After decades of a failed experiment in municipal socialism, Austin Beutner looks like just the right man for the job of reviving LA’s sagging economy from the tornado of mismanagement and poor leadership that has hit it, a steal at $1 a year.
He is the man who the mayor says “led a team that helped the Russian people in their transition to a market economy” after the fall of communism. If that doesn’t convince you. consider that he made a goodly chunk of his fortune as an investment banker and expert putting people to work in Third World countries with an abundance of cheap labor.
A Third World economy, cheap labor and all the assets of the DWP, harbor and airport to work with — it’s right up Beutner’s alley.
You can gamble your tax bill on his ability to wipe the nearly 14 percent jobless rate, put the 200,000 people who have abandoned even looking for a job to work, balance the city budget and erase the $10.5 billion city pension debt.
It’s only a matter of time before he leads us to that somewhere over the rainbow and becomes known as the Wizard of LA.
There are a few obstacles he will have to overcome, however, like the ambitions of the mayor and council to stay on the public dole for the rest of their lives without actually doing anything for the public benefit.
Can the Wizard of LA find a brain for Scarecrow Tom LaBonge (who wants to be mayor), a heart for Tin Man Dennis Zine (Controller) and courage for Cowardly Lion Bill Rosendahl (US Senator)?
If he does, he still faces the challenge of getting help from Good Witch Glinda (Lt. Gov. Janice Hahn) to help Dorothy (Mayor Jan Perry) and Toto (Assemblyman Richard Alarcon) to get back home to Kansas or wherever they’re from.
Surely the Wicked Witch of the West (Mayor Wendy Greuel) or is it Mayor
Eric Garcetti will have a lot say about what he is trying to do,
especially if it makes any sense.
No, it’s not going to be easy, what with the yellow brick road all cracked and broken and the Emerald City flooded by bursting water mains.
But he does have help from the man who counts, a mayor so desperate to be Governor or Senator or Ambassador or just plain rich like him that he swears on the stack of bibles and promises to give him all the support he needs no matter what.
Of course, his promises in the past have proven to be about as valuable and reliable as AIG securities.
No matter. The Wizard can fix it all if only everyone really believes it’s possible.
And that’s the twist in this little story that makes it all just a fantasy.
This cast of characters has betrayed the public trust. Nobody believes anything they do is for anyone’s benefit but their own and the people who put them on the public stage.
It’s simply a question of faith and you got to wonder if the Wizard of LA even has clue about that..
Brilliant portrayal Ron. It takes a crisis, and a hit in their wallets before common sense and wisdom returns. The age of wattage smiles and good looks without a brain and character, hopefully is over. Our Mayor, who still does not get it, keeps hiring wealthy men as a panacea to all that ails the city, as though that absolves him of all responsibility and his philanderings over the past four years. Little we can do about him, but hopefully people will never forget, that people without the virtues of hard work, character, ethics and morality should never be elected to another position ever again.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! (with his pants down)
Dear January 12, 2010 @ 6:36 PM,
Today was one of those days where I really needed a laugh. Thank you.
Then who is the guy who says “We represent the lollipop guild!” Brian d’Arcy?
Well if Austin Beutner is the right man for in reviving LA’s sagging economy from the tornado of mismanagement and poor leadership, then why not give him the chance to prove himself. We all know that recession brought us too much poverty and hunger. But some economist says that sign of recovery in economy is quite happening – that is through decreasing rate of unemployment. Hopefully, Beutner can be our rainbow after the rain of economic misfortunes we had last few years.
Should we show up to City Hall with buckets of water to see who would melt?
I give Beutner a year, before “I m getting the f…..out of here”. City Hall is not a Wall Street Boardroom, where decisions are made behind closed doors and now. It has taken years for our political leaders to destroy thousand of jobs. One man cannot reverse this tide in a couple of years with a magic wand. But again, good headline, before the Mayor moves to the next miracle.
Yeah, yeah, he comes at a bargain price of $1 a year, BIG DEAL! Notice, please, that no one is saying what the size of his staff and their salaries will be, what the size of his budget is, or how big the slush fund! Does he get 8 cars like Tony the Turncoat, or more? How many trips will we have to fund? Personally, I find it offensive that the “Mayor” has the audacity to compare us to a third world economy! Either way, I see no changes to the good on this or any other horizon unless (and that’s a big word) the Clowncil and Tony the Turncoat suddenly all get morals and start to work together for the benefit of the City instead of themselves.
Look, Antonio is a dissapointment to even his supporters, and a disaster for the city.
But Im still waiting for Ron kaye and his band to actually offer something positive. Guys like him and Jack Humphreyville are basically Repulican Libertarians. That may work in Montana but not in a complex city like Los Angeles.
And as we saw in Controller Greuels report; the neighborhood councils cant even manage the little money they get now and we are supposed to look at them as an alternative to professional representation?
I think the answer is to throw the present council out, with some exceptions=not to throw out the whole system.
Looking for answers Ron, not just simple accusations.
Ron,
You are having too much fun with this analogy.
Unfortunately, the solution to our $25 billion budget crisis (4 year budget gap, the unfunded pension liability, and the deferred infrastructure maintenance) is no laughing matter.
The solution is a radical restrucutring of the City’s operations, organization, and finances; the creation of a real balanced budget with no gimmicks; and increased civilian oversight to regain the confidence and trust of the voters.
It is not going to pretty and will take some real courage on the part of the City Council and the Mayor.
Maybe Austin Beutner will be the start of a new beginning.
LA TIMES OPINION
Where are our leaders?
Re “Resolutions for legislators,” Column, Dec. 28
There are a great many Californians (and Angelenos) complaining that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) spend too much time away from home.
The consensus is that this detrimentally affects the quality of their leadership.
Forgotten in all this is the fact that when you lack the skill, ability and brains to govern, it really doesn’t matter where you are.
LA TIMES
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-sunday3-2010jan03,0,2024953,full.story
“Give him a chance to prove himself”, someone says. Ha. To think that this guy is there to do anything other than funnel money into the “Bill Clinton gang” is pure fantasy. He’s a shill for the “well connected”.
Oh, some benefits will find it’s way to the people. How can it not when billions of dollars are flowing through their hands. But, it’ll only be pocket change.
And, who is the moron who continually props up Ron Kaye’s every post, like a lap dog, calling them “brilliant”, “excellent”, etc.?
Is this the guy who convinced all the companies to save money by exporting our jobs to China (etc) and then expected us to be consumers now that we lost our jobs and no longer have any money????
1:41PM You are correct he and his buddy Riordan, among others, bought companies thru leveraged buy-outs, broke the companies into pieces and sold them making millions, while they laid off the employees. The Times should look into how this guy made his millions and his associations.
1:24 p.m., as ususal, you make no sense other than your venom that is so recognizable.
To 6:36 p.m. I’ll never be able to meet the Mayor again with a straight face.
3:36pm Yes, it’d be very interesting to find out more about this guy. I’m sure there is a real reason why he cares to mess with the midget mayor for $1. Here is the website for his previous outfit:
http://www.evercore.com/upload_pdf/phpix.pdf
It does look like he’s a Gordon Gecko type, mergers & acquisitions, breaking companies into pieces, and of course, laying off people.
So what’s his real interest in LA? You think there is money to be made off DWP, like skimming off millions w/o anybody noticing?
Hey, Ron, you used to be in the news business, could you ask people to look into this guy?
I don’t understand why so flippant about this guy (Wizard of OZ????). He’s a vampire. He’ll suck every last, remaining, living dollar from Los Angeles’ middle class.