Every failing regime needs an apologist and a henchman and Antonio Villaraigosa has found his in Tim Rutten of the Times and his Chief of Staff Jeff Carr.<\/p>\n
Rev. Carr may have learned too much from his days hanging around the city’s vast hoodlum class as the mayor’s gang czar.<\/p>\n
To many in City Hall, he is a thug, the mayor’s enforcer, the man who conveys the orders to keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told or you’re out. To commissioners and top bureaucrats, he is the obedient servant of a mayor who has lost touch with his roots, his values, his city.<\/p>\n
Carr’s excellent service in eliminating the worst violence of the gangs and loyalty to the mayor earned his promotion late last year, a position envied by others in the world of Antonio who thought themselves more deserving. <\/p>\n
That his success was in no small part due to participating in the “Baghdad Solution” to LA’s street violence, achieved by having former gangsters on the city payroll give free passes to hoodlums to do what they wanted as long as they reduced their number of Class 1 crimes that show up on LAPD statistic sheets.<\/p>\n
Inside City Hall, what is going on is nothing like the live-and-live deal the hoodlums are getting. Carr listens sympathetically to the entreaties of others but he does not hear, Orders are orders.<\/p>\n
Rutten is a different case.<\/p>\n
He obeys without being ordered unless you believe his bosses had to tell him explicitly that the company line is the city is in good hands and all will be well be as soon as the economy returns to normal. <\/p>\n
Clearly not paying attention to what is going on himself, he turns to Carr of all people for understanding how the city can get of the difficult financial situation created by poor leadership and awful management.<\/p>\n
What he learns is this<\/a>: “The problem, Carr says, is that the mayor’s call for shared sacrifice so And labor’s refusal to accept pay cuts of 10 or 15 percent is “a tragedy that organized labor one day may come to regret.:<\/p>\n None of that is remotely true. Unions representing 22,000 city workers have twice in last nine months negotiated deals with the mayor for early retirements and no raises, 10,000 cops have given up raises, thousands of other workers have seen their pay cut by up to 10 percent through furloughs. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Only the mayor’s pals in the DWP union have gotten off without giving up Any question of give-backs from DWP In his Just three days earlier, Rutten was taken to task<\/a> “Elected office can be made a
\nfar has been met with silence or rejection. But labor’s refusal to
\nengage could have profound consequences on its members and the city.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n anything, On top of the nearly 6 percent raises in the first two years
\nof the recession, they got handsome lump-sum payments of 3.25 percent of
\n their salaries this year and up to 4 percent in each of the next four
\nyears. Many of those DWP workers got retroactive raises going back three
\n years and managers just were handed $5.5 million in cash payments
\nFriday by the City Council. <\/p>\n
\nworkers are off the table but the mayor wants rate hikes of nearly 25
\npercent this year to help pay their salary increases. <\/p>\n
\nslavish belief in the perfection of City Hall’s failures, Rutten
\nconcludes: “Los Angeles and organized labor have been good for one
\nanother. Now
\nthey need to see each other through the bad times, so that when
\nprosperity returns, the goodwill engendered by shared sacrifice will
\nensure that all share in the benefits.”<\/p>\n
\n for his attack
\n on City Attorney Carmen Trutanich<\/a> for his crackdown on millionaire
\nscofflaw Kayvan Setareh who put up a supergraphic on a Hollywood
\nbuilding to reap profits promoting a movie in defiance of the billboard
\nordinance and fire safety laws.<\/p>\n
\nbully pulpit, we all suffer when it’s
\ntransformed into a pulpit for bullies,” showing his contempt for those
\nwho believe in the rule of law.<\/p>\n