A while back in a post about bad mayors (think Ray Nagin) we called out Antonio Villaraigosa for what he is – a failure.
So much promise, so much disappointment:
In preparing for this month’s cover story, an open letter to Antonio Villaraigosa, writer-at-large Ed Leibowitz spoke to a range of civic figures to plumb their views. Whether from critics or supporters, the opinions were near unanimous: The mayor, who started his first term with such promise, has been a terrible disappointment. With a couple of exceptions, all the conversations were off the record—Ed was free to quote the person but not identify them. Which is to say, these civic figures were willing to say things about the mayor in private that they wouldn’t say in public. One can easily imagine some of their reasons. They didn’t want to alienate a powerful elected official whose help for a project or a campaign they might need in the future. This isn’t unusual.
It would be impossible, for example, to report on Washington, D.C., and Hollywood—two cultures where everyone is worried about offending the person they just knifed in the back—without having off-the-record conversations.
Speaking of Ray Nagin, read this.