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The LA Times and Daily News today lay into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his part in pushing Los Angeles towards bankruptcy. The Times calls this a "man-made crises," thanks to his and the LADWP's "an arrogant and irresponsible approach" to doing city business:
The mayor balked, as did his appointees on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, and they ended up with no increase and no prospect of getting one before July. Now, in a display of brinkmanship disguised as a supposed exercise of fiduciary duty, the DWP claims it can no longer afford to pay and will renege on its commitment; Villaraigosa is threatening to bring government to a halt and to drain a reserve fund that exists to pay for unforeseen contingencies -- not man-made crises like this one. No wonder credit agencies are expressing a loss of confidence in City Hall.
Over at the Daily News, columnist Doug McIntyre is more blunt:
Nobody has been more derelict in his duty than the mayor of Los Angeles, a man only interested in the celebrity of his office rather than the public trust he was sworn to uphold. [...]
Villaraigosa has given us a dishonest effort. His five years as mayor have been nothing more than a launching pad for personal advancement, including nurturing fundraising sources for future campaigns and damage control once the formerly lapdog media acknowledged his failure.
[...]
Here's his legacy: the city is broke, we lead the nation in poverty and homelessness, and we've hemorrhaged our manufacturing and tax base. The mayor has proven himself incapable of righting these wrongs. We need a real leader. Antonio Villaraigosa is not up to the job. Doug McIntyre's column appears Wednesdays and Sundays.
