Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Thursday

Next time instead of tickets can I just get your ex-wife?

The Ticketgate scandal continues for Mayor Villaraigosa.  While Walter Moore details a laundry list of laws that the Mayor have broken by allegedly taking tickets to many events and failing to disclose them, the normally very left of center Latino Politics Blog takes aim at Villaraigosa saying that when the City is laying off working class folks it may not sit very well for the Mayor to be camped out in corporate suites ingesting foie gras and Veuve Clicquot.  Rounding out the pack Phil Jennerjahn isn't thrilled,  but will take, that perhaps it will be easier to recall the Mayor over a ticket scandal than Villaraigosa's budget destroying socialist ways.  If you're really interested in the potential depth of this mess, Mulholland Terrace at Griffith Park Wayist has posted a list of all the tickets at least that it is known that the Mayor allegedly accepted.

It gets more fun.  The City Council voted to override their boycott of Arizona to allow a contract with a Grand Canyon State based company for red light cameras to continue unabated while learning the City is actually losing money on the cameras.  Boycott leader Councilwoman Janice Hahn was clearly frustrated saying "It just seems to me it's wrong when the state is making money, the county is making money and it's costing us money."

Paul Hatfield reports the LA Board of Education voted to boycott non-union car washes. The sole vote against such silliness was Valley rep Tamar Galatzan who does not take a district car nor charge her car washes to LAUSD considering that perhaps in times like these those funds are better served paying teachers or buying books.  Imagine that! Though a registered Democrat Galatzan continues to make common sense votes that make us think she's slowly moving to join us on the dark side.  Given that she is in her early 30s; she's right on schedule.

While the Board of Education is voting on car washes, including member Nury Martinez, the area around Pacoima based Maclay Middle School (in the heart of  Martinez's district) is in a war zone of gang violence. 13 people have been murdered within a one mile radius of the school since 2007.  14 year old student Francisco Valles says he plans to leave the community as soon as he can saying the gangs are "Pure violence, pure shooting, pure drugs. Pure hurtful stuff."

Technology has allowed welfare recipients to receive their cash via debit cards cutting out the need for them to cash checks and carry cash and cut administrative costs for social service agencies.  However the LA Times has discovered that the welfare EBT cards are accepted in ATMs in more than half the casinos and card rooms in the state. What about strip clubs?