Antonio Villaraigosa Totally Explained

Everything about Antonio Villaraigosa totally explained

Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a run-off election on May 17, 2005, in which he defeated incumbent mayor James Hahn. Prior to his service as mayor, Villaraigosa was the California State Assemblyman for the 45th District, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, and the Los Angeles City Councilman representing the 14th District. Before being elected to public office, Villaraigosa had a long career as a labor organizer. In 2007, Villaraigosa's marital troubles and affair with a television reporter covering City Hall made national headlines. Villaraigosa also serves as one of four national co-chairmen of Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign.

Early years and education

Born Antonio Ramon Villar in the City Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles County's eastside, Villaraigosa had a difficult childhood. He attended both Catholic and public schools. He went to Harrison Street School for third and fourth grade during 1961 and 1962. When Villaraigosa was in the 10th grade, he became paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal tumor. After it was removed, he was able to regain mobility. He attended Cathedral High School but was expelled from the Roman Catholic institution after getting into a fight after a rivalry football game. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, At this time, he went by the name "Tony Villar", but began using his birth name "Antonio" in the 1980s. "community-run law school" in Los Angeles. Villaraigosa failed the California Bar Exam in each of four attempts, and thus remains unlicensed to practice law.
After PCL, he became a field representative/organizer with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), where he made inroads with individuals that would help him make his move into politics, such as James M. Wood and Miguel Contreras, both deceased former Executive Treasurers of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Villaraigosa was also President of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Federation of Government Employees. On May 6, 2006, he was awarded an honorary degree by Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and addressed the graduating Class of 2006 as Commencement Speaker. On May 12, 2006 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Southern California (USC) where he also addressed the graduating Class of 2006 as commencement speaker. Antonio Villaraigosa is a Roman Catholic.

Personal life

Villar married Corina Raigosa November 28, 1987 resulting in the adoption of their fused last names as his family name. The couple have two teenage children, Natalia and Antonio Jr., currently a freshman at Princeton University and a Loyola High School graduate. Corina is a teacher in the Montebello Unified School District. He said, "I have had a relationship with Ms. Salinas over time. It has evolved, and today I've acknowledged that relationship." In his statement, he added "I don't believe that the details of my personal life are relevant to my job as mayor." He intends to keep his fused last name.
The mayor, who is widely considered to have designs on higher office, has been dogged by rumors of marital infidelity for years. In 1994, while Corina was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, Villaraigosa left town for a few days (with no notice) with a friend's wife after his victory in the state Assembly election, resulting in Corina filing for divorce the day after the election. He also won handily among West L.A.'s liberal Jewish population, and to a lesser degree, the west Valley's more conservative Jewish community. Indeed, there were only two demographic groups he didn't win: white conservatives in the northwest Valley, and Asian-Americans, although the latter only by the narrowest of margins.
On July 1 2005, Villaraigosa was sworn in as the 51st mayor of Los Angeles in an enormous ceremony involving an interfaith prayer service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, followed by a large procession to nearby City Hall. The ritual was planned by and the music conducted by John K. Flaherty. On the South Lawn of the facility, he was administered the oath of office by Stephen Reinhardt, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governors Gray Davis, Pete Wilson, and Jerry Brown. Also attending were former Vice President Al Gore, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and mayors of other cities, current and former state and local elected officials, candidates, as well as large numbers of the Los Angeles Consular Corps, including a large contingent of international elected officials. The ceremony was also attended by local celebrities like David Hasselhoff and Natalie Cole, who also performed the night before at his inaugural gala.

Ethics

Villaraigosa's first act as Mayor was requiring all city commissioners, his entire staff, and all city employees to sign an ethics pledge.

