"TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON", Day Eight, "A Weekend Recap"
What a weekend in the "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON" that has swept the "Special Interest" into a "pandering rush" to position favors and attached cash for consideration by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.With a busy weekend of trolling behind him, Mayor Villaraigosa takes a break today to preside over a "photo-op" highlighting his new gang intervention initative program, "Summer Night Life".
But lets return to LA Times Reporter David Zahniser who has a recap on this past weekend's "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON" festivities at the Times "L.A. Now" blog.
On Saturday morning, Villaraigosa looked for money from prominent gay and lesbian leaders -– including Bruce Cohen, the Hollywood producer whose marriage to art consultant Gabriel Catone was officiated by the mayor last week, according to a fund-raising invitation. Hours later, the mayor attended an outdoor event in Little Tokyo co-hosted by prominent Latino civic leaders.
On Sunday, we posted some background on the "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON DAY" events that were center in the Westside. Zahniser has more background on some of the "players" in this weekend's events.
* Christine Robert, whose consulting firm the Robert Group has worked for such agencies as Los Angeles World Airports, the Board of Public Works and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where Villaraigosa will become board chairman this week. The Robert Group received a $650,000 contract from the MTA last year to work on the Westside subway extension, a top priority of Villaraigosa's.(The way to Villar's heart).
* Sandra Figueroa-Villa, who heads the nonprofit group El Centro del Pueblo, one of several contractors with the anti-gang program L.A. Bridges. Villaraigosa recently gained direct oversight over more than $21 million in gang funding, and Figueroa-Villa's nonprofit is a likely competitor for some of that money. El Centro received $350,000 from L.A. Bridges over the past year and has been awarded more than $3.1 million from that program over eight years, according to an official with the city's Community Development Department. (Makes you wonder why Laura Chick won't audit the LA Bridges Program).
* Simon and Daniel Mani, whose real estate company has sued Los Angeles over its approval of a development project in downtown Los Angeles. The city's handling of that lawsuit was discussed much of last year by Villaraigosa's appointees at the Community Redevelopment Agency. (Wonder which way John Perez voted on this issue?).
* Tom Calderon, a consultant with the Calderon Group. Last year, Calderon was identified by The Times as one of three former elected officials who were lobbying politicians to support the city of Vernon's plan to build a new power plant on Boyle Avenue. (Wonder if Robert Urteaga tagged along with Calderon?).
Reached by The Times on Friday, Calderon was asked if he is still working on the power plant project, which has drawn protests from residents of Boyle Heights, a neighborhood once represented by Villaraigosa. "I really don't respond to press calls, thanks," Calderon said, shortly before he hung up.
.......and that answer should educate all about the current "State of Affairs" on the "third floor".
***Welcome home Ace!! Villaraigosa spokesman Ace Smith would not confirm whether all six events went off without a hitch; we must make do with the six invitations turned in to the Ethics Commission.
Labels: "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN AS JOSE HUIZAR" L.A. Now, "TROLL FOR DOUGH A-THON", Dav, mayor antonio villaraigosa, Mayor Antonio Villarigosa
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 6/30/2008 02:00:00 PM
9 Comments:
Pretty funny, because it's only been a few short years since the Mayor Sam blog team was back-slapping and high-fiving (right here on these pages), the fact that Tony V. had started out-fundraising then-Mayor Hahn. Oh, they were jumping for joy about that, and the REALLY funny part was that the money was coming from the same kind of people then, as now.
http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2005/04/villar-raises-over-650k.html
What f*cking hypocrites.
If it was good money when it toppled a mayor you hated. Why is it suddenly dirty money a couple dozen months later?
Oh Damn! OK yup it's funny. Well actually its a toss up. I thought this whole "troll" thing was refering to Antonio himself - being a smarmy little troll. RS' intent was that the smarmy lil troll was "trolling" for contributions. I should have recognized the differentiation but alas politics, and this lil troll in particular has many of us jaded and we have to articulate these missives with more care.
Hey didn't they say that wouldn't give LA Bridges anymore money because they found out it was corrupt? Didn't David Z report that one of the women in LA Bridges got over $3 mil and she had a fundraiser for the Mayor over the weekend? Didn't LA Times report last year LA Bridges donated to 6 city council members campaigns. Well, why the hell are they still giving them more money???
07-1959
APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS relative to Los Angeles Bridges II (LAB II) and Gang Reduction and
Youth Development Strategy.
1. AUTHORIZE the Controller to RE-APPROPRIATE $600,000 from the 2007-08 Unappropriated
Balance, Youth Development Strategy to the 2008-09 Mayor’s Fund No. 100/46, Contractual
Services Account No. 3040, for the purpose of expanding gang intervention services provided
by existing Citywide LAB II contractors during the summer months, between July 1, 2008 and
September 30, 2008.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to include increased funding in the amount of $600,000 and to expand
the scope of work for LAB II gang intervention contracts between July 1, 2008 and September
30, 2008.
4:37
You give Red Snot way too much credit for knowing there's more than one definition for that (or any) word.
You're talking about a blogger who hasn't been able to figure out - for months now - that verbs can have past as well as present tenses (most ending with the letters "d" or "ed").
This is not only not a "rocket scientist." He's not even a "rock with sinuses."
This string became too long when you used already posted material. It makes it an extended effort to read.
Whatever the case, how cool will it be when someone - anyone - knocks villar out of office and all this money was spent for naught?
How cool, indeed!
I want to know who won Ron Kaye's double-doubles contest!!!
It must be an honor for everyone at the Ethics Commission to be invited to every fundraiser by every candidate! Isn't it nice to be wanted (even if the law requires it)?
The good thing is Ace Smith the dirtiest campaign player in the US just lost the Hillary campaign. We can only hope he fucks up again with Villaraigosa.
Hillary lost because she never had a chance with the "liberal media:" they annointed Obama from the start, and beat her up while they gave him the "pillow treatment," like SNL joked. Geraldine Ferraro was pilloried for telling the truth: the extreme libs wanted a black/ biracial man, period.
For the same reason, they're not going to dump a Latino like Antonio, even if he's not as articulate and smooth and orator (while saying NOTHING of substance) as Obama.
Obama has the biggest ego ever -- what white man would have dared compare HIMSELF at that early stage in his career, to JFK, MLK, the suffragettes and abolitionists and those who defeated fascism? When it's a "person of color" this appeals to libs, but if McCain were to say anything like it, even Hillary as a white woman who came up from a simply family, they'd be mocked mercilessly.
Moral: You've got Antonio, he's the "flavor of the year." Best you can do is get him and his people to stop being so openly ethno=centric, to stop thinking of this city as a bunch of very rich white liberals who hire maids to raise their kids while they shop at Barney's, and don't have to worry about how shitty it's made the schools, public and private healthcare systems, welfare and infrastructure. (Though they'll be hit with reality if there's ever a major health disaster like flu or SARS epidemic, terrorism.)
Sadly, there's so much pressure on Councilmembers to march in step or be openly attacked by the libs, they'll probably put Deceitful Janice Hahn's tax the homeowners' Gang tax on the ballot -- between Wacky Lefty Rosendahl and Alarcon screaming for bleeding-heart Latino Aid projects, and those like LaBong not being bright enough to figure out that the middle class is overtaxed and getting nothing back, being driven out, only maybe Smith will have the nerve to oppose Hahn. But that's because Smith knows he's got no future in higher office in L A., that's just our sad reality. The other moderates have to vote with the majority and do what they can on an individual basis in individual cases to pretect their middle class.
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