Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Monday

The LA Times recaps the Mayor's race, mentioning the declared candidates such as Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry.  What's interesting is the Times lack of mentioning Kevin James, also a declared candidate, while mentioning others who are either possibly running or even not likely running (cough - Rick Caruso).

If you're a City department manager who overspends your budget, Controller Wendy Greuel will no longer give you a payday loan to get you out of hock.  Greuel will not authorize payments for overages including salary expense.  Why this has not been the policy in the past, no one seems to be able to explain.  Maybe because Greuel is running for Mayor?

Betty Pleasant's rants about Bernard Parks have become about as relevant as Phil Jennerjahn's posts on Paul Krekorian.

PayPal CYA

http://bit.ly/ABdlp

Spay and Neuter Program Out of Funds for Low Income Pet Owners

Last year the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance mandating the spaying and neutering of all dogs and cats in Los Angeles.  Part of the measure included the promise of vouchers for low income pet owners to get their animals fixed in order to comply with the law.

However now it appears that the program a victim of the current budget crunch, according to a statement released last week by Los Angeles Animal Services.  No more vouchers will be distributed until the Department is sure of it's funding.

We have been told that at the next City Council meeting Council Member Dennis Zine will ask that the funding be restored.  However, the Council is on recess next week so it will be several days before the low-income vouchers can be restored, if at all.  Some are saying that considering the funding loss for the vouchers the law should be repealed. However, at the time the law was passed  Department head Ed Boks was unclear as to how it would even be enforced.

Mayor Villaraigosa Fibs about Layoffs Again?

It was just a few months ago that Mayor Villaraigosa told us more than 700 Los Angeles city jobs would be eliminated, only to have none of it come true. Then, the millions of dollars of fee waivers continued.

Now, Mayor Villaraigosa is saying that the already-projected hundreds of millions of dollars in budgetary shortfall is due....to the stock market.

Sorry, dude. No one is buying it this time.

From KFWB:

Villaraigosa Warns of LA Cash CrunchThe mayor of LA is predicting the economic mess from Wall Street will have a big impact on the city's budget. KFWB's John Brooks reports Antonio Villaraigosa says there may be more layoffs and service cuts. KFWB Big Story - http://kfwb.com