Where's Antonio? Chatting with Seacrest, Pushing a Rate Hike
With Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa battling the L.A. City Council over a DWP rate hike this week, he didn't have much time to hit the luncheon-and-dinner-awards circuit he's so fond of.
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| L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (bobble head version) |
But it was a week full of TV and radio interviews for the mayor, one of them with American Idol/radio talk show host Ryan Seacrest, who's also Villaraigosa's buddy.
On Monday, March 29, the week started for the mayor with an 11 a.m. press conference at DWP headquarters with L.A. City Councilman Richard Alarcon, where they announced a "compromise" for a rate hike.
Two hours later, he sat for an interview with KPCC radio talk show host Patt Morrison.
On Tuesday, at 9:30 a.m., Villaraigosa led a "rally" outside City Hall
with environmental, labor, and civic leaders to push for a "green energy
compromise plan" -- also known as the DWP rate hike.
After the City Council passed a hike on Tuesday that was less than what Villaraigosa was seeking, the mayor apparently took refuge in either his mansion or his third floor office at City Hall. There were no scheduled events of any kind for Wednesday.
On Thursday, though, after the City Council and the DWP battled over another rate hike proposal, Villaraigosa was back in form, waking up for a morning interview with buddy Ryan Seacrest. He also scheduled an 8:30 a.m. interview on Good Day LA on Channel 11, pushing National Census Day.After the City Council passed a hike on Tuesday that was less than what Villaraigosa was seeking, the mayor apparently took refuge in either his mansion or his third floor office at City Hall. There were no scheduled events of any kind for Wednesday.
By 10 a.m., Villaraigosa was off to the Valley for some reason, where he announced a "Visit Hollywood 2010" program that promotes tourism in L.A. Guess if you can't get the rate hike money, you go after the tourism dollar.
"With the recent resurgence of this timeless locale," said Villaraigosa, referring to Hollywood even though he was standing inside a ballroom at the Universal Hilton at Universal City, "there has never been a better time to visit Los Angeles and experience all the attractions Hollywood has to offer."
Later in the day, the mayor would appear on CNN with John King.
On Friday, Villaraigosa wraps up the week with a 10:30 a.m. interview on MSNBC, then heads to the Los Angeles Mission to serve food to the homeless for an "Easter Meal" of sorts.
Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.
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