Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

We started the weekend with two candidates for Mayor and could wind up with five real soon. As noted here, joining current declared candidates Antonio Villaraigosa and Walter Moore, Friday evening longtime community activist David Hernandez announced his candidacy. Sunday Zuma Dogg declared his candidacy and proceeded to lay out his platform on his blog. And finally, longtime developer and civic leader Rick Caruso sure made it sound like he was going to run at Friday night's Lincoln Club dinner where he was presented with the 2008 Spirit of Lincoln Award by local Republicans.

Speaking of the Mayoral election, former President Bill Clinton hosted a fundraiser for Mayor Villaraigosa Saturday at the home of record producer Clarence Avanat. According to the Daily News' Rick Orlov, Clinton threw his endorsement behind Villaraigosa saying "Whether it's rescuing the city's lowest performing schools, putting 1,000 cops on the street, taking on the gang problem or transforming LA with a path-breaking environmental agenda, Antonio has laid a foundation for fundamental change in the City of Angels." Is the President talking about OUR Antonio? Just wanted to check.

Speaking of some of the collateral damage of the Clinton Administration, the New York Times via Street Hassle identifies Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros as a chief player in causing the housing bubble. Cisneros was one of the chief proponents of the failed policy of encouraging those who could not afford mortgages to get them, as promoted by everyone from Clinton to Maxine Waters to George Bush to Barack Obama and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Cisneros, a poverty pimp who has parlayed his government service into corporate millions, should be ashamed of himself.

Yet another reason to vote no on the Mayor's transit tax scam, Measure R: the MTA could be facing potential bankruptcy. In the last twenty years or so, the MTA made a number of deals with investment groups to buy its buses, rail cars and other infrastructure in exchange for cash and then the MTA would lease the equipment back. The problem is that the MTA contracted with in-trouble financial services firm AIG to guarantee the leases. With AIG out of funds and near collapse, MTA is on the hook to pay billions in leases to the investors. MTA doesn't have the cash to cover this so cuts in service are certain.

And finally we welcome a new contributor to Mayor Sam's Sister City, Donna Barstow.  Donna, who writes the Griffith Park, Interrupted Blog has been a cartoonist for the New Yorker, LA Times, Glamour, Barron's, WSJ, and several other publications.  lots more. Barstow is the cartoonist for Parade Magazine and is the author of  the books What Do Women REALLY Want? Chocolate!, and Love Me or Go to Hell. Donna describes herself as "Picky eater, great friend, curious observer, elitist artist, midnight writer, voracious reader, omnivorous chocoholic, impatient driver, and so-so lover."  Donna will be writing about a number of issues and topics ranging from Griffith Park to Dancing With The Stars.  Welcome Donna!

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

Monday Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will unveil a $5 billion "affordable" housing plan intended to build homes for the homeless and low income.  However no one other than the Mayor himself seems to be excited over the massive boondoggle whose details are sketchy at best.  And even the Mayor says that he's not sure where all the money will come from. 

He's part Zuma Dogg, part Walter Moore and even a little bit of 1970s era Jerry Brown thrown in - and he's running for Mayor.  Marijuana activist and enthusiast Craig X Rubin will announce his campaign, joining Mayor Villaraigosa and Moore in the 2009 campaign.  In addition to creating a church around pot use Rubin served as a technical advisor on the Showtime original series Weeds and claims to have sold a bong to actor Brad Pitt.

Governor Schwarzenegger is not very popular these days with conservative Republicans and California's prison guards' union - in fact the union is spearheading a recall of the Governor.  That being said, former Governor Pete Wilson spoke to state Republicans over the weekend at their fall convention urging them to get behind Schwarzenegger as well the redistricting measure, Proposition 11, on the November ballot.

One blogger has an intriguing idea about what to do with the Wall Street bailout funds, particularly the $85 million slated to rescue insurer AIG - give it to the taxpayers.  The writer calculates that could be a windfall of $400,000 for every man and woman over 18 years of age.  The idea being rather than giving it back to the investors those funds could stimulate the economy like no tomorrow in the hands of the people.  Sounds good to me.

And finally the latest conspiracy theory raging these days is that President Bush will declare a state of national emergency over the current economic mess, declare martial law and indefinitely postpone Novemember's elections. Whoever is passing this idea around must have been smoking some of Craig X Rubin's weed.

Holy Guacamole! It's News of the Obvious! (a/k/a Not Quite the Wednesday Hotsheet)

1. Mayor Villaraigosa pulls out! Hopefully the writer confirmed this with Mirthala Salinas. San Jose Mercury News.

2. Mayor Villaraigosa can also issue a press release without saying a damn thing. KFI-AM640

3. Joe Biden has a loud mouth. Washington Post

4. Comedian Dane Cook is unfunny, but his eviction is! He lost his Los Angeles eviction appeal yesterday after his landlord booted him from for not cleaning up his dog’s poop. S. F. Chronicle

5. Clay Aiken and Lindsay Lohan each confirm they are gay, although Police Chief Bill Bratton made that abundantly clear a few weeks ago. Chicago Sun-Times. People Magazine

6. The FBI thinks that there may be some fraud in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Lehman and AIG meltdowns. Gee, do ya think??? Wall Street Journal

7. The California economy is going to go down much further before it gets better. But I think Reuters' editor means "worst" rather than "worse" to come. Reuters

8. Zuma Dogg is coming out of his shell, y’all.
(Click on the video screen in the middle, but turn the volume down if you're in your office!) Zuma Times.com