Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Tuesday

Mayor Villaraigosa ran on a pro-education platform.  The Mayor's endeavoured in the past to take over control of the LAUSD.  If he really wants to help our schools, he can perhaps do something about lower the water and power rates charged the school district by DWP. 

Redistricting is underway for the County Board of Supervisors.  Efforts are underway to draw districts as such so that County Supervisors of certain ethnicities are more likely to be elected.  I might be wrong, but seems to me that was made illegal long ago.

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Friday Hotsheet at 3 a.m.

Joseph Mailander a guy in la • elsewhere • email

Vox Populi: The Daily News's item on the debate that focuses on the carnival atmosphere outside has perfect pitch. When there is celebrity focus overload and nothing at all is really said, the people will say more than anyone else. "There were tears in Godoy's eyes as she said she would lose her downtown Los Angeles home in 30 days. Her 8-year-old son, Angel Martinez, held up two handwritten letters. "I want to give them to the future presidents," he said. "Maybe they can help me save my house."

Re the LA Times series on Broadway, chronic fishwrap factchecker Brady Westwater says, "The final article in that series (by Ari Bloomekatz, concerning the Cecil Hotel) was so bizarre it managed to archive a new LAT record of ten factual errors in one sentence...." in "The Times Plays the Race Card on Broadway."

I don't know why, but a pet sterilization ordinance sounds like a very bad idea to me. Actually, I do know why: the City's renter-to-owner-occupied ratio is so out of whack that the first best step to cleaning up our pet problem is to make for more homeowners in the City of Los Angeles. The amount of no-pets-allowed apartment buildings here is a driver of many animal reg problems. Work on creating more homeowners, not on less pets.

People have asked me to say something about my appearance on Larry Mantle's AirTalk yesterday; thanks, but I'd rather not critique myself. [ed.: You can listen here if you like]. I will tell you receive quite a few congratulatory calls immediately after wrapping up, including one from Red Spot, and Mantle himself told me after that I did well exchanging views on Prop S the Mayor's special counsel Thomas Saenz.

But one thing for sure: the guy who especially does well on a day like yesterday is Larry Mantle. He almost comes out of his shoes with excitement on such a big political day. And he had tons of info in pocket on Prop S. It felt like he argued my case to Thomas, and Thomas's case to me.

Thomas Saenz? The head of the Mayor's Office of Counsel and longtime MALDEF honcho. Oversaw the Mayor's ethics reform efforts when the Mayor was still talking ethics---you know, before the adultery. But you should know him as the guy who overturned Prop 187.

And now for the other side: Mandatory anything is generally not a good thing

My good friend and blogging partner Walter Moore has a plank of his otherwise excellent platform that I can not support.

Despite that, I will still endorse him, donate to him, campaign for him and vote for him. But that comes later.

Super Nanny Bachelor Backstabbing Daddy's Boy Lloyd Levine has yet another one of his "nanny state" bills in the works, this time he wants to force you to cut off your pets' private parts.

No doubt, serious pet overpopulation problems exist but more government control is not the answer.

When testicles and ovaries are outlawed, only outlaws will have testicles and ovaries.

If you look at the bill, you will quickly see that it benefits the rich and large commercial breeders of dogs and cats. It will also have the effect of rendering many if not all breeds of cats and dogs nearly extinct. From a practical standpoint it's unworkable, unfair and purely based on emotion.

You may remember the movie "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" where apes became pets because dogs and cats became extinct. This may be what does it.

This law will actually serve to reduce the number of pets that are licensed, drive breeding underground and create more sick and unwanted animals.

Statistics show that as the human population in California has increased, the number of animal impounds has actually decreased. This is the result of voluntary efforts as well as the trapping and spaying/neutering of feral pets. The City of San Jose has had tremendous success with a program such as this.

Animal rights activist and author Patrick Burns - who is an expert and advocate for pet population control - has an excellent piece on why mandatory laws would be a disaster. Before you let your love for animals (as any normal person should feel) rule your intellect on this issue, read Burns' article. If you want more reasons why Lloyd's bill won't work, click here.

Finally, besides all the practical reasons why this is a bad bill, it goes right to the heart of why the Nanny State is a serious threat to our freedom. As noted by this blogger, the words of (Democratic) President Lyndon Johnson have deep meaning: "You should not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harm it would cause if improperly administered."