Antonio Villaraigosa

Villaraigosa ran for election as Mayor of Los Angeles in the 2001 citywide contest, but was defeated by Democrat James Hahn in a run-off election. In 2003, Villaraigosa defeated incumbent Councilman Nick Pacheco to win a seat on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 14th District.

Villaraigosa placed first in the primary for the Los Angeles mayoral election of March 8, 2005, and won the run-off election on May 17, receiving 58.7% of the vote.[16] On July 1, 2005, Villaraigosa was sworn in as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles. He became the first Latino Mayor of Los Angeles since 1872, when Cristóbal Aguilar (who served from 1866 to 1868 and again from 1870 to 1872) held the office. Attendees to his first inauguration included then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; former Governors Gray Davis, Pete Wilson, and Jerry Brown; former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.[17][18]

Villaraigosa was re-elected in 2009, receiving 55.65% of the vote against his most prominent challenger, attorney Walter Moore who won 26.23% of the vote. Villaraigosa drew controversy by refusing to debate any of his opponents before the election.[19][20][21]

Villaraigosa speaks at a meeting on infrastructure investment in the White House as President Barack Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood look on.

One of Villaraigosa's main transportation-related goals was to extend the Purple Line subway down Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica.[22] Proponents dubbed the project the "Subway to the Sea." Villaraigosa persuaded Congressman Henry Waxman to repeal the ban on subway tunneling in Los Angeles, which occurred in 2006.

On November 4, 2008, Los Angeles County voters passed Measure R, an additional half-cent per dollar sales tax that increased the sales tax rate in Los Angeles County from 8.25% to 8.75% and is projected to generate up to $40 billion over 30 years for transportation.[23] Measure R included funding for the portion of the "Subway to the Sea" between Wilshire/Western and Westwood/VA Hospital; a project known as the D Line Extension.[24] Its passage was credited in large part to Villaraigosa, who lobbied the Metropolitan Transportation Agency and County Board of Supervisors to place it on the November ballot, and helped organize the fundraising efforts.[25]

Working with Wendy Greuel, then Chair of the City Council's Transportation Committee, Villaraigosa issued an executive directive aimed at banning road construction during rush hour in traffic-plagued Los Angeles, and established anti-gridlock zones and launched Tiger Teams to improve traffic flow during peak rush hour times. Villaraigosa even publicly pledged to take the subway to work one day a month, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. This, however, proved impossible for him.

In February 2010, Villaraigosa traveled to Washington, D.C. in order to promote a "Ten/Thirty" plan that requests an $8.8 billion bridge loan to augment the $5.8 billion expected from Measure R tax revenues. Proceeds would accelerate the construction of 12 mass transit projects. The loan would be repaid with continuing income from Measure R funds.[26] Villaraigosa's 30/10 plan eventually morphed into the America Fast Forward program and was passed by Congress.

On Sunday July 18, 2010, Villaraigosa fell from his bicycle after being cut off by a taxi driver; Villaraigosa suffered a broken elbow in the fall, and the taxi driver fled the scene.[27] The accident converted Villaraigosa into "a new champion of cyclists' rights", when he declared a bicycle safety summit, and announced that he would push for the passage of a "3 foot passing rule" in California.[28] The two-hour-long summit meeting, held Monday, August 16, 2010, was criticized for not including input from Los Angeles' Bicycle Advisory Committee, which has held a number of Bicycle Summit meetings. Villaraigosa has also supported implementation of Los Angeles' Bicycle Master Plan, adopted in March 2011, which set a long-term goal of creating a network of 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of interconnected bikeways spanning the city.[29] Subsequent to the adoption of the plan, Villaraigosa issued an executive directive that mandated the construction of 40 miles of bikeways each year and requires city agencies to include bicycle-friendly features in their programs and expand public education and training campaigns.[30]

As mayor, Villaraigosa was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,[31] a national organization of Mayors whose goal is to increase gun control. While mayor, Villaraigosa pursued an agenda of making Los Angeles the safest big city in America.[32]

Villaraigosa proposed a Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness initiative, which would add certain units to the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments and reorganize some of the current practices. Villaraigosa also created the Homeland Security Advisors, a group of approximately 40 leaders. The panel includes Police Chief William Bratton, former L.A. FBI chief Ron Iden, former Mayor Richard Riordan, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and former District Attorney Ira Reiner. It will be co-chaired by his Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety Arif Alikhan. The panel planned for such issues as counter-terrorism measures, evacuation planning and emergency preparedness.[33]

