On the Mayoral Race and LA City Politics

Los Angeles' next city election is less than three weeks away, but Mayor Villaraigosa and his allies have weak opposition, and it's unlikely that much will change when the voting is over. As President of the Mayor's Planning Commission, Jane Usher won high praise from homeowner groups and civic bloggers who say that developers have too much clout at City Hall. She resigned to give the Mayor what she called “fresh eyes” for his inevitable second term, but in a letter urged him, among other things, to “please reject the careless, sprawl-inducing approach of adding density at every rapid bus stop.”