POLITICAL INSIDER - With a recent trip to Washington and a visit with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appears to be on a campaign to get LaHood’s job when he vacates the post, which could happen within months, according to a report today in the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to reports, there is real opportunity” should his personal life survive the vetting process,” says Kitty Felde, KPCC’s reporter in Washington.
His personal life helps keep the tabloids in business.
Villaraigosa made headlines last month partying with Charlie Sheen when a photo of the two went viral. Sheen is a controversial actor, known for his womanizing and unpredictable behavior.
Villaraigosa was photographed with Sheen partying in Mexico, in the company of women and booze according to reports, while Congress was dealing with the fiscal cliff crisis.
“Everyone knows the president wants an Hispanic voice in his Cabinet, but LA Mayor Villaraigosa–really?” says one source close to the situation who did not want to be identified. “Is the President that desperate? Villaraigosa’s life is a disaster and he’s proven that he can’t get it together. It would be an unnecessary risk for the Administration to go in that direction. Villaraigosa’s personal life is a train wreck.”
Before that, Villaraigosa made headlines after reports surfaced that Villaraigosa was dating actress Eva Longoria.
Antonio Villaraigosa, who turned 60 Wednesday and married once, and Eva Longoria, in her 30s and twice divorced, met co-chairing Obama’s re-election campaign and reportedly hit it off at an event.
Longoria is a real-life desperate housewife, with ‘Desperate Housewives’ off the air and no apparent project in the works, she may be angling to make some headlines herself. Eva Longoria is recently divorced from pro-baller Tony Parker who cheated on her with a team-mates’ wife.
And it’s not just Villaraigosa’s personal life that makes not-so-flattering headlines.
The City of Angels got a taste of hell when Villaraigosa was nailed by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) in an event free ticket scandal. He received everything from concert tickets to Dodger tickets. He had to raise $130,000 to pay for the freebies. After getting caught for failing to play by the rules, instead of learning from mistakes, Villaraigosa changed the rules.
Villaraigosa is also apparently absent a lot from the job he will soon vacate. According to a recent report in the LA Weekly, Villaraigosa spends “remarkably little time–about 11%–actually doing his job. The bulk of his 16-hour or so days are spent politicking, preening for the cameras and in other forms of relentless self-promotion.”
“Villaraigosa has almost become a caricature of himself—there so much scandal there that others have gone to jail for less,” says another insider familiar with Antonio Villaraigosa. “He’s clearly contributed to a culture of corruption that Los Angeles has become.”
For the record, Villaraigosa did pick up the endorsement for US Transporation Secretary from the polarizing US Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), which in some circles may be considered a liability more than an asset for the outgoing L.A. mayor.
She told the Los Angeles Times:”I think he’d make a very fine Secretary of Transportation.”
The LA mayoral election is in March. Villaraigosa also has been rumored to be planning a run for governor.
“He doesn’t want to be Transportation Secretary. He wants to be governor and if he gets Transportation he’ll use it as an E Ticket ride to the governor’s mansion. Mark my words–he’ll leave after two years if he gets it,” says a source close to the mayor. “It really comes down to how badly does the Administration really want to get used.”
(This speculative report provided by PRNewsChannel.com … an internet public relations company.)
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 8
Pub: Jan 25, 2013