Before speaking to a gathering of Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce members last Wednesday morning, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talked about his western outpost as he ate a light breakfast at the Aldersgate Lodge on Haverford. ’I want to move here some day,’ said the mayor, who currently lives in Mt. Washington, near Dodger Stadium. ‘I love the Palisades and I love riding in the parade’it’s the best community parade in the city, people are so nice and friendly.’ After opening remarks by Chamber president John Petrick and an introduction (in Spanish) by real estate agent Holly Davis, Villaraigosa reiterated his appreciation of the Palisades. ’You know, I come out here a lot; my brother lives not far from here, we go to church at Corpus Christi. I love this town because it’s a real community.’ The mayor then turned to the grim task at hand: trying to assure his audience that there are a few things to cheer about amidst the financial carnage left by the great recession. ‘ ’The city is safer than at any time since 1952, ‘ Villaraigosa said. ‘The last time that we had 109,000 Part 1 crimes (which includes homicide, violent crimes and serious property crimes) was in 1952, on a per capita basis.’ Homicides were 488 the year he was first elected (2005) and 297 last year, the lowest since 1967. ‘ ’I know what the traffic is like in the Palisades’it’s horrible,’ the mayor said. ‘But Measure R, which approved a half-penny sales tax, is going to generate $40 billion, double the size of our rail system and start to get us to where we need to be in the city.’ ‘ ’I tell people all the time: public safety is my priority, but public education is my passion,’ Villaraigosa said. ‘We’re going to hold our schools accountable, we’re going to support our teachers, we’re going to bring in our parents and we’re going to dramatically turn around our low-performing schools.’ ‘ ’Something very important: Our [DWP] rates are almost 25 percent lower than Southern California Edison, and lower than San Diego Gas and Electric and Pacific Gas and Electric,’ the mayor said. ‘We have to continue to invest in our infrastructure, and that costs money.’ Eventually, of course, the mayor had to focus attention on the city’s $400 million deficit and the impact of the state’s overwhelming financial crisis. While assuring his audience that ‘we’re going to protect public safety as much as possible,’ Villaraigosa also emphasized that ‘we’re going to balance our balance and it’s going to be tough; we can’t be all things to all people.’ In order to solve the state’s $25 billion deficit, where lawmakers ‘have been cutting for five years running and have already cut $12 billion, I think it is appropriate for us to extend current taxes for five years so we don’t have to cut core funding from our schools,’ Villaraigosa said. ‘My hope is that the small group of Republicans in Sacramento who are holding the state hostage will allow [the governor’s proposal] to go on the ballot and let the people decide.’
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