Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

Woo-hoo it's already Wednesday!

It's the battle between Joseph Mailander's and Antonio Villaraigosa's Eastside. Latinos in the traditional neigborhoods east of the LA River are aghast as the yuppies who've moved to Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Echo Park and have annexed it to East Los. As one Boyle Heights poet said "If you look at the downtown skyline and city hall is on your left, you are not the Eastside.  It's a simple geographical fact."

Zuma Dogg is still mulling over whether or not he will run for the City Council seat to be vacated by Wendy Greuel. He notes the uphill battle of gathering hundreds of signatures for a nominating petition; tasks that were barely surmounted by Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and City Controller candidate Nick Patsaouras (and failed at by candidates Guillermo Huesca and Ben Austin).  If Zuma does run he says won't use the occupation of economist as his ballot designation; especially since we know one candidate who had a cow over that. In the meantime, an anti-ZD Mayor Sam reader says they'll challenge Zuma Dogg's residency but in this world of the City Clerk's "don't ask don't tell - you are if you say you are" policy that won't go anywhere.

NewsBusters points out that in reporting of the controversy around Mayor Villaraigosa's latest girlfriend the LA Times has failed to note his party affiliation whereas they do so for embattled local Republicans such as former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.  In the meantime The Enterprise Report notes that KTLA General Manager isn't so concerned that his reporter Lu Parker is dating the mayor because he himself has dated reporters who have worked for him such as KCAL's Mia Lee. Well it's all in the family in LA.

In between the playa move of taking his new galpal to a bookstore (a classic maneuver any guy worth his salt knows will impress a lady), Mayor Villaraigosa signed the City Budget.  Lots of cuts and layoffs are promised; with the Mayor stating that fiscal realities will require to City to "calibrate' to the new financial paradigm.  One of the Mayor's plans to raise dough for the City has been to sell the City's parking meters and municipal lots to private operators.  However Councilmember Bill Rosendahl told his fellow members as well as the Ctiy's Chief Legislative Analyst that's a prescription to be run out on a rail as he expects Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will be for enacting a similar plan in the Windy City.

The controversial plan to build thousands of homes in the Newhall Pass known as Las Lomas may not be dead after all.  The Santa Clarita City Council is considering a draft environmental impact report while the company behind the project, Las Lomas Land, LLC says they plan to move forward.  Of course pigs also will fly and Mayor V will stop dating reporters.

Hernandez Qualifies, Austin Flubs, Huesca Fails, Alarcon Breathes

Sigh of relief for Councilman Ricard Alarcon. Popular Spanish media personality Guillermo Huesca who had announced his campaign to challenge the Seventh District Councilman has failed to garner enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

Huesca's fail follows that of intended School Board candidate Ben Austin who similarly didn't qualify for the ballot.  What's up with these guys?

In related news, longtime civic activist David Hernandez qualifed to place his name on the 2009 Mayoral ballot. Speaking of Ben Austin, Zuma Dogg's blog picks up on a David Zahniser LA Times piece that reports, remarkably, Austin's campaign solicited petition signatures IN THE WRONG DISTRICT!

In Honor of Ben Austin and Guillermo Huesca

One of our readers suggested this...it's a fabulous idea!

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday

The Mormon Church continues to be a lightning rod for those protesting Tuesday's passage of Proposition 8 which ends the rights of same-sex couples to marry.  Following a protest of 3000 estimated outside Mormon church headquarters here in Los Angeles, on Friday protestors are planning to demonstrate outside the church's mother ship in Salt Lake City.  The Mormons were one of the major contributors to the Yes on 8 cause, however over a million dollars was also contributed by the Catholic all-male fraternal organization, The Knights of Columbus as well as funding by a number of other Protestant and Jewish organizations.

Council President Eric Garcetti tells FoxNews that he will be assisting the Obama Administration to identify Angelenos for key posts in Washington, D.C. Is there a cabinet post for the button down Garcetti who jumped aboard the Obama ship early? He isn't saying but we're hearing yes.

Zuma Dogg continues in his campaign for Mayor and like any good politican he's seeking contributions.  The Doggman reports he's all signed up with the City Ethics Commission and you can donate to the cause via PayPal or the old school way; check it all out at Zuma's site.

The local former fishwraps of record don't move many papers these days but the election of Barack Obama was a temporary boon to La Antonia Times.  The OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET (boy how many nasty nicknames for The LA Times can you shoehorn into one hotsheet blurb?) printed nearly a 100,000 extra sheets trumpeting the Illinois Senator's historic victory.


And finally if you ever wondered what ever happened to former Van Nuys gadfly and illegal immigration opponent Hal Netkin, he's resurfaced in John McCain's home state where he's running his virtual operation at a safe distance from Los Angeles.  Netkin has blasted out an email missive to recently announced Council District 7 candidate Guillermo Huesca seeking the Council hopeful's views on a number of issues.