Groundswell to Recall "The 9% Mayor" seems to be growing....
...and it is not because the Mayor is fooling around with yet another TV reporter who doesn't understand the concept of "journalistic ethics". Nope. I couldn't care less that the Mayor is doing that. Although the fact that he is still married to someone else does make him appear to be more than a bit tacky and classless.... but that has never disqualified anyone from holding an elected public office before.
The reason more and more voices are echoing the word "Recall" is because the Mayor has done a terrible job of running the City. He has behaved like a mini-gangster, using the City Treasury as a slush fund to run around and dole out "the loot" to his followers, cronies, and yes-men. Anyone who was ever a political supporter of Antonio Villaraigosa only had to apply to run some type of vaguely defined "program" in order to be handed a lucrative City contract and the prerequisite excessive salary that goes along with it.
The fallout from his irresponsible, Santa-like behavior is now about to hit the fan. The City Budgetary Crisis will require that cuts be made and thousands of City employees be furloughed or laid off. City employees who once supported the Mayor and trusted him are about to lose their jobs so that people like the Mayors daughter and Councilman Alarcons daughter can keep their unqualified positions and inflated City paychecks.
I spoke about the recall action at City Council on Friday in Van Nuys. Former Mayoral Candidate and second-place finisher Walter Moore has been writing about it on his website. KRLA Radio Show Host Kevin James evidently has been turning up the volume on this issue on his radio show. Widely popular former Daily News Editor Ron Kaye has been writing about the Mayors lack of popularity. Frequent City Hall critic and former Mayoral Candidate David "Zuma Dogg" Saltsburg shouted out "Recall Villaraigosa!!" during his public comment at a recent City Council meeting. Zuma Dogg was one of the first critics sounding the alarm over the looming "Pensiongate Scandal" , which could finally prove to be the fatal blow to Antonios political career.
In a surprising turn of events, I have recently been contacted by union members , who say that they are fed up with Mayor Villaraigosa and feel that they have been stabbed in the back by him. They seem all too eager to return the favor. To have former supporters and voters for the Mayor suddenly turn on him is a troubling sign for Villaraigosa. It is unlikely that the Mayors spinmasters at City Hall can put positive action on these events.
As I mentioned, the uphill battle for the recall is monumental -- 240,000 signatures --but not impossible. (We need 2,400 people who are willing to go get 100 signatures each). Nobody thought the City voters could defeat the sneaky Measure B Solar initiative (including many of us who worked on the project! ), but enough people spoke out about it that Measure B drew negative attention and actually was defeated at the polls. I foresee something similar happening in the near future with the recall effort.
I don't think declaring the intent in October is the right idea. The citizens of this City have four months to obtain the valid voter signatures. I don't think going door-to-door in the rainy season of January/February is the right idea or particularly appealing to anyone. I am publicly declaring my intention today to file the Recall Notice on March 3, 2010. I think this would be a fitting and ironic twist, coming exactly one year to the day of the 9% Mayors re-election. And it would give the foot soldiers in this battle the leisurely spring/summer months to walk precincts and obtain signatures.
I am going to suggest that voters of this City build a coalition of concerned citizens who are willing to do some legwork to remove Villaraigosa from power. Homeowners Assocations and other types of civic groups need to be addressed and consulted. Professional organizations and political activists need to get involved. The City cannot afford four more years of Antonio in charge. He nearly bankrupted the City in his first four years. Does anyone honestly think the next four years will be an improvement?
The private sector would never have re-hired him to be the CEO in charge of a 7 billion dollar corporation.
Not with those results. But voters? Well...
The lack of passion in his re-election campaign was puzzling.
The 17% turnout at the polls was an embarrassment for the second largest City in America.
Maybe...if we are lucky.....we will have a fresh group of eager and energetic volunteers.
Thousand of recently laid-off City employees who are eager and willing to spend next spring walking precincts and collecting signatures in order to deliver some well-deserved payback to their free-spending former boss.
Posted by Phil Jennerjahn @ 6/07/2009 12:36:00 PM
44 Comments:
Will Villaraigosa now change his name to Villuparker?
Phil I understand your thinking here but not sure that a recall is the way to go. It took significant anger against Davis and the emergence of Arnold to even make that recall happen. Most people in LA don't even know who Villar is.