Executive directives and transportation

Villaraigosa has now signed nine executive directives regarding a number of issues, one of his most prominent was to ban all road construction during rush hour in traffic-plagued Los Angeles. This act was also one of the first acts he performed as the mayor. This plan was originally proposed during Villaraigosa's first run for mayor in 2001 by candidate Steve Soboroff.
   His other transportation related efforts have been to take charge of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where he previously served as Chairman of the Board, a contrast to Hahn who declined his turn to take the helm. At the end of his year long term, the chairmanship rotated to County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Villaraigosa currently serves as a Vice Chair of the Metro board.
   As Chairman, he oversaw the final approval of the EIR for the proposed Exposition Line, the opening of the Orange Line busway through the San Fernando Valley, and the beginning of tunneling on the Eastside extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail. One of Villaraigosa's main transportation related goals is to extend the Purple Line subway down Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica, although no plans have yet been completed. In order to convince Congressman Henry Waxman to reverse the federal policy he created which banned tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard following an unrelated methane explosion, Waxman and Villaraigosa appointed a board to study the geologic risks. After the panel declared that any risks could be mitigated, Waxman sponsored legislation to repeal the ban, which passed in 2006. More recently, Metro has determined that it'll cost 4.8 billion dollars to complete the subway, at 300 million dollars a mile, and would take approximately 20 years.
   On a more local level, Villaraigosa led Operation Pothole, whose goal was to fill 35,000 potholes in 14 weeks. He surpassed that goal, filling 80,173 potholes throughout the city. After the success of Operation Pothole, he announced an initiative, currently in operation, to fill 300,000 potholes throughout the city. He has also announced Gridlock Tiger Teams to ease traffic congestion on Wilshire Boulevard and in the San Fernando Valley.
   The MTA will be raising all of its fare effective as of July 1, 2007 to address a growing budget deficit. Vilaraigosa proposed his own plan in terms of fare hikes, but the MTA Board rejected his proposal, calling it unsound.

Education and gang prevention

Villaraigosa has made gaining control of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) one of his top priorities as Mayor. Villaraigosa said during his campaign that he wished to take control over the schools, as is the case in New York City and Chicago, but he later backed away from the plan.
   In the first weeks of his administration, he appointed a Council of Education Advisors to find recommendations for immediate steps that can be taken to improve public education in Los Angeles. Some of the recommendations created by that Council include mentoring, providing thorough health care, and creating safe passages to and from school.
   In his first annual State of the City address, he announced his intention to assume full control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, through a bill passed by the State Legislature. The school board and teachers' union immediately protested
   The plan has continued to receive significant opposition among the Los Angeles Board of Education, primarily Board President Marlene Canter, the then-superintendent of LAUSD, Roy Romer, some in the California state legislature, and other city councils, whose cities are also a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The opposition believes that local school board members are more accountable to constituents than a mayor with other things on his agenda, and cities outside of Los Angeles in LAUSD will be under taxation without representation because they can't vote for the Mayor of Los Angeles.
   The bill was ruled unconstitutional by the local Superior Court. In an appeal, it was knocked down once again by the State Court of Appeals. There was talk that the Mayor would appeal to the State Supreme Court but refused to do so.
   As a new approach to gaining control, he's helped to elect a majority of allies to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. He has also released his blueprint for education reform, entitled "The School House".
   Several challenges have risen during the Mayor's bid for more control. One was the request of City Controller Laura Chick to audit the operations of the school district, a proposal which has been endorsed by the mayor and the entire Los Angeles City Council, but is strongly objected to by the superintendent and the Board of Education. Another was Assemblyman Keith Richman's proposal to break up the LAUSD into smaller districts, a plan reminiscent of one proposed by former mayoral advisor Steve Soboroff during his run for mayor in 2000 and Bob Hertzberg in his campaign in 2005. Villaraigosa says he'll look at this plan but ultimately wants to see mayoral control.
   Through all of these efforts, Villaraigosa has continued the work of his predecessors to increase Los Angeles' nationally respected after-school program for elementary schools, LA's Best, and for middle schools, LA's Bridges. LA's Bridges is focused on preventing at risk children from joining gangs and encouraging current gang members to drop out.
   The focus of Mayor Villaraigosa's 2007 State of the City address was gang prevention, intervention, and suppression. In consultation with a report issued by the Advancement Project of Los Angeles and with the City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and Youth Development, Villaraigosa released his plan on gangs. He has recently appointed a Deputy Mayor for Gang Prevention, a gang czar, to implement these reforms.