Villaraigosa vowed to hire 1,000 new police officers.[34] On March 6, 2009, Mayor Villaraigosa and Police Chief Bratton announced that the L.A.P.D. had expanded to its largest force in city history.[35] On May 14, 2009, City Council approved an LAPD/LAFD hiring freeze.[36] In a television advertisement paid for by the Villaraigosa campaign, Chief Bratton stated that "Crime is down to levels of the 1950s." 24 hours before the March 3 election, Villaraigosa and Bratton reannounced a statement from the Mayor's Office that the "citywide crime-rate drop to the lowest level since 1956, the total number of homicides fall[ing] to a 38-year low. Gang homicides were down more than 24 percent in 2008."[37] However, former Chief of Police Daryl Gates argued against this statistic, citing a trend toward lengthier prison sentences for career criminals as the reason for the change. In fact, crime fell by 43 percent across California between 1994 and 1999.[38] The figures are also disputed by Patrick Range McDonald and Professor Andrew Karmen, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Karmen stated that, adjusting for population, the Los Angeles murder rate would need to be 180 or less to be equivalent to the crime rate of 1956, with its rate of 104 homicides per 2.2 million people, or one killing for every 22,115 people (the 2007 rate was 396 per 4 million people, or one killing per 10,101 people). McDonald further noted that, "In 1956, 89 percent of homicides were cleared. Today, if you kill another human being in Los Angeles, chances are very good you will get away with it: 43 out of every 100 killers are not caught." Similarly, he notes, "In 1956, 42 percent of robberies were cleared by an arrest. Today, that number is 26 percent."[39]

Antonio Villaraigosa

Villaraigosa sought to gain control of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as one of his top priorities as mayor, but instead was able to create the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a subset of LAUSD comprising the district's lowest-performing schools.[40][41]

In his first State of the City address, he announced his intention to assume full control of the LAUSD, through a bill passed by the State Legislature.[42] The school board and teachers' union immediately protested[41] though there was support in the community from different areas in Los Angeles.[43] He raised the issue of education as a critical part of solving economic disparity, providing the workforce for the future and articulated that "education is the civil rights issue of our time." Because LAUSD includes many other municipalities outside the city of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa wanted to engage all of the elected officials in those cities. He brought together union leaders and state legislators to create a Council of Mayors of the 28 cities served by LAUSD.[42] The votes of each Mayor would be proportionate to the city's population.[42]

The biggest issue during the Mayoral election of 2005 was public education. Because he campaigned and won on the issue of education,[44] Villaraigosa sought the legal authority to do so through AB 1381. AB 1381 was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[45] However, the plan received significant opposition among the Los Angeles Board of Education, Board President Marlene Canter and then-superintendent of LAUSD, Roy Romer, among others. On December 21, 2006, AB 1381 was ruled unconstitutional.[46]

In response, Villaraigosa founded a non-profit entity called the Mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to take control of the district's lowest-performing schools and transform them into high-performing schools. The Partnership eventually managed 21 LAUSD campuses, which operate under the same labor contract as LAUSD. Though schools in the Partnership were among the lowest performing in the district, they eventually made the largest gains in the state based on California's Annual Performance Index measure, and are now considered among the best performing urban schools in the state.[47] The Partnership has generated some controversy since its founding. In June 2009, teachers at eight of the ten campuses cast a vote of "no confidence" in the Partnership.[48] Villaraigosa continues to serve the Partnership by raising money in support of its success. The Partnership includes a program for parents called the "Partnership's Parent College." To date, over 10,000 of the Partnership's 16,000 parents have graduated from the Parent College.[49]

In his final state of the City speech as Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa reiterated his commitment to education reform and expressed concern that the other Mayoral candidates did not share the same commitment to education in Los Angeles. "Education can't be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad," Villaraigosa said in his speech at UCLA's Royce Hall. "It's time for our candidates to demonstrate the 'fierce urgency of now' when it comes to ensuring that all of our children have access to great schools."[50]

In January 2005, Villaraigosa appeared before a coalition of animal rights activists and pledged that, if elected, he would implement a no-kill policy for Animal Services and fire General Manager Guerdon Stuckey, an appointee of former Mayor Hahn. Animal activists had expressed doubts regarding Stuckey's ability to lead the Department of Animal Service since his appointment, primarily citing his lack of experience.[51] During Stuckey's tenure, activist concern intensified due to a refusal to accept charity-sponsored spay and neuter services, firings of several key animal rights-oriented workers, and excessive euthanasia of animals held by Animal Services. Approximately one year after Villaraigosa's initial promise to fire Stuckey and substantial negative press, Villaraigosa fired Stuckey. Stuckey appealed the firing to the City Council and threatened a lawsuit, and in February 2006, the Los Angeles City Council awarded Stuckey a $50,000 consulting fee with the agreement that there would be no lawsuit. In January 2006, Villaraigosa appointed Ed Boks to the General Manager position.[52] In April 2009, Boks resigned after complaints from some staff, city councillors, and animal advocates.[53][54][55] In June 2010, fifteen months after Boks' resignation, Brenda Barnette, former CEO of the Seattle Humane Society was appointed.[56]

