In describing the way he plans to do business for the remaining 18 months of his term to the Daily News, Mayor Villaraigosa recently likened himself to a chihuahua. And no, he didn't mean that he nips at your heels or has a surprisingly ferocious bite, or even that he regularly gets carried around in a handbag. more ›

Taking its cues from the mayor, the Los Angeles Police Department is reconsidering its rules for impounding cars. more ›

The City of Placentia in Orange County elected a 22-year-old Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) student as its mayor last week. Jeremy Yamaguchi wins the title as the city's youngest mayor in history, the youngest OC mayor in over 20 years and possibly the youngest mayor in California history. more ›

Drivers caught driving without a license can expect to have their cars impounded for a month at a time in Los Angeles. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to change that and allow drivers, many of them illegal immigrants, to get their cars back much quicker. more ›

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has announced his candidacy for L.A. mayor in 2013. Anhalt reportedly put up a(nother) billboard as part of his proclamation and will make a formal announcement on Thursday morning in West Hollywood. more ›

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti likes city politics, so he's putting a bid for the brass ring on it. He announced today he is officially running for Mayor in 2013. more ›

To celebrate the re-opening of all 73 Los Angeles Public Library locations for Monday hours today, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made some time to read a story to some kids following a press conference at Central Library. Villaraigosa's Sr. Press Secretary, Sarah Hamilton, whose imminent departure made headlines today, posted this photo to her Twitter. more ›

City Council President Eric Garcetti (CD 13) has admitted on record that, as many suspected, he is considering running for mayor, says Hollywood Patch. Garcetti says right now he's "seriously leaning" towards the bid, and will go public with his decision in about six to eight months from now, once he's talked it over with his family. "The earlier I say yes, the harder it will be for me to govern in my current role," he explained to an audience in Westwood. Patch notes Garcetti is "the longest-serving councilmember, with 10 years on the panel." Maybe the Mayorship is in the stars: Last year he played one on TV. more ›

George Lopez announced yesterday on Good Day L.A. that he wants to run for Mayor of Los Angeles in 2018. He said that although he might not pass the background check at the moment, he didn't see any reason why he couldn't ultimately become mayor if Arnold Schwarzenegger could become California's Governor. Lopez even deemed himself a "Lo-bama" that would be less focused on effecting change and more focused on collecting actual change in the form of coins. It was all funny. It was all sort of unreal. Some didn't believe it. more ›

An interview with AllHipHop.com has revealed what we long suspected about the aspirations of singer, reality star, Kardashian sex tape-maker, and Brandi-brother Ray-J: "I'ma be the mayor of Carson." more ›

It's been teased for years. Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti will run for Mayor of Los Angeles. That's yet to be seen, but Hollywood seems to like him and his father Gil, a former Los Angeles County District Attorney. For example, a fictional character running for D.A. of Gotham in the viral campaign for The Dark Knight was named Roger Garcetti, and in HBO's "The Wire," Baltimore City Councilmember Tommy Carcetti became mayor. more ›

He's been a steady name in Los Angeles politics for decades, from the Los Angeles City Council to his current long-term spot with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. Now, he's seriously being asked -- apparently by "people you just can't ignore" -- to consider making a stab at running for Mayor of Los Angeles next year, when Antonio Villaraigosa's term is up. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa employs a staff that has "grown to be the largest mayoral staff in Los Angeles history," according to the Daily News. more ›

The movement to recall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took shape in April, when former mayoral candidates Walter Moore, Phil Jennerjahn, and David Hernandez, as well as former City Council candidate Augusto Bisani, joined forces to ask Angelenos to "Recall City Hall." more ›

There are 80 events on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's official schedule since he took office in 2005 for which he did not pay to attend. He may not have even attended all of them, but shoddy records kept by his office mean a blurry paper trail pegging the source of each of these gifts, and the "official duty" Villaraigosa would have performed in attendance in order to justify his accepting the freebies in the first place. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference yesterday in which he pressed the public to stay away from the Staples Center tomorrow if they didn't have a ticket to the Lakers-Celtics NBA championship game 7. But Villaraigosa will be there, though the source of his ticket, and what it his being there means in regards to his official capacity remains unclear, notes LA Observed. more ›

He works for $1 a year and is bringing some no-nonsense planning to the city. Now Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, with his Wall Street background, is subject to rumors that he may be posturing himself -- or rather, he has been put in a high profile place to force the issue -- for political aspirations, says Rick Orlov at the Daily News. more ›

