Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Thursday

American Processed Cheesehead

Gov. Scott Walker's Worst Nightmare- Progressive candidate Joanne Koppenburg has declared victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice race over incumbent Justice David Prosser, a Republican and former state assembly leader. Prosser, not surprisingly, is not conceding and a recount will most certainly take place. Opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union budget bill has energized the state and Koppenburg, who had little chance of beating the incumbent a few weeks ago, now finds herself propelled into the winner's circle. Wisconsin Democrats are promising that this is only the beginning, as recall efforts for Senators who supported Walker's bill are well underway. If Koppenburg survives the recount and probable court challenges, Wisconsin's Supreme Court will shift from a 4-3 conservative majority to a 4-3 liberal majority.

UPDATE; 48 hours after the polls closed and 36 hours after all the votes had been unofficially turned in, a county clerk "found" another 13,000 votes stored on her computer. 7,000 of these votes went to David Prosser.  I've got a feeling this story isn't over yet.

Mayor Villaraigosa has signed into law an ordinance restricting the size of hillside homes. For years, community activists have worked to stop the developers of these oversize "big box" mansions from cutting into LA's hillsides and constructing these oversize structures.
Trivia moment; The source of these L.A. anti-McMansion laws and new hillside building restrictions originate in the community of Sunland-Tujunga, where, a few years ago, an amazing woman named Roberta Actor-Thomas worked with then Councilwoman Wendy Greuel to craft the original language and definitions that have led to today's desperately needed citywide ordinances.

LACityWorkers.com is very, very upset with Council President Eric Garcetti, going so far as to file a California Public Records Act Request seeking all emails between the councilman and a bunch of other people they appear to be very, very upset with. If anyone can explain what this is all about, please let us know!

City Maven posts a recent interview she conducted with Councilman Krekorian that looks at his current CD2 goals and his future prospects. Relax, Eric, you're in the clear for now!