Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday

Poor Matt Szabo! The Deputy Mayor and former Mayoral spokeshole has been doing the bidding of the Mayor for a very long time. In fact we've been told that Szabo doesn't break wind without first checking with the Mayor and then getting an all clear from Mike Trujillo.  But we digress.  We've been worried about Szabo's condition having worked for Villaraigosa for several years.  Now poor Matt got upbraided by Jan Perry in Clowncil Tuesday when he was all tongue tied over his presence at a DWP meeting.  More from Mulholland Terrace.

Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes is known for carrying the water for lobbyists and special interests in Sacramento having passed some 11 lobbyist written bills. He's also received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from these interests.  Now the Daily News asks nicely "Please stop."  If anyone is actually working over there, maybe the Daily News might want to look at the independent expenditures some other Assembly members (including a recently elected one) have benefited from and watch what bills they pass.

If you thought Jan Perry giving Matt Szabo a "what for" in chambers Tuesday was fun, our very favorite spokes-hole, Jeremy Oberstein of Paul Krekorian's office tweeted Council Member Dennis Zine and former DWP GM David "The Green Cowboy" Freeman's dialogue from a comical tragedy known "Freeman and the Zine."

The comedy continues on Spring Street.  CMs Bill Rosendahl and Paul Koretz have introduced legislation allowing the number of cats one household may own to be increased from three to five cats.  Though I don't believe in such laws to begin with, who the hell needs five cats? I am glad however these esteemed legislators are on top of this pressing issue of such concern to all of Los Angeles.

We all know how the Mayor has managed to solve so many problems in Los Angeles that he has the bandwidth to add one more duty to his job description, that is the ability to perform weddings.  Currently California law only allows Mayors to perform weddings if temporarily deputized by the County Clerk.  A bill brought by San Francisco Assemblymember Fiona Ma would have given Villaraiogsa such power but alas it was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.  His reasoning? The law only extended to charter city mayors and not all of California's mayors and gosh darn it we want any mayor in California to have the right to goof off right?

Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Friday

Jill Stewart of the LA Weekly asks a great question: "Is the Los Angeles City Council the stupidest political body currently active in Southern California?" And the answer is clearly yes when, as Stewart points out, with funding and staff near the level of the Obama White House, the LA City Council is facing a crumbling city yet spends it's time banning 7-11s from the hood.

The DWP is part of the City that's crumbling. Yet for now the Clowncil may have got it right for a change when they rejected a DWP water rate hike. In the meantime while some members of the Council are seeking what many community activists have long fought for, a DWP ratepayer advocate, newly re-minted DWP head David "Cowboy" Freeman is intrasigent insisting "I am the ratepayer advocate," evoking memories of Paul's TV owner declaring "I am the king!"

Remember shady Measure R? Lots of politicians were chomping at the bit to raise sales taxes in the middle of a recession to build choo-choo lines around LA. As many animals do, the electeds often eat their own and this is evident as its Zev against the Eastsiders who are attempting to divert funds the Supervisor wants for the Red Line on the Westside to the Gold Line for example serving the Foothills. If Zev doesn't get his way he's going to put another measure on the ballot to get his.

And finally looks like Gavin Newsom thinks he's Obama:

Slow Internet Evening Hotsheet

Time Warner Cable is still having challenges (the support technician I spoke to said "the engineers are aware") but let's try to crank out the hotsheet I owe and maybe one for tomorrow through all the latency.

The Times points out something I've been saying frequently lately - City department heads like Police Chief Bratton should not be endorsing candidates in City elections. As the fishwrap notes "the Christopher Commission concluded, amid its many recommendations, that the chief of police should refrain from engaging in city politics. 'Because the chief's office is inherently powerful,' the commission wrote, 'it is unseemly for the chief to use that position to influence the political process. ... Such activity politicizes the chief, and ultimately the department.'"  We agree.

We've heard about this the last few days but how unseemly it was to have Mayor Villaraigosa - in the throws of a re-election campaign where he's yet to really discuss the issues - campaigning for Governor in Northridge last weekend?  As the LA Times notes "there was Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, giving a low-key pitch for his reelection next month without so much as a nod to his potential rivals in the June 2010 primary for governor."  Is California ready for an 11% Governor?

Political recurring disease Laurette Healey is back again hitching her wagon to yet another shady solar measure like she did with last year's Proposition 7.  Healey is using her vast mailing list to push Measure B.  Besides being opposed by those who know solar what both measures have in common are both Healey  and the so-called "Green Cowboy" David "I was there when FDR built the Tennessee Valley Authority" Freeman.  One wonders what's in it for them? We may eventually know.

If he's elected Mayor, Candidate David Hernandez promises to send Billy the Elephant to a sanctuary where he can be with other elephants.  Herndandez issued a statement saying that "Time has come for Billy the Elephant to join Ruby at the PAWS Sanctuary. It is clear the Los Angeles City Council and Special Interest Groups are using Billy as a bargaining chip in moving the Zoo’s Elephant exhibit forward."

