Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

Eric Garcetti, Vying For Most Instagrammable Mayor, Jammed On The Piano Alongside Moby Last Night

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

You gotta hand it to Mayor Eric Garcetti: he knows how to stage what can only be described as a tweetable moment. (I mean, just look at the flower pot at the mobile desk he set up in Boyle Heights.) Last night he did it again: Garcetti went up on stage and jammed on the keyboard alongside Moby at the Fonda. Behold the mayor of Los Angeles in all his filtered-and-fuzzy-concert-cell-phone glory:

Support for LAist comes from

There's video, too:

Moby has been a long-time supporter of Garcetti. He helped to raise $250,000 for Garcetti as a mayoral candidate and later called him the "coolest mayor in the history of Los Angeles." He gave Garcetti a shout-out on Twitter as well:

While we have you here gawking at a photo of Garcetti jamming alongside Moby, here are a few more (mostly) substantial stories about what's going on as the mayor approaches his 100th day in office on October 8:


  • Garcetti says he wants to know more about the $40 million the LADWP spent in ratepayer money on a mysterious, nonprofit group called "The Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute." The L.A. Times reported on it last month, but the LA Weekly smelled BS in 2005 and said Garcetti is pulling a Captain Renault since he agreed to fund it as a councilman.
  • Garcetti says that around Day 100, he plans to unveil a data system that will keep track of how the city is doing. It's not just about crime but will include data on street repairs and how long it takes the city to get that bedbug-ridden couch off the sidewalk. The Los Angeles Times notes that thing is that once politicians have a bunch of numbers, they have a tendency to want to "juke the stats" in the parlance of "The Wire."
  • Garcetti just appointed Tom Sherak, a former Academy chief, as L.A.'s film czar. His job will be to beat out Albuquerque for the next "Breaking Bad." Garcetti told The Hollywood Reporter: "At the end of the day, it's going to be about local victories and chasing leads in the industry to convince people to keep their production here. He's as universally liked as anyone can be in the business."
  • Need a gig? Garcetti is still looking for deputy mayor for economic development. The LA Weekly reports the office is looking for a "progressive, accomplished business leader" who is "politically astute without being political" and can "thrive in [a] high-profile public position with significant public and political scrutiny." A recent report has good news and bad news about the local economy: Los Angeles is growing faster than the rest of the nation, but most of the new jobs don't pay well. (We're assuming this jobs czar position will.)
  • It's not all about hiring: The Los Angeles port chief announced her retirement, reportedly because she knew she was getting canned anyway. That might be because the port spent $3 million dollars renovating a yacht used to give tours of the port and didn't admit that it might have gone, uh, overboard until someone tipped off CBS Los Angeles.
  • The Downtown News points out that Eric Garcetti is an anagram of "Tragic Recite," "Tiger Cat Rice" and "Art Critic Gee," but we'll leave it to someone else to figure out how what this says about the mayor's possible connection to the Illuminati.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist