"TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON DAY" in Los Angeles.....and some "Looking Ahead"

Dawn rises on "thee day" in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON", that being his effort to raise $1.5 million dollars, thus scaring off any other protential opponants to his re-election campaign besides Walter Moore.

With LA Times Reporter David Zahniser's reports at L.A. Now taking the weekend off, we turn to the Valley's "Fishwrap of Choice" the Daily News and political scribe duo of Rick Orlov and Kerry Cavanaugh for background on the Mayor's "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON DAY" festivities.

"Villaraigosa really hits his stride on Sunday, with four back-to-back fundraisers. He starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Brentwood home of private equity manager Frank Biondi ( Former head of Universal). Then it's off to a 1:30 p.m. reception at the Beverly Hills home of real estate investor Simon Mani (Republican Donor). At 4 p.m., the mayor will schmooze in Westwood with businessman Sim Farar (Big time democratic donor), and then he ends the day with a 6 p.m. Beverly Hills reception hosted by the Persian-American community (H. David Nahai aka, "E. Pluribus Waterwaster" and friends).

Villaraigosa has already held three out-of-state fundraisers. One in Florida, another hosted by Mayor Richard Daley in Chicago and another at the New York City pad of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Villaraigosa is racing to raise as much money as he can as early as he can to scare off potential challengers for. Political observers are keeping an eye on mall mogul Rick Caruso, who has toyed with the idea of running. But it's unlikely that multi-millionaire Caruso would be intimidated by Villaraigosa's war chest."

Rick Orlov also has a extensive front page missive on the Mayor "looking forward" to his last year of his four year term on the "Third Floor", some comments should cause Mayor "AnVil" some consternation and concern.

But David Diaz, an urban studies professor at California State University, Los Angeles, said he would give Villaraigosa average marks.

"Given the excitement of his election and when he first came in, I think he's just been average," Diaz said

From Joel Kotkin,

Still, Villaraigosa's economic strategies are not without critics as he grapples with the budget shortfall and the prospect of layoffs if property tax and other revenues don't pick up soon.

"The economy is pretty much dead in the water and his strategy is all smoke and mirrors," said Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University.

"It's all based on real estate, and I think the city is in the worst shape it has been since the riots. Los Angeles has no real economic-development strategy."

From Gerald Silver, President of Homeowners of Encino,

Silver said he and others have long been concerned about overdevelopment and the resulting impacts.

"When it comes to issues like that, I would give him a D," Silver said. "What he has failed to do is link growth and development to consumption at a time when he is asking the rest of us to conserve.

"We can't wash our driveway down, yet a big new development that will use more water and power sails through."

Silver was among a key group of Valley homeowners who backed Villaraigosa four years ago against former Mayor James Hahn. Now, he said, he's not sure if he would support him for re-election. It depends on his opponents, and whether he makes additional improvements in the Valley.

........and the obvious observation,

Jaime Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Politics at California State University, Los Angeles, said it is such political matters that Villaraigosa has to address.

"I think he has done a reasonably good job in recovering from his problems last year. Maybe he's two-thirds recovered," Regalado said.

"But there certainly isn't the shine he had two years ago."