Mayor Sam Awards Nominations

The nominations are in! To vote for the 2007 Mayor Sam Awards, "The Sammies," please click here.

You have until midnight on the 30th to vote, we'll announce the winners on the 31st.

Local Elected Politician of the Year
Assemblyman Paul Krekorian
Eric Garcetti
Janice Hahn
Michael Ten of South Pasadena
Sheriff Lee Baca

Local Elected Politician's Staffer of the Year
Stuart Waldman
Michael Tou
Young Gi Kim
Josh Kamensky
Jennifer Cohen

Hottest Politician's Wife, Husband, Boyfriend or Girlfriend
Corina Raigosa
Long Beach City Councilmember Suja Lowenthal's husband Daniel
Tony Cardenas' wife

Sexiest City Government Employee - Female
Kellie Hawkins, Exec. Dir, Comm on Status of Women
Young-Gi Kim
Janelle Erickson
Kieren in Perry's office

Sexiest City Government Employee - Male
Antonio Villaraigosa
Jimmy Blackman
Matt Szabo
Bernard Parks

Cutest Couple
Janice Hahn and Reggie the Alligator
Mirthala and Antonio
Mr. and Mrs. Kefflebaum
Janice Hahn and Noel Weiss

Dumbest Politician of the Year
Lloyd Levine
Rocky Delgadillo
Tom LaBonge
Ed Reyes
Fabian Nunez

Dumbest Staffer of the Year
Manny Figueras
Lisa Sarno
Mitch Englander
Uli Sanchez
Bob Blumenfeld

Crook of the Year
Mike Carona
Richard Alatorre
Governor Schwarzeneger
Fabian Nunez
Rocky Delgadillo

Dumbest Idea, Program or Cause
Jan Perry's Fast Food Ban
mayoral school "takeover"
AB1381
Mansionization
Alatorre and Roos becoming lobbyists for developers

Model of Efficiency Award (someone in City government who actually got something right)
Bill Robertson, Director of LA's Street Services Bureau
Michele Siqueiros
Brian Humphrey, LAFD

Biggest Mistake
Lloyd Levine dumping Stuart Waldman
Rocky not registering his car
Villaraigosa holding a news conference to announce his affair and then complaining that the media was prying into his personal life
Prop R
Funding Gang Prevention programs.

Best Place to Drink After A City Council Meeting
The water fountain on the fourth floor
Pete's
The Redwood
Little Tokyo

Worst Public Official or Government Employee Driving Skills
Michelle Delgadillo
Lance from Tom LaBonge’s office

Most Corrupt Special Interest (organization or individual)
SEIU
Eli Broad
Richard Muerelo
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Rivers and Mountains Conservancy

Special Waiver Award (anyone you want to nominate for any reason - state both and why)
Zuma Dogg because I like big balls
Red Spot for his brilliant social commentary, grammatical errors notwithstanding.
Ted Hayes bitch slapping Maxine Waters
Michael Hunt for dressing like a Klansman

Local Journalist of the Year
Kevin Roderick
Jon Regardie
Joseph Mailander
David Zahniser
Joseph Chapman

Media Outlet of the Year (blogs, newspapers, radio or television stations)
LAist
CityWatch
Daily News
BBC
Channel 4 News

Sexiest Local Journalist
Sharon Tay
David Zahniser
Mariel Garza
Sioux-Z Jessup
Lisa Hernandez

Person of the Year (the person who had the biggest impact locally - good or bad)
William Bratton
Laura Chick
David Hernandez
Antonio Villaraigosa
Zuma Dogg

"REGGIE THE ALLIGATOR" gets his "HOME CONFINEMENT"

For us who remember "BORN FREE" or "MUTUAL OF OMAHA'S "WILD KINGDOM". Today was a moment that would of brought a tear to Marlin Perkin's eyes or sent the Lions running for the hills.

"REGGIE THE ALLIGATOR", the reptile who gave Councilwomen Janice Hahn her chance to challenge Councilman Tom LaBonge for "COUNCIL VISUAL BUFFOONERY". Was shone the way to his new moot today at the L.A. Zoo.

Besides LaBonge and Hahn tripping over themselves for "FACE TIME" and "SOUND BITES". Recreation and Parks officials staged a press event worthy of the fame that "REGGIE" has achieved.

The best part was seeing multiple officials crowd together to carry "REGGIE" to the edge of his new water hole. Then even better was them getting away from "REGGIE'S PEARLY WHITES". Too bad "REGGIE" could not get his own "BITES", in the target rich environment.

Reggie Captured!

They caught Reggie the alligator!

They got him alive. He's going to live in the zoo. No word on whether he'll get a multi-million dollar pen and a feng shui consultant.

Politicians are rushing to the zoo for maximum photo-op-osity.

Update -5:13 p.m.
Channel 2 has devoted 13 minutes so far to the capture of a reptile. Janice Hahn and Tom LaBonge rushed to the zoo to get media attention, and Hahn apparently arranged to have the truck with the alligator diverted to rendez-vous for a photo-op. She also somehow used the wrong pronoun to describe how the alligator was wrestled, bound and carried away: she kept saying "we" when she should have said "they." Oh, and of course we had helicopter coverage.

