In My Orbit...
Chicken Little, the sky is indeed falling. The House of Cards that is the City of Los Angeles fiscal management is crashing down around us, with the requisite posturing, finger-pointing and blame being laid. You know, the same behaviors that got us into this mess in the first place.
Along with digits being raised and cries of fie and foul screamed throughout the Basin, the media whore that is May-V will be making the television rounds. LAist accurately dubs it, Villaraigosa's 'We're Almost Out of Money' media tour. The lowlights:
"9:00 AM -- LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed on Bloomberg News about the budget between 9:00am - 9:30am PST.
"10:00 AM -- LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed by Ali Velshi on CNN about the budget between 10:00am - 10:30am PST.
"10:45 AM -- LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed by Larry Mantle on "AirTalk" on KPCC 89.3 about the budget between 10:45am - 11:00am PST.
"3:30 PM -- LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox Business News about the budget between 3:30pm - 4:00pm PST.
"7:00 PM -- LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Villaraigosa will be interviewed by Art Laboe on 92.3 fm about the Census between 7pm - 12am PST.
Granted, the last appearance is to plug the Census, but it still adds up to the same thing: money desperately needed!
After the L.A. City Council slapped down the DWP rate hike which would pay for a carbon surcharge and ensure May-V's place in history as "The Greenest Mayor on the Planet", the DWP Commission has chosen to not transfer a remaining 73.5 million to the City's General Fund coffers. According to our hand-picked-by-the-Mayor Controller, Lil' Wendy Gruel, "Without the full Power Revenue Transfer I now project that if the City remains on its current path, the City’s General Fund will be out of money - in fact it will be negative $10 million - on May 5th, 2010."
That was two days ago, hence Smilin' Tony's money dance. Displeasure is being served up in the local papers.
LA Times Blames Mayor; Daily News calls for Villaraigosa's Resignation.
A pull quote from a Daily News editorial from radio personality Doug McIntyre:
"Here's his legacy: the city is broke, we lead the nation in poverty and homelessness, and we've hemorrhaged our manufacturing and tax base. The mayor has proven himself incapable of righting these wrongs. We need a real leader. Antonio Villaraigosa is not up to the job."
The rest is equally brutal. Wanted: a real leader for L.A. in crisis times.
This would indeed be popcorn-worthy, if, as an Angelean, I were not so personally affected.