Sometime it gets too ridiculous – even for Bruno.
I’ve been sitting on the sidelines over the last couple weeks watching our so-called leaders turn City Hall into a circus, seeing the showdown between our ringmaster mayor and his clowns at the DWP with the Council over whether LA is going to go broke without the a bailout from the utility. Controller Wendy Greuel’s been the girl on the flying trapeze.
But this morning’s news inspired me to get off my tail.
After crying wolf so loud the financial guys in New York put down their martinis and started paying attention, Antonio issued a big “never mind” yesterday about his call to shut down some city departments two days a week.
“To all of our surprise, we’ve gotten an increase in revenues of $30 million more from property tax than we expected,” Antonio said.
“To all of our surprise?” What in God’s name is going on? Does he think we’re all idiots?
Word in the kennel is that Antonio is being advised during this crazy crisis by Chief of Staff Jeff Carr, Deputy Mayor Jay Carson, former mayoral flack turned energy expert Matt Szabo and his new $1-a-year jobs czar Austin Beutner.
DWP Chief David Freeman was in Israel for much of the trouble, getting back just in time to make a fool of himself before the Council and managing to make Janice Hahn look like Margaret Thatcher – and that isn’t easy!
Try to imagine these guys meeting before announcing they’ve somehow found $30 million.
Antonio: OK, somebody remind me who the hell brought up the idea of “brinksmanship?”
Carson: That would be me boss. It worked for Clinton. Remember that thing with Newt?
Carr: Right on, Homey. In the hood you have to show you have balls.
Antonio: Well guys, I’m getting my balls handed to me. Anybody have any other brilliant ideas?
Szabo: I could put out a press release. Maybe tweet something.
Antonio: What would the release say?
Szabo: I don’t know.
Antonio: Anybody else? How bout you, Beutner? You’re rich. You must be smart.
Beutner: This job sucks. Just give me all the money and I’ll cut deals that will fix everything.
Carson: I’ve got an idea boss.
Antonio: What now?
Carson: It’s another Clinton thing. Let’s just lie!
Carr: Terrific idea. You can tell them we looked around and found a few million dollars and the crisis is over.
Szabo: I can write the bullet points.
Antonio: Think we can get away with it?
At this point, all the men start laughing and the meeting concludes. Freeman suddenly wakes up, burps and says, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them anything you want.”
Woof!
Poor Antonio. He is down and out. He deserves it, with mgrs, publicists and trainers like Carr, Szabo and Carson. He has reached the point of no return.
Here they are leaving the meeting
The problem is that we have no leaders in this city, political or civic. Just a bunch of lazy wealthy people who think they are immune from a fast sinking city, and a dwindling middle class who are powerless to make changes, but keep voting in these losers. By default, Bruno, you are now the designated leader of LA.
what a circus and joke the politicans have made of our city. Now word is city council members will continue to want to put forth a motion to increase DWP rate hikes again. This is total bullshit!!!! Who the hell is running this city? They are all behaving like the 3 stooges and triping over each other’s statments, contradicting each other and the Mayor and the city controller is so out of the loop she is clueless as how much money the city actually has and where it has been going. First and foremost these clowns need to stop the reality series drama in the media. Next, they need to have a meeting and find out where the city stands financially. Then they need to blast the Mayor for being an idiot and acting like a drama queen stating he was shutting down the city two days a week with several depts. If the city is in such bad shape where is the Mayor getting all the money to hire more people on his staff? What is this new vision of “entertainment connection” the Mayor has Jay Carson and the $1 idiot Austin Beutner and what are tose 6 consultants from outside doing trying to create jobs? In all my years I’ve never ever seen such a mess of politicians losers
Villariagosa is a thug and a bully and a dumb ass at both.
Villariagosa is a thug and a bully and a dumb ass at both.
Where does the Mayor find these morons. But what do you expect from a man with serious mental complexes. He needs to date beautiful women to feel he has it, and dine and wine at expensive restaurants to show he has made it. His personal life would be of no interest, if his position did not destroy our city, but then where would he be without the title. Just a short little uneducated man, who could not make a decent living to support a middle class life in LA.
2;43PM, he will not hire people smarter than he is, he is not smart, therefore he hires morons.
Bruno, what`s wrong with this picture? Two amateurs, Villaraigosa and Garcetti, leading Los Angeles. Where are the grown ups? Can you imagine Garcetti following Villaraigosa as Mayor?
If we have not sunk by then, with Garcetti as Mayor we will drown for sure.
Bruno, what`s wrong with this picture? Two amateurs, Villaraigosa and Garcetti, leading Los Angeles. Where are the grown ups? Can you imagine Garcetti following Villaraigosa as Mayor?
If we have not sunk by then, with Garcetti as Mayor we will drown for sure.
First they can’t find money. Oh’ No Bill, “Mayor, Wendy, Garcetti tells the media we have found $30 million no need to shut down city. There’s another report saying they actually found $100 million because the early retirements will help bring more revenue. Then wait!!!! media is now saying even though they found more money LA is still in budget shortfall of 222.4 million deficit. Where is the City Attorney on this mess and isn’t he suppose to watch for the taxpayers on fraud? Why isn’t he having a press confe. stating he will investigate the fraud of DWP going back and forth saying they have a deficit then finding out they have $1 billion in reserve. I feel like I’m living in Chicago with the Mafia running the city.
The moment City Attorney opens his mouth, the liberal asses in this city will start calling him a clown. We deserve to go down and sink into a third world city. It will take them a few years to realize the damage. It will be too late.
And the first to the charge will be that Citywatch Editor, who is still confused between being for the Establishment or the Communities, he purports to represent.
