Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
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

Mayoral Candidates Roll Over for the Vote

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

()

As all the blogs are reporting today, Jessica Garrison's 1/10/05 Los Angeles Times piece, "Hahn Rivals Court Pet Lovers" informs us that the mayor's challengers sought animal advocates' endorsement last Sunday at the Citizens for Humane Los Angeles mayoral convention. Some see it as evidence of the activists' increasing political clout. Garrison wrote, "In a sign of the growing political influence that animal advocates wield in Los Angeles, the top challengers to Mayor James K. Hahn showed up Sunday to address people attired in animal-themed clothes in a bid to win their endorsement."Charlotte Laws, president of the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP), posted an in-depth report of the meeting for LA Indymedia.org, including this howler.


Villaraigosa was the second speaker, mentioning the 44,000 dogs and cats killed at city shelters each year. This number differs from statistics provided by the L.A. Times, as well as those offered by Daily News, and are different yet from numbers thrown out by city employee Regina Adams at a meeting I had with her and the General Manager of Animal Services (GM) Guerdon Stuckey a month ago. The true number of animal deaths in the shelters seems to be a carefully guarded secret. To the predominantly vegan/vegetarian room, Villaraigosa said, "It would be easy for me to speak to the crowd and throw red meat" – an awkward cliché prompting whispers in the house, but which was intended to convey his promise to speak in a forthright manner, rather than tell the audience what they wanted to hear.


Oh, that's rough!

Republican dark horse Walter Moore won the group's endorsement.

Support for LAist comes from

In other mayoral endorsement news, Patrick McGreevy reports in his 1/10/2005 "Inside Politics" column for the Los Angeles Times that Antonio Villaraigosa failed to win an endorsement from the Los Angeles County Democratic Party after its candidate review committee failed to reach agreement Sunday on which candidate to recommend for endorsement in the race for mayor of Los Angeles.

The panel voted 11 to 8 for Villagraigosa, but the vote was short of the 60% support needed to make a recommendation to the 200 members of the party central committee. As a result, the central committee will consider an endorsement on Jan. 18 without a recommendation.

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in 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