But I do find it amusing that Walter Moore and his minions are joining your bandwagon and over here promoting his 29 hits blog. You might be the last place finisher but looks like you're leading the pack.
Phil:
You can't recall him until at least until October. Read the Government Code. He gets 90 day in office before you can commence a recall.
"It took significant anger against Villaraigosa and the emergence of Carsuo to even make that recall happen."
All it takes is changing of couple of words.
Phil,
Tell us what actual work you did to
stop Measure B? Were you one of the Solar 8? Did you help write any of the challenges? Most of of were against Measure B and may have mentioned on our websites or through postings but we don't claim to have worked on the project.
"Groundswell"????
Genbdergone and Schmaltzburger are a groundswell!!! Whoops, add wacky Walter.
Hey Antonio, give it up, they've got you by the numbers.
Just resign now and save yourself the embarassment of being recalled by this impressive posse of fools.
You kow when they get together and pool their impressive assets, nothing can stop them,
Your goose is cooked, Villagaigosa. be careful not to bust a gut laughing at this email. I did writing it.
I hate villaraigosa.
But he won.
4:46 PM
How's your boy, Jackass, loser? A lot of good you do. I'd ask for my money back.
I have minions? Sweet!
As for the alleged "bandwagon," hate to burst anyone's bubble, but the word "recall" surfaced on election night. And Kevin James has been pushing it for weeks if not months.
Anyhow, for kicks and giggles, anyone is welcome to take the recall poll, a link to which you can find at LARecall.com.
Minions AND 29 hits! Woo hoo! I'm pretty sure 27 of those are bots, so that means someone visited my website.
5:12 you are absolutely correct. While I like Phil and do not for a moment doubt his sincerity, I'm not for this recall thing.
Calling for a recall on the night a man wins with the required number of votes is silly. It won't win many converts to the cause.
Rather than trying to recall Villaraigosa Walter should be answering to all the people who gave him his nearly $300K - many of who were senior citizens on fixed incomes - as to why he squandered his opportunity on a pro-am, ego driven, bumper sticker and hat laden but GOTV effort weak campaign.
Walter spends $300K and gets around 65K votes. Zuma Dogg spends maybe 300 cents and gets 10,000 votes. You do the math.
On the other hand take a look at someone like Louis Pugliese who ran a true grass roots campaign, on minimal contributions, but put his efforts into phone banking, precinct walking, etc. and damn near came close (around 500 votes) to toppling the union supported Mayor Villar puppet.
Then tell me Walter is serious. Unbelievable.
By the way, Walter is promoting his legal and real estate businesses on his blog. Nothing wrong with that but if he is going to promote that here on Mayor Sam we probably should send him an invoice.
Higby looks like everyone you support eventually throws you under the bus:
Villaraigosa
Walter Moore
Kenny James
Nuch
Maybe Zuma is the only one who hasn't I guess.
Wacky Walter Sore Cry Loser. How chilling that Wacko started talking about this recall on the night Villar won. And I hate Villar too. But he beat Wacko fair and square. Please don't talk about a "democratic" recall to overturn an election and put the loser in the mayor's job.
P.S. I think a recall effort would be D.O.A. unless and until Villaraigosa announces he's running for governor. If he does that, a recall is possible.
Otherwise, I think it would take some sort of significant event that even the local media could recognize as such.
I mean, the guy DID just win an election 10 minutes ago, after all.
Wow! Do I smell something? Smells like "bitter!"
Tell you what, Higby, this is last post, guaranteed. Buh-bye now.
I'd give Walter my legal work if for nothing other than I hate higby
Hey Higby tell Wacko Walter don't let the door hit his ass on the way out.
I guess if I were you and gave money and support to a guy who screwed the pooch and was not serious I'd be bitter too.
Of course I'd never support a simpleton like Walter.
Not that you probably care but I would presume Walter will post again. Remarkably similar to his promise to move to Europe.
BTW, now he's not in favor of the recall.
It's wishful thinking but maybe he'll move to Europe now that he can't self promote on Mayor Sam.
What a remarkable degree of maturity displayed here by Walter and his supporters.
Whoa everybody! Lets keep the discussion open, yeah? Mayor Villar will do something (more) to make the voters regret their choice of voting him in office the first time. I don’t think anyone needs to fight about the efforts of Phil. Let him do what he thinks is right. The mayor will seal his own fate as the list of neglect and favoritism grows. This mayor will step in a big pile of some kind of mess all on his own.