Animal Services

During the election, Villaraigosa appeared before a coalition of animal rights activists and pledged if elected he'd implement a no-kill policy for Animal Services and fire General Manager Guerdon Stuckey, an appointee of former Mayor Hahn. Stuckey earned the ire of animal rights activists for what they considered to be his lack of experience, a bungled city spay/neuter contract, refusal to cooperate with the Los Angeles Animal Commission and excessive euthanasia of animals held by Animal Services. Stuckey's supporters claimed that he'd been reducing the number of animals killed in the city every year. After the animal community caused an onslaught of negative press about the mayor's failure to keep his promise, Villaraigosa fired Stuckey. Stuckey appealed the firing to the City Council and threatened a lawsuit. The council awarded Stuckey a $50,000 consulting fee with the agreement that there would be no lawsuit. Sympathy for Stuckey by some council members was partly in reaction to a campaign against Stuckey by some that included a smoke bomb and picketing. In addition, there was concern for racial discrimination because Stuckey is black. Villaraigosa then appointed Ed Boks to the General Manager position. (External Link

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Economic policies

Development, housing, and homelessness

Villaraigosa believes that the city requires a strong and healthy economy to be beneficial in other areas, like housing. He has found compromises in several labor disputes, including a highly publicized hotel workers protest while he was still the mayor-elect. He has also supported the construction of LA Live, a multibillion dollar development by Staples Center, which will add a theatre, movie theatres, hotel, retail and restaurant space, open space, and broadcast facilities; the project has broken ground during his administration. In addition, the tax reforms created by Councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti and former Mayor James Hahn have also taken effect during his administration. In terms of housing, Mayor Villaraigosa proposed placing an initiative on the ballot which will fund 1 billion dollars of affordable housing. In addition, he's infused an additional 50 million dollars into the Housing Trust Fund, created by former Mayor Hahn, which he's devoted exclusively to housing and programming for the homeless population. The homeless population has become a major issue during his administration and he's recently been appointed to chair a task force on poverty and opportunity for the United States Conference of Mayors.

Film production

In relation to the California film industry, Villaraigosa has expressed support for U.S. film industry workers. Villaraigosa has vowed to fight runaway production by introducing counter-incentives to keep U.S. film productions at home. Villaraigosa's proposals include eliminating fees for filming done on all city property and reducing business taxes for entertainment-related businesses. Another proposal includes a possible entertainment incentive zone to make it easier to locate film production in the city.

Public safety and homeland security

During James Hahn's administration, public safety was the number one concern and Hahn presided over significant decreases in crime every year. His program included bringing in William Bratton as police chief, restoring community policing, and implementing a flexible work week schedule. Villaraigosa has pledged to continue all of these efforts and continues to see drops in all areas of crime. Villaraigosa is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino. Villaraigosa recently proposed a Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness initiative, which builds upon the work of Hahn with programs like Operation Archangel, adds certain units to the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments, adds positions to each department, and reorganizes some of the current practices. Villaraigosa's latest development in the policy realm of homeland security is the creation of his Homeland Security Advisors, a group of approximately 40 leaders. Some of the high profile selections include former Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief William Bratton. The group will be co-chaired by his Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety Arif Alikhan and Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss. Villaraigosa has proven that Los Angeles is ready for a natural disaster or terrorist attack based upon the city's responses to the terrorist bombings in London and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which hit the Gulf Coast, but wants to strengthen local readiness and response. In 2006, Villaraigosa proposed an increase of trash fees to hire about 1,000 Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers over the next four years. The proposal was passed by the Los Angeles City Council. In his recently proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Villaraigosa proposed cutting the CERT (Community Emergency Response Training) program led by the Los Angeles Fire Department. In City Council budget hearings, the funds were identified to restore the program.
In a televised interview with ABC Channel 7, on August 12, 2007, Villaraigosa announced that the City will uphold the law of the State of California about the medicinal use of marijuana. Villaraigosa added that the State's Compassionate Use Act 1996 and/or Senate Bill 420, allowed for dispensaries and that the city would continue to monitor the dispensaries in place; that they don't break any laws. The LAPD on the other hand has taken the position that they'd uphold federal law against marijuana whatever the purpose of it, as it's against federal law for anyone to use, possess, or cultivate marijuana because the government of the USA doesn't officially recognize cannabis 'marijuana' as a medicine nor having any medicinal benefits.

