Ask Mayor Sam

Dear Mayor Sam, I am a faithful reader of your blog. Not sure if you are aware or not but last week a group in Phoenix announced it is going to try and do a recall on their city mayor; Phil Gordon. As they feel he has been too sympathetic to illegal aliens. Here is a link. I was wondering if it would be a possibility here to do the same to our wonderful illegal alien circus leader, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

As much as I love seeing him pop his smiling face into every celebrity filled event or happening around town, I think he needs to be relieved of his duty so he can party full time. I just think i want a mayor who represents my demographic, i.e. working class tax payer with two kids, with legal status. Somebody who is not comfortable with a high level of illegality because it is good for his career or pocketbook. Someone who will re-establish Los Angeles as a world class city, not a third world slum. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Signed, Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

As much as many of us would love to see Mayor Villaraigosa vacate the third floor, a recall is not practical. The illegal immigrant issue may be enough for the folks in Phoenix to hang their hat around; though there is significant dissatisfaction with the Mayor's positions on illegal immigration I doubt it would gain enough traction for a recall.

Another issue is timing. We're less than a year away from next year's election where the Mayor will stand for a second term. Even if succesful, a recall would have the effect of removing the Mayor only a few months before an election anyway.

Your best bet is to put your efforts into getting behind a candidate such as Walter Moore. You could donate to him here. If Moore isn't your flavor, rumors are that County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky or perhaps developer Rick Caruso are planning to get in the race and challenge Villaraigosa.

So relax and work towards another candidate. We'll have the opportunity to recall the Mayor soon without a special election.

Cheers,
Mayor Sam