Slowly he is being surrounded with people everyone knows, strongly oppose him. His political machine and agenda is falling apart right before our eyes. When Caruso decided not to run, the election was in the bag for the incumbent. That was the voter sentiment.
When the voters elected him the second time, it was all about "the devil you know" to the voters. That does not mean he was the right candidate to win the election, but it does mean the voters realized they were stuck with what they deserved when they voted for Mr. Villar the first time! Ha, ha, ha!
Just imagine had Hahn served his second term. We’d have a brand new mayor being sworn in on July 1 and the people would have a renewed sense of hope and faith about the state of affairs (no pun intended).
The real lesson here is a historical one on how people who are too lazy to study the issues vote out of emotion. They did it when they voted for Villar the first time with “anyone but Hahn” and now they get to eat some humble pie by looking at the loser they elected for the second time. Shame on the lazy campaign managers who think they can dumb down a campaign so they can get a cushy job and worry about the consequences later. Someone needs to start looking at the rules of campaigning and public financing of campaigns.
The fallout here is a good example that the people must have more involvement in their own government.
I’m enjoying the show, quite frankly.
foxy lady= Mike Higby trying to boost hits, but he's WAAAAY behind zuma dogg now.
#2
vs.
#9 and falling fast
Wacko wait! Come back and grab your loons @7:16 7:45.
If no one actually starts the RECALL the fact that so many people are talking about it sends a strong message. Word from city hall staffers is Villaraigosa is spending over $100,000 for his swearing in on July 1st. He has 17 Deputy Mayors making way over $100,000 and some commissioners to. I say get rid of Lisa Sarno, Jimmy Blackman, the village idiot Jeff Carr, Steve Olivares, the other village idiot Paul Hernandez and a list of others who don't do shit. Keep the buzz word RECALL OUT THERE.
Phil you and Zuma should spend your time raising money for your own campaigns. Instead of wasting it to recall the guy that just won. Your both good men and can do a lot of good in council.
Nobody other than you idiots are talking about a recall.
Absolutely nobody. Absolutely no television stations. No newspapers. Not even blogs. Only idiots phil, higbby and zooomer.
Did Walter just sign off. That would be nice, but he won't be able to stick to the promise. But looks like he backed himself into the "time out" box for at least a year, again.
Walter says he isn't going to comment here anymore. Does that include anonymously, too?
Didn't Walter get like 27% ?
And Zuma like 3 or 4% ?
So why are you being so negative about Walter now?
Seems like 27% is a pretty good showing being there were 9 candidates.
Hey 8:14 Higby and Zuma said they're not on board with Phil and Walter's recall campaign.
I don't care what anyone else thinks.
Antonio is killing this city and he needs to go.
The 9% Mayor is not loved here by any stretch of the imagination. He has screwed too many people and burned too many bridges.
I will file the papers myself if I have to.
Antonio is going to face a recall effort.
Whether it succeeds or not remains to be seen.
Phil, I have said to you personally that I am not starting a recall effort, but would jump on a real and credible one if a real group with big money gets behind it. I'm more of a "let the FEDS do our heavy lifting for us." And I think it will be quicker.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll blurt out "Recall Villaraigosa" in the heat of the moment during public comment, but that's just the kind of thing I will say at the moment as a punctuation because it sounds bad. But really, 200,000 or whatever ain't easy to get.
And it's not gonna be serious if it's being launched by me, you or Mr. Perfect Smart Guy.
BUT HERE'S WHAT I REALLY WEIGHED IN FOR:
Hey Villaraiogsa. You have to fire 1000s of people. I know the first 12. The tenured dead weight in City Attorney's office. Start with "A."
The budget combined with Antonio's long list of campaign promises he did not even try to fulfill will consume him in a recall this fall/winter.
The money situation means he cannot sprinkle the sugar everywhere and those many many people he stepped and spit on as he rose, including former supporters, will jump at the chance to slip the knife into his overblown political career.
Antonio Villaraigosa = Jack Weiss.
Antonio is finished.
Career? Dead.
He can try to run for Governor or Senate because other people around the state don't know him so well, but word will get around.
He probably won't get away with it.
He was never a good leader anyway.
Puppet for unions and labor.
Ignored illegal immigration.
The fact that only 9% of the registered voters in this city voted to re-elect him shows that he doesn't have any pull left.