Villaraigosa tripled the city's trash collection fee from $11 per month to $36.32 per month for single-family homes, stating: "Every new dollar residents pay for trash pickup will be used to put more officers on the streets," in a press release dated April 12, 2006.[57] A 2008 L.A. City Controller audit by Laura Chick determined that 2008 "only $47 million, or about one-third of the new trash-fee revenue then pouring into city coffers, went to hiring police, and only 366 officers were hired instead of the promised 1,000."[58]

Villaraigosa then lobbied to place Proposition S on the ballot to fund new police officers, concerned that a pending court ruling could eliminate the 40-year-old 10% telephone tax.[59] This generated some controversy among tax activists, as Villaraigosa and his negotiating team had recently reached a salary agreement resulting in a 23% pay hike.[59] Controller Laura Chick noted that Proposition S language does not restrict expenditure to police and firefighters, and instead deposits the money into the general fund.[60] It is not certain that any of the Prop S monies were used to hire new police officers. Villaraigosa supports Proposition O, which currently adds $10.22 to the property tax bill of a $350,000 home and will eventually climb to $35.00. Villaraigosa also campaigned last fall for two education bond measures that will increase the size of property tax bills over the next decade.[61]

On March 23, 2010, Villaraigosa, in a leaked memo warned the Los Angeles City Council that their potential failure to support a series of four proposed rate increases totaling 37% and already approved by the city's Department of Water and Power would be "the most immediate and direct route to bankruptcy the city could pursue".[62]

In April 2008, Villaraigosa set aside a large parcel of industrial land around the Los Angeles River to create a "clean technology corridor."[63] The project never materialized.

Villaraigosa played a critical role in establishing the LA Cleantech Incubator and voiced his support for the organization during the night of their opening.[64]

In February 2006, Villaraigosa was presented with the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation Achievement Award for "following in the footsteps of the first African American Mayor of Los Angeles who served the city for 51 years." Citing the similarity of the two mayors in building coalitions among diverse communities, the speakers praised Villaraigosa for his vision for the City of Los Angeles. Also in attendance were Mrs. Ethel Bradley, daughter Lorraine and many of Mayor Bradley's former staff members.[65]

On May 6, 2006, Villaraigosa was awarded an honorary degree by Loyola Marymount University, and was the Class of 2006 Commencement Speaker. On May 12, 2006, he was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Southern California and was the Class of 2006 commencement speaker.[66][67] In June 2006, Villaraigosa received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[68] In 2007, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Whittier College.[69]

Villaraigosa was one of ten mayors from North America to be short-listed as a finalist for the 2008 World Mayor Award.[70]

On May 2, 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that Villaraigosa was under investigation for ethics violations: "The executive director of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission...accused Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of 31 violations of campaign finance and disclosure laws stemming from his 2003 campaign for the City Council."[78]

In June 2010, a formal ethics investigation of Villaraigosa was launched due to his unreported acceptance of 81 tickets to concerts, awards ceremonies and sporting events.[79] Estimates—including the 13 Lakers courtside tickets valued at $3,100 each[80] and Academy Awards and Governor's Ball tickets at $21,000 each—suggest that the value of the tickets could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.[81]

At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where Villaraigosa was chairman, the original 2012 party platform caused controversy after it was written, because of the lack of typical invocations and references to God and God-given rights, as well as lack of language affirming the role of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Both of these matters had been included in some previous platforms. On the second day, September 5, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland introduced an amendment on the floor of the convention to re-insert language invoking God and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Convention Chairman Villaraigosa put the amendment to a voice vote requiring a two-thirds majority for passage. After the first vote had greater volume of "nays", Villaraigosa called for a second vote, which was again met with greater volume of "nays" than "yays". A woman standing to his left said, "You've got to rule, and then you've got to let them do what they're gonna do." Villaraigosa called a third vote, with the same result. Despite not receiving a two-thirds majority, Villaraigosa still declared the amendment passed, causing an eruption of boos on the floor.[82]

In February 2015, while Villaraigosa was considering a run for the United States Senate,[83] the Los Angeles Times reported on Villaraigosa's work as an advisor to controversial multi-level marketing dietary supplement company Herbalife Nutrition.[84] The story questioned whether Villaraigosa's relationship with Herbalife would become a significant hurdle in a statewide run, given the company's checkered reputation and ongoing U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigations. Herbalife has been strongly criticized as being a pyramid scheme that specifically targets Hispanics.[84]

Villaraigosa's role as a consultant to the embattled company was condemned by the League of United Latin American Citizens,[84] an advocacy organization focused on Hispanic advancement.[85]