Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday

Scott Svonkin playing hooky?

LACCD candidate Scott Svonkin was supposed to be at the San Gabriel School Board meeting Tuesday night. If you'll recall, Scott is an elected member of the San Gabriel School Board and is required to attend these meetings to deal with the many issues facing schools and students in the district .

Unfortunately, at the San Gabriel meeting it was announced that Scott was really "sick" and just could not make the meeting.

Imagine our surprise when Scott Svonkin was spotted the very same night at the UTLA Headquarters on Wilshire Blvd as the photos above show. Hmm, does he look ill to you?  I guess schmoozing with UTLA reps was way more important than being at a boring old school board meeting.  Learn more about Scott and his problems at this LA Weekly story.

UPDATE: This was a LA Democratic Party event being held at UTLA headquarters. This was not a UTLA meeting.

The CGOP continues it's slow and painful descent into total irrelevance. The latest blow comes from GOP finance chairman, Jeff Miller, the California GOP's top fundraiser, who has announced that he quits due to infighting and losing elections.

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Torrential Downpour News Brief

The first day of Spring.

Here they come! The fastest growing ethnic group in the state is Asian, and the Asian-American community is rolling up their sleeves to get these potential voters naturalized. No word yet on how the California GOP intends to alienate this segment of the populace.

Sunland-Tujunga's very own  Lydia Grant will be part of a spirited  panel discussing the Parent Trigger, tomorrow night at the Skirball Center-Monday, March 21, 2011 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
The event is co-sponsored by California Teachers Empowerment Network, Parent Revolution, The Heartland Institute and Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. Hit the link for more details.

Actor Jimmy Smits has signed on to play a lead role as the Mayor of Los Angeles in a new NBC project that is going by the working title "S.I.L.A" for now.
From TV Squad- "the as-of-now untitled project is described as a complex ensemble drama in the style of 'Traffic' and 'Syriana' set in the world of crime, law enforcement and politics in sprawling modern-day Los Angeles".