Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Friday

Well maybe they didn't mean it.  The LA Weekly reports that the Los Angeles City Council is "dangling" the idea of a DWP rate increase in order to get a hold of $73 million in DWP surplus funds the City desperately needs.  In the meantime the Moody's bond rating service - AKA "jerks" according to Councilman Richard Alarcon - has once again downgraded the city's credit score and maintains a bleak outlook for LA's financial future.

Now we know who wears the pants in the Jerry Brown household and at the California Chamber of Commerce - Mrs. Jerry Brown AKA Anne Gust who made her fortune working for a company that encourages young women to become further anorexic to fit into smaller clothes at higher prices.  The Chamber had aired commercials reminding voters of Brown's record of opposing Proposition 13 among other things and Gust had a Brown cow.  Calls were made to some of the members of the Chamber and pressure applied leading to the ad being quickly dropped.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has secured a court injunction to fight drugs and gang violence in Skid Row. Now this is the kind of thing we expect our City Attorney to do instead of fighting pot shops and silly billboards.

Phil Jennerjahn contacted us to show us a mock-up of the donation envelope for his recall campaign.  You may remember Phil's strategy for getting the mountain of signatures required for the recall, as he explained to Kevin James on this radio show, is to get a critical mass of potheads to campaign for the measure, so many that members of the SEIU will join Phil's parade.  And now that Antonio Villaraigosa's latest missteps in the whole DWP mess may have given Phil a little possible mojo, here comes Captain Ego AKA Walter Moore to tie his Red Ryder wagon to Phil's star just like he did with the Shaw family.  Watch out Phil that Walter - who made fun of your mercilessly during the Mayoral campaign - doesn't throw you under the bus as he did with the Shaws.

Now here are some folks doing the right thing to effect leadership change in Los Angeles.  Rather than goofy recalls which are good talkradio fodder the folks at Griffith Park Wayist are actually seeking individuals to groom and support to run against Councilman Tom LaBonge who apparently has pissed off folks from North Hollywood to Los Feliz.

The parent company of the OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET may be close to coming out of bankruptcy.  The New York Times reports that Tribune Media is near a deal with creditors.

The country is changing.  A good old-fashioned American Sears auto center is being replaced by a European style public mass transit station.

What happens when you're a political wunderkind who can't even beat Lloyd Levine in a primary? You move to another state and run for office there while tapping into old connections to get the endorsement of a former Vice President.  That's what Andrei Cherney, former Clinton speechwriter and abortive Bob Hertzberg protege is up to these days.