There are smart posters on this blog so maybe you can point me in the direction where to find the DWP budget? There is a guy who attends city council and really blasts the numbers contained in the DWP budget. Really funny hearing John Walsh say the Mayor is on drugs. Trutanich needs to stop being a baby and come out strong for the people. IF he does then it won’t matter what the liberals will say. I want to know how much $$$$ DWP has given to each council member now in office. If Council members pass a motion to raise the dwp rate hikes then we know WE Will be the fools for actually thinking they had a conscience.
Villariagosa is a dangerous man. I am seriously outraged by his blatant disregard for the residents of Los Angeles. He obviously can’t be bothered with something as trivial as the welfare and future of my hometown. His only concern is to gain favor with his political backers.
Twenty years ago, when Crazy Nate Holden nearly beat Tom Bradley, we got a good laugh out of imagining a Holden administration in which the nly thing worse than the bumbling would be the corruption. Little did I expect that, two decades later, Villaraigosa would make Nate look like Thomas Jefferson…
For the last five years these City Council cowards were afraid of their own shadows as they licked the Mayor’s boots. Now this pack of hyenas has picked up guts to stand up to a weakened Mayor. Where were they when needed. Have no respect for them, and they should be thrown out along with the Mayor.
Los Angeles is giving banana republics a bad name.
One thing’s fer grrrrr sure. Antonio is digging himself deeper and deeper into the dog house with L.A. voters.
Talk about giving banana republics a bad name; he gives dog houses a bad name.
11 days and counting…until the recall petitions are ready: recallcityhall.org
Grrrrrrr!
Your friend,
G.
Call me crazy…but the village idiot was looking for national media attention. In his warped mind, he thought he could go from zero to hero by concocting a cockamanie, headline-grabbing story to demonstrate his mayoral prowess! He got his 15 minutes alright…5 national TV interviews and front page headlines in major newspapers! Finally, after 5 years, the MSM was giving him the recognition he craved…even though most of them couldn’t pronouce his last name, LOL!
Well, Mr. Big Shot Mayor…it backfired on you…big time! You are the laughing stock of the nation, but you are still too stupid to realize how dumb you really are! You belong in an orange jumpsuit…maybe some day!
What`s all this commotion?
Let`s agree Antonio is clueless as to how to run the City, has surrounded himself with sycophants
feeding his narcissism and his behavior over the last few weeks is strange. The LA Slimes should call for his resignation, if they care for the future of the City, if there is any.
RECALL!! We are fed up, we are mad as hell and we are not going to take this anymore. Circulate the petitions. Strike while the iron is hot. Don`t forget, the pundits were also dimissing Davis` recall………
People BEWARE cause council members are talking about bringing back the motion of two ago to increase the DWP rate hike again. They say only for 3 months. I say HELL NO PERIOD!!! Is it any wonder Angelenos are jumping on the Newsom bandwagon when idiots like Janice Hahn are siding with the Mayor wanting the hike for more the 3 months. Pathetic media whore Garcetti yesterday used a city hall staffer and his 4 yr old son to get photo op. THe little boy gave Garcetti 4 cents to show he wants to help. That had to be the most ridiculous, outrageous, thing for Garcetti to have set up. Everyone should do what Griffth Park is doing. Set up a website to put forth candidates to run against the incumbent council member. They are going after LaBonge. Its time the PEOPLE TOOK BACK THEIR CITY.
What Antonio needs is a good herding dog. But he’s got a Fox Terrier, a Bulldog and a Poodle. A good herding dog can round ‘em up and put ‘em in a pen! Move ‘em down the line; select one out, whatever he commands — and we can work off hand signals and whistles, so the Mayor doesn’t have to say a word — just a gesture here and a sound there, no sense in uttering words that will come back to haunt! Much less writing them down, like that highly misguided Executive Order to close City Hall for 2 days. A Fox Terrier is a useless yapper; a Bulldog looks fierce but doesn’t know the job, and a Poodle is (we’ll admit) really really smart but after all that grooming really really doesn’t want to get dirty.
But here are some things we cannot forget: shared sacrifice does not include renegotiating the IBEW contract — so it is not “shared” — and his voluntary 16% pay cut comes with a free house, free meals, free transportation — so it is not the kind of sacrifice he is asking other city employees to take who have mortgages, rent, food, transportation to pay.
The council will increase the DWP rates after all, once this 3-month period during which they can’t, expires. They hope by then that the voters will forget details, and just remember that they stood upto the mayor, made indignant speeches and so on – really, just let the mayor take the heat for all of them. From Pension “no pay cut” Parks to Jan Perry hoping to forget a Tom Bradley-style run for mayor (reminding everyone she’s Jewish AND black) to Zine (the two-faced grin with-Antonio-in-photo-ops when he’s popular but all along stab him in the back and work for Trutanich and Cooley against him), weathervanes Rosendahl and Krekorian, who make speeches but wait to go with the majority or do what their most active local community groups demand, shoring up their personal base; union hacks Koretz and Alarcon, poverty pimps Reyes and Hahn (and Perry again), trash fee hike grabber Smith, on down the list: Villaraigosa’s being a lame duck has just turned them into hyenas for their own purposes, but in the end they will vote for the rate hikes because like Garcetti, they’re desperate to persuade the public that the did NOT allow the city to go broke on their watch. Meanwhile the deficit will balloon to over $450,000 by next year anyway, but they all hope to be somewhere else by then. (Gruel is hoping her endless dire warnings will protect her and make her seem a sage in retrospect: although with every one, Wall Street responds with a downgrade.)