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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.

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Wake Up Call for Mayor Villaraigosa

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Obama's California campaign manager Mitchell Schwartz was all about Measure B, the solar power initiative that barely failed on the March 3rd ballot. His tune is changing, at least in regards to the city's leadership on the measure. “When something that should be very popular doesn’t pass, it is a wakeup call to the mayor and the City Hall establishment," he said to the LA Weekly. "There was something that went on that the mayor and others need to look at and understand. There is some discontent out there which is directed at the powerful.” At issue was transparency for many voters and it shows without it, big budgets only buy so much. "Yes on B spent nearly $1.6 million only to fail against the tiny $74,451 mustered by No on Measure B," the Weekly found.

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