David Freeman on Measure B

 Editor's Note: Last Monday we published a commentary by Nick Patsaouras, former Chairman of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners stating his opposition to controversial city ballot measure Measure B. Today we present an opposing view from the former General Manager of the DWP, David Freeman.

As a very young man I witnessed how a renewable energy project – building dams to harness the hydro power of the Tennessee River – provided a powerful economic stimulus that created thousands of what we now call green collar jobs. The Tennessee Valley Authority which I chaired under President Carter transformed the most poverty-stricken part of America into a thriving middle class region.

Years later, as the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest and dirtiest public utility in the nation, I got rid of two coal fired power plants while avoiding rate increases. It is my considered judgment that LA’s Solar Initiative, Measure B, is the lowest cost option available for action now to combat global warming and create much needed green collar jobs.

The Coalition for Clean Air, Coalition for Solar and Clean Energy, Los Angeles Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, and the American Lung Association of California have formed a coalition to support Mayor Villaraigosa’s plan to install 400 megawatts of solar power on commercial rooftops here in LA - more than any other city in the nation. That plan, Measure B, has been put before LADWP customers and Los Angeles voters for public discussion, debate and a decision on the March 3 ballot.

Beyond cleaning up our air quality, Measure B will help stimulate our economy by creating thousands of good-paying, green collar jobs people can raise a family on. It includes a preference for solar manufacturers based here in Los Angeles. This means the LADWP, by switching to solar, invests directly back into the City of LA. It also means solar manufacturers, who are building facilities and creating tens of thousands of jobs across the country, will have a significant incentive to locate in Los Angeles and bring those new jobs here.

Faced with a global warming crisis that threatens life as we know it, the opponents say this measure will cost too much. They are wrong. They used numbers based on what the small solar companies are charging to put panels on individual homes – about $9 a watt.

Today the going wholesale price is at or below $3 a watt and going down for the thin film product the LADWP will be using in its solar panels. The best estimate of LADWP installed price is $3.75 watt. When Measure B is implemented, the Department will be buying large quantities of modules and installing them on large commercial flat rooftops. It’s a basic rule of economics: prices come tumbling down when big purchasers leverage their power in the marketplace.

Solar panels, over their 25-year life, will be cheaper than the natural gas power it will replace when it is owned by its utility as LADWP proposes. After the initial installation of solar panels, it is much like a hydroelectric dam and if the city owns the equipment, it gets steadily lower in cost each year as the original investment is depreciated. Solar panels just sit there making clean power and only the inverters that convert it to usable electricity require replacement over time.

Measure B is a giant step forward in the Mayors’ promise of a truly green Los Angeles.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

Zuma Dogg got an interesting phone call.  According to his tipster former DWP head and "Green Cowboy" David Freeman - one of the chief boosters of  the shady solar killing initiative Measure B - allegedly an assistant whose allegedly brother owns a solar panel manufacturing firm in China.  You may remember that Council President Eric Garcetti has stated that the solar panels bought by the DWP under Measure B would have to come from China. And what's worse the tipster alleges that Mayor Villaraigosa visited the solar panel plant  in China on his visit there.

Is Measure B in trouble? Bill Rosendahl is being wishy-washy about his support for the controversial plan; now reports say that CM Janice Hahn is similarly neutral.  It appears some Members of the Council are hearing from their constituents in big numbers and B is becoming something some of them may want to distance themselves from.

Looks like The Related Cos. - the developer behind the controversial Grand Avenue development project - doesn't have enough dough to start the project so they will be forced to pay a $250,000 per month penalty to the Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority until they break ground.  The economy is definitely a factor here; why not let them off the hook and put an end to this boondoggle, also known as Eli Broad's Mausoleum?

Word on the street - City Council member and Controller candidate Wendy Greuel is not happy that the city's Engineers and Architects have endorsed her opponent Nick Patsaouras.  Apparently Wendy was overheard whining that the union didn't support her.

Despite Britney Spears' $27,000 awards show ring, the gift bags worth the cost of a new Lexus and the free guitars, video games and liquor provided to artists who show up to the Grammys, they still managed to shake down the near bankrupt city of Los Angeles for $125,000. And the City Clowncil gladly gave it to them at a time when the City is running a deficit and event waivers have been turned off for the City's community and non-profit organizations.

There's always fun in the small cities that surround or are surrounded by Los Angeles.  Though they all almost provide far better local services, they often have their own special dramas and delicious soap operas.  The latest is in the City of San Fernando, not to be confused with the San Fernando Valley, where Council members Julie Ruelas and Jose Hernandez were recalled Tuesday by significant margins.  Ruelas will be replaced by Ernesto Hernandez who voters chose over Ralph Arriorla and Jose Hernandez will make way for Brenda Esqueda who bested Henry Romero.

The social networking site Facebook has banned its members from posting photos of mothers breastfeeding their babies.  What does this have to do with LA? Well, it was back in the 90s when a then Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa passed a law that made it legal to breastfeed in public without getting arrested for indecent exposure.  Well, we all know that Antonio likes, well never mind, I won't go there.

Speaking of social networking sites, looks like Kevin Roderick of LA Observed wants to be Mayor Villaraigosa's friend.