Only in L.A.

Reggie Is Back, Villaraigosa Dodges May Day Protests

By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, MooreIsBetter.com.

Reggie the Alligator, reports Channel 11, is back and bigger than ever. I say call Jack Bauer.

You may see the alligator tomorrow, but you won't spot the Mayor. Villaraigosa hopes the national media will forget his whole "clean your toilets" thing because, really, that sort of thing is not vice-presidential.

But neither does our Mayor -- or our "alcalde," as he calls himself during the Spanish portion of the infernal info-mercial you must endure every time you dial 3-1-1 -- want to alienate his compadres at Mecha, MALDEF and La Raza. So what was his "solution?" Get out of town! Seriously: he strategically chose to leave town today to avoid having to appear at, or explain his absence from, the May Day protests. Call it the all-things-to-all-people approach.

By the way, for those who still don't "get it" at the L.A. Times, illegal immigration is ALREADY a crime. So please, for the love of Mike, stop saying that the proposed federal legislation last year would have "criminalized" illegal immigration. It's already criminalized -- already a crime.

Anyway, let's hope the streets are as empty as they were last year. That light traffic, by the way, is what we would experience if we repealed Special Order 40 and started cooperating with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws.

Reggie Update

You already know, from reading this blog, that the Crocodile Hunter is coming to town. Here's the latest about our favorite reptile (NOT amphibian):

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Janice Hahn estimates the city has spent more than $107,000 in overtime to make sure the lake is staffed to warn people of Reggie's presence.

And, according to Russ Smith, curator of reptiles at the Los Angeles Zoo -- shown here, in an artist's conception of what it would be like if he met Reggie -- if Reggie is a male, then when his hibernation alarm clock goes off, Reggie will sing. "They do bellow during the springtime, calling for a mate," the curator said. "Kind of like a cross between a cow moo and a roar."

Crikey! Look Who's Hunting Reggie Now!

"So far, 10 men from three outfits have been unable to catch him. It's a local laugher. Steve Irwin, the colorful Australian 'Crocodile Hunter' from TV, is on deck as the next hunter who will stake his reputation, at no charge, on capturing Reggie, officials said." [From the Bradenton Herald, Florida.]

And just how do you catch an amphibian? The other other white meat, of course.

You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

The Palm Beach Post reports that "Worried callers overwhelmed the state's nuisance alligator hot line Monday as the national media seized on the news that three women had likely met their deaths in the reptiles' jaws in less than a week."

One reason people are worried is that a four-day search resulted in the capture of the nine-and-a-half-foot-long alligator that killed Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, a student. The alligator's stomach contained a racoon, a turtle shell, a garbage bag, and both of Jimenez's arms.

Meanwhile, back in L.A., the seven-foot-long alligator called "Reggie" has eluded authorities at Lake Machado.

Fugitive Captured - Reggie Runs Free

Adding a little lite humor to the day, we couldn't help but post about the plight of our beloved mascot Reggie who is holding strong and making a fool out of just about everyone.

The latest development includes the arrest of Thomas "T-Bone" Quinn for parole violations back in Louisiana.

Just a few thoughts. Recs and Parks supposedly did a background check on this fugitive who was out here for weeks. Janice Hahn even invited him to help capture Reggie, driving away actual licensed gator hunters.

With these kind of background checks, it makes you wonder if the kids who attend R&P camps and programs are actually safe. Who else have we missed?

Some Headlines of Interest

Opinions on the Mayors First 100 Days
'Incidents' Threaten Mayor's Fast Start - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took office in July armed with a 100-day plan drafted to ensure an energetic start to his ambitious agenda for Los Angeles.
Great Expectations - Villaraigosa's got to do more than fill potholes

Rick Orlov's Weekly Tip-Off
Antonio makes quick save to keep the Iowans happy

Profile on Janice Hahn
Last Hahn Standing -- It didn't take long to figure out that the Exy Johnson, Los Angeles' official tall ship, wasn't big enough to hold two of the city's most gregarious political egos.

Traffic Issues
Greuel presses aid for traffic -- In seven years since the previous federal highway bill was passed, nearly half of the $865 million allocated for special road projects statewide has not yet been spent.
Mayor assails own party over 405 car-pool lane -- Describing himself as angry at state senators in his own Democratic Party, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Sunday vowed he will personally lobby them to follow through on promises to provide $75 million for a car-pool lane on the 405 Freeway.
Westside's second chance -- The traffic gridlock on the Westside is not going to get better; in fact, with a number of big developments in the pipeline, it's going to get a good deal worse.

Red Tape
Bayou Gator Catcher Told to Cool His Heels -- Municipal red tape dashes plans by New Orleans evacuee to rid Lake Machado of its elusive reptile, Reggie.

Crowded Blogosphere

I've been proud that we haven't posted much on the Monster of Machado Lake, but now it has been taken to a whole new level.

Reggie has a blog. No, I'm not kidding. It's Friday. Have some fun. Go show him some love. He has earned it making a fool out of everyone who is after him.

One warning for Reggie though. Be careful. The current sport in LA is outing bloggers. Who knows what they'll do to you if caught.