You just have to love RON KAYE, former editor of the L.A. Daily News! He nailed the essence of this Reconquista mayor of L.A.!

Living large with flair at home and abroad --- What in the world is Antonio doing for you?

By Ron Kaye on August 9, 2008 8:59 AM

Out in the middle of nowhere along a river in faraway Iceland with the midnight sun shining down, Antonio Villaraigosa and his entourage were fly fishing for salmon and enjoying the life of the rich -- which some of them are -- at a private lodge with cooks and guides all around.

Some have found the rustic life a torture but to others, it's a grand party with great wine and great food and great fishing in the great outdoors.

Compliments of Keith Brackpool, the wealthy British bon vivant and wannabe California water king, the mayor and his entourage enjoyed a holiday real fisherman only dream of -- especially after a few days of luxury in London.

Money is the game and Brackpool and another smart operator, Ari Swiller, are raising a lot of it as the mayor's chief fund-raisers to make sure he doesn't face a difficult re-election challenge on his way to higher office. The goal of his fund-raisers and political consultants is a coronation befitting a king rather than and election battle that could wake up the citizenry to what's really going on.

Life is grand for Antonio Villaraigosa and money is the game, luxury is the payoff.

For truly ambitious politicians, the payoff is power and the glory. I know Antonio well enough to say I believe he could have been one of those who really changed L.A. for the better, or failed trying.

He offered himself as the punk from East L.A. with big dreams and high values, a guy who could stand up to gangs -- at least the gangs of special interests that feed off L.A.'s treasury, the developers, contractors and public employee unions. But he made his choice early on when he could have blocked the sweetheart contract negotiated under his predecessor's watch with the Department of Water and Power's all-powerful union.

Instead, he signed off on it.

And what's happened since has made his administration the most corrupt in modern LA. history. His charm and glibness, his easy way of smoothing over and obscuring the truth, his selling out the city's future to the highest bidder, his endless travel in search of self-importance and cash to fuel his campaigns for office, for higher taxes, for political advantage.

Most of all, there's the love of the high life: Gourmet food, $1,000 bottles of wine, beautiful young women, life in a mansion or hanging out with rich pals in theirs, bodyguards and drivers.

He is leading the life of the fabulously rich on a salary of $225,000 while supporting a wife he's separated from and their house in Mount Washington, a kid at Princeton and another at the exclusive Marlborough School.

Check out the list of his favorites eateries that he gave the L.A. Times: The foie gras.he "always" gets at Patina, the tuna tartare and oysters at the Water Grill, his preference to "entertain dignitaries" at Spago. the "really beautiful presentation" at La Serenada de Garibaldi, providence where he just lets " the chef kind of fix me up something great," and for dessert there's nothing like the tres leches cake at Frida in Beverly Hills.

But never forget, he's still a man of the people and drops by Pink's for a hot dog from time to time. "I love the atmosphere here and I don't mind waiting in line. Sometimes I like waiting in line just to work the line," he told the Times.

He told me once he'd rather be out in the world getting rich than in politics. But why bother when you can live like the rich and hang out with them and not do the work of earning the money yourself.

Why be rich when you can pal around with Bill and Hillary Clinton and when their dreams go bust, switch gears and jump aboard Barack Obama's bandwagon in the blink of an eye.

Why be rich when you can be entertained by Mayor Richard Daley in Chicago and Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York as if you were royalty and come with oodles of cash to chase away challengers for mayor.

Why be rich when you can raise millions from special interests to salvage your reputation as a leader by making the working stiffs of the city pay for gang programs neither you nor your colleagues have done anything about for decades, for a "subway to the sea" that will do nothing to ease traffic congestion for decades to come, for a failed school system that is beyond salvation.

It's all just marketing, you see, like selling fat-laden Ultimate Cheeseburgers with bacon and Happy Meals to an obese nation.

This isn't meant to be an indictment of Antonio Villaraigosa. It's a plea for him to get to work and help save L.A., for him to aspire to greatness for himself and his city -- or to get out of the way and let those who care more about others than themselves get to work on the challenging task of creating a city that works for its people and not just the insiders in a corrupt political culture.



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