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan turned heads last week with his scathing review of the city's financial status and continued his opinions over the weekend with LA Times columnist Patt Morrison. Of note were his thoughts on police and bringing football to the region. more ›

Citing a "total abuse of the position," a group of former candidates and local activists have launched an effort to recall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, according to KNX1070. more ›

The former 33-year-old mayor of La Puente, Louie Lujan, was sentenced to three months probation, fined $1,000 and barred from holding elected office, a Superior Court Judge ruled today. Last month, Lujan pleaded guilty to one felony count of perjury not reporting contributions and expenditures during his 2009 campaign before submitting his resignation. more ›

Unofficial word went around yesterday that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will be running for Lt. Governor, but the former gubernatorial candidate, however, said he's not announcing anything yet. If he does, in fact, announce the move between now and last day to file in the next few weeks, he'll be facing L.A. City Councilmember Janice Hahn, who announced her candidacy in December. more ›

Local fans of ABC's long-running soap All My Children will see a familiar face on today's episode: City Council President Eric Garcetti. And that's not the Pine Valley City Council we're talking about. Garcetti is one of two LA political bigwigs... more ›

Santa Monica's mayor Ken Genser died yesterday as a result of "multiple complications" stemming from his October 30th 2009 admittance into the hospital, explains the city's official website, noting that Genser, 59, "passed away peacefully [...] with family and close friends by his side." more ›

Council President Eric Garcetti sat down with Neon Tommy's Senior Editor Hillel Aron for a nice interview this week. It revealed that the Councilman is a not hipster (although he represents the most hipster-dense neighborhood) and that Rodeo Grill in Echo Park is a good diner. We also learned that--as we suspected--Los Angeles is in for a worse budget shortfall fiscal year than the current one. more ›

This morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he will tap Deputy Chief Charlie Beck as the newest head of the LAPD. While we all wish him luck, we are simply dumbstruck by the uncanny and positively eerie resemblance to Mr. Magnum, P.I. himself. Coincidence or underhanded push to increase film production in Los Angeles?
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Chatsworth is Los Angeles. San Fernando is not. Hollywood is Los Angeles. West Hollywood is Not. Venice is Los Angeles. Marina del Rey is not. Studio City is Los Angeles. Culver City is not. Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered decided to inform listeners about their NPR West studio's location, interviewing the very proud Andrew Weissman, mayor of Culver City more ›

Mayor Villaraigosa walked the red carpet at the 2009 Primetime Emmys on Sunday and voiced his support for the celebration and the importance of the industry to the economy of the region. more ›

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may be out of town until the end of the week, but his office is still working to keep the finances of the City under control. One unexpected expense this week: The estimated $4 Million cost of hosting the public memorial service for the late King of Pop Michael Jackson. Although City Councilmember Jan Perry, acting in her capacity as Mayor pro tem, went public with a plea for donations, much like the manner in which the costly Lakers Championship parade and rally was funded, no major donors, including the Jackson family or Staples Center owner AEG have come forward with funds. more ›

A new fiscal year means a new Metro Board chair at the helms of L.A. County public transportation. Meet Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian, who has served the city since 2005 and once as the rotating Mayor from 2007 to 2008. “As the new Board Chair, I look forward to providing the leadership necessary to enhance transportation options throughout the region,” Najarian said in a statement. “This next year will be both challenging and rewarding as we move the agency through difficult financial times while at the same time, begin implementing transportation improvement projects voted by the public with the passage of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax initiative.” Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA notes that Najarian could be a plus for the pedestrian and bicycle communities. more ›

Los Angeles' "photo-op" Mayor has spent the past few weeks with the word 'FAILURE' hanging over him, so to speak, thanks to Los Angeles Magazine's recent cover story on Villaraigosa's approaching second term in office. Now it seems that the bulk of his Partnership schools within the LAUSD have also given the Mayor an 'F' in the form of a "thumbs down from teachers," according to the LA Times, adding:

Eight out of 10 schools delivered a "no confidence" vote, and we're talking landslides (84 to 17 at Santee Education Complex, 96 to 13 at Stevenson Middle School, 70 to 13 at Gompers Middle School, 61 to 8 at Markham Middle School and 184 to 15 at Roosevelt High, which the mayor himself once attended).