You know, we always called each other good fellas

"I'm the motherfucking fucking one who calls the shots."

Tony Soprano

Good call from the folks at Atwater Village Newbie:

During a week when LADWP's busted water mains swallow a fire engine and drown a major traffic artery, you might not want to go with the casual mafia lieutenant look on the evening news.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

Time to fire up the Mayor V Flight Crew Again.  The Mayor is only one month into his second term as Mayor and he's already on his second international junket, this time on a trip to Doug McIntyre's favorite destination, Iceland. Trouble is we're not getting much out of the 3rd floor as to what's behind the latest punch of the Mayor's passport. KTLA's Eric Spillman files an excellent piece featuring the usual stonewalling by Villar spokeshole Matt "I need an intervention" Szabo and from the Mayor's attorneys in response to the veteran journalist's public records request. Spillman's investigation is interesting too in that Villaraigosa's most recent overseas trip was to South Africa with latest Mayoral squeeze and KTLA anchorcupcake, the Betty styling Lu Parker. Wonder if Spillman's quest is making things a bit uncomfortable in the KTLA newsroom?  Anyway the chatter we hear is that the trip is a "retreat" for the Mayor and some of his closest political advisors to re-chart the future of his political "career" in the wake of the crash and burn of his Gubenatorial hopes.

Former Paramount Pictures executive, the address forgetting Christine Essel currently leads the field in fundraising for the special election in Council District 2.  Essel has raised nearly $120,000 putting her far ahead of all other comers.  Essel's campaign consultant John Shallman says this is reflective of the popular support Essel has in the District, however as noted here by Red Spot this weekend almost all of Essel's campaign cash has come from the usual suspects outside CD2.  In related news, I have endorsed Essel opponent Assemblyman Paul Krekorian.

Following the "re-branding" of a part of Van Nuys to get away from (using Mr. Howell voice) "those people," looks like another neighborhood makeover is underway though for different reasons.  Atwater Villarge Newbie reports that Councilman Tom "Where'd You Go to High School" LeBong wants to shave off a section of Atwater Village and rename it "River Glen." A fake neighborhood named after a fake river.  The blog opines that LeBong's effort is to push through industrial projects in this residentless section of Atwater Village and remove it from the sphere of that community's influence.  Interesting.

Yet another effort by a local politician to do something to create their "legacy" on your dime.  Councilman Jose Huizar wants a trolley to run through Downtown primarily through a "revitalized" Broadway.  Some $40 million has been set aside for this effort.  I think a trolley would be cute; might even be a tourist attraction.  However the City is broke and this is a luxury item.  $40 million is an easy amount for local business and non-profits to raise if they really want it.  Let's hope somewhere rational minds prevail and put a stop to this project being funded by the City.

Personal note: Though I've returned to writing some posts for the blog, my posting will be light the next several days.  Monday morning I'll be having dental surgery and will be out of it for a day or so. My thanks to our great team here at Mayor Sam for keeping the ship sailing!

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday

Big loss for NIMBYs - Mayor Villaraigosa has concurred with the City Council allowing Providence Holy Cross Medical Center to add a much needed 100 beds to the hospital. That doesn't mean the NIMBYs and their union buddies won't go to court, but lets hope they realize the folly of that (please don't waste our tax dollars on your fight).

The lawyers at Warner Brothers finally caught up to Dennis Zine. Many know that our favorite former motorcycle cop turned Clowncilman (or Republican turned Democrat) had created a "logo" for himself that was reminiscient of the big S on Superman's chest. Denny got a cease and desist from the studio that owns the rights to everything The Man of Steel so its back to the drawing board for a new logo.

Good catch by the Daily News: Mayor Villaraigosa's online budget survey doesn't ask virtual budget cutters if they would cut the Mayor's huge staff, collection of city cars, etc.
West LA Online is officially merging with the Westside Today print publication. And in an interesting twist the print publication will pull from the online portion not the other way around.

Michael Cruz writing in the Santa Clarita Signal takes a stand against corporate welfare. Big League Dreams develops parks around the country that resemble famous ballparks and feature restaurants with bars. Sounds like a fun concept. However the company seems to think that taxpayers should finance their construction. Cruz is absolutely right to take on this dumbass plan and the incredibly dense members of the Santa Clarita City Clowncil who would buy off on this scam. His prediction that should the city buy into this deal, it will set a dangerous precedent leading other businesses to line up and hold up the city for dough.

Atwater Village Newbie says he got some pretty shabby treatment at the Burbank Circuit City and is now banned from the store.