Energy and the environment

Villaraigosa has urged the Department of Water and Power to make 20% of all energy, natural energy, by 2017. He has encouraged the continued conversion of the city's fleet of vehicles into clean natural energy vehicles. Most significantly, he's overseen the historic Clean Air Ports Action Plan between the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which will significantly improve air quality. Villaraigosa is a supporter of recreation and parks, and the concept of "green urbanism", making Los Angeles a pedestrian and environment friendly city. This can be evidenced by his hiring of Gail Goldberg as Los Angeles' new Planning Director. While Planning Director in San Diego, Goldberg worked on making San Diego a city of villages, each intricately linking pedestrian activity, public transportation, housing, and environmental practices. The mayor recently announced his initiative to plant one million new trees (with the help of TreePeople and founder/president Andy Lipkis) throughout the City of Los Angeles. Villaraigosa has recently released plans to curb the effects of global warming and climate change.

Water usage

On August 10, 2007, The Los Angeles Times published an expose on water usage by Villaraigosa at his private residences.(External Link

) During the Summer of 2007, Villaraigosa challenged Los Angeles residents to slash their water use by 10% in the face of a historic drought. "Los Angeles needs to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm," Villaraigosa said then. But DWP records obtained by the Los Angeles Times show that "Villaraigosa has been contributing to that storm," according to the Times. He and his family used 386,716 gallons of water at their Mount Washington home, far higher than the average of 209,000 gallons. Villaraigosa blamed his high water use on "gophers that chewed holes through a rubberized drip-irrigation system."

Legislative and intergovernmental affairs

Mayor Villaraigosa has visited Sacramento and Washington, D.C. numerous times to lobby on behalf of his educational and transportation related initiatives. He has also sought millions of dollars in grants for public safety, homeland security, transportation, homelessness, and other causes.
   In October 2006, he traveled to England for several days and Asia for a sixteen-day trade mission. In England, he visited London and Manchester, at the invitation of Prime Minister Tony Blair, and spoke about Los Angeles' efforts regarding global warming, homeland security and emergency preparedness, and its current bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. Prime Minister Blair had visited Mayor Villaraigosa a couple months prior to that in Los Angeles.
   In Asia, he visited several cities in China, Japan, and South Korea. He promoted Los Angeles' airports, including LAX and regional airports, the Port of Los Angeles, and the city as a tourist destination. During his mission, his Office of Communications made daily announcements.
   On May 1, he left for an official trip in Latin America, visiting with the President of El Salvador and other leaders. On that day, an incident of police brutality broke out at an immigrants rights rally in Los Angeles' MacArthur Park.
   He has stated that he's interested in going to Israel, a trip that could possibly be planned for the future, and has developed a relationship with the mayor of the Israeli city of Sderot.

Reputation

Villaraigosa has gained a reputation as a leader in the Democratic Party, and some consider him a possible future candidate for higher office such as Governor of California, a House Representative, Senator, or even President of the United States if he achieves enough national recognition. He has been featured on the cover of Newsweek with the accompanying headline, "Latino Power", and in Time as one of the country's 25 most influential Latinos. However, his marital issues in 2007 may have damaged his reputation among some, locally and nationally. He is longlisted for the 2008 World Mayor award.
   Villaraigosa makes frequent trips to both Sacramento and Washington DC and makes appearances on national news programming and at events of prominence, such as the White House Correspondents Dinner. Mayor Villaraigosa was photographed by The Washington Post