Once the indictments start, people supporting him will leap faster than rats from a sinking ship.
it is HILARIOUS to hear a guy with no job (PHIL GENDERGONE) say that the career ofa man WITH a job (Anotnio loseraigosa) has a career that is over.
Phil that is so funny. who pays for your parking at city hall? guess what man, antonio not only gets free parking, he gets a police escort to keep unemployed losers crybabies like you and zumatard at arms length! he wins, and you are unemployed
Indictments for what, loser?
You have to commit a crime, and neither Antonio, nor any of his administration, that I know of, has done so. No one has even alleged that crimes are being commited except you and The Mutt.
Put up or shut up big mouth.
You are worse than that other loser Scmaltzburger, but both of you are dregs upon society.
Get an honest job, make some money and be a MAN!!!!
maybe we should go after his friends over at UTLA.... 4000 people lose their jobs, the treasury is at half of what it was when they came into office. And the Duffster is a friend of Tony the Rat.
You mean the proposal to furlough crime scene investigators at LAPD two Fridays a month isn't outrageous enough for the public to get upset?
What do you think will happen when criminals hear that every other Friday the LAPD will not be staffing any crime scene investigators?
Do you think that will cause more crime or less crime in Los Angeles?
Pay attention folks because certainly no one in City management is and they are putting you at risk.
11:16: CAN IT, you hack flack for PPL head Paul Weber/ BFF of Dennis Zine.
You spent $700,000 of cops' hard- earned union dues to campaign 4 Trutanivich and against the one guy on the city council who'd been ensuring that LAPD get the funding it needs every year to grow to 10,000, Jack Weiss. As Bratton said, he "was flabbergasted" at the betrayal -- but you did it to spite Bratton over SO40 because you, Weber, AND DENNIS ZINE wanted to get your irrelevant "ZINE'S MOTION" PASSED TO DISS BRATTON.
Well, you, Weber and Zine don't begin to be in the same league as Bratton and your commanders know that, and endorsed Weiss. The street cops were NEVER CONSULTED and feel out of the loop, didn't know what you did til after it happened.
NOW you have dissed the Mayor, Weiss, and Bratton and have Zine, Parks, Smith and Rosendahl -- all of whom want to cut LAPD funding.
EXPLAIN THAT TO THE RANK AND FILE FROM WHOM YOU SIPHONED OFF 5700,000 FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL POLITICAL AGENDA, MR. WEBER.
oh, and pls. stop sending me those emails pretending you rep "LAPD": I"ve asked to be taken off the list many times but am still on it.
What does it matter that LAPD officers go on furloughs...they're too busy chatting and sipping coffee at Starbucks. What good are they when they're staring at women instead of patrolling Skid Row. You'll see what I mean at 2nd/Central in Little Tokyo..you'd think the Starbucks is a crime scene with all the lazy slobs hanging out.
Can anyone name at least 1 campaign promise that this Failure of a Mayor been able to achieve?....anyone? Thousand Trees Program? 10K strong military regime? takeover of LAUSD ghettofabulous schools? Gang reduction..and if so, where? the Palisades maybe? I know!! Chasing news cameras and anchorwomen around town..what a great qualification for Governor!!
June 09, 2009 1:54 PM
LMFAO!!! That's my un-official base camp in the morning for the council meetings (I've spent WAY too much of my life in that parking lot) and that Starbucks/Office Depot Parking lot has GOT to be the SAFEST location on the PLANET!!!
Angelinos are sick of the political corruption in Los Angeles! So let's clean house and first get rid of the problem.
RECALL VILLARAIGOSA!
"My political mentor is Richard Alatorre." Villar said several times at public forums, events, etc.
What is that about?
I personally have never heard Villaraigosa say that Alatorre is his mentor or hero. Perhaps they were friends back in the day?
Villaraigosa will never get recalled. It's not going to happen. There is no momentum out there. People really do like him whether you want to admit it (or even know it) or not. It's just you and your friends who dislike him so much.
Nobody likes Villaraigosa except Lu and his kids. Tell me anyone out there-have you ever heard anyone lately say anything good about this guy ? Recall won't happen for one single reason- APATHY. That was proven by voter turnout at last election. Ace and company wouldn't allow Tony V to go to debates and campaign coverage was non-existent. Apathy wins everytime.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home