? What progress if any has he done on this?
ZERO, it's a dog and pony show that gets the public THINKING that he's doing something all the while folks behind the scenes know he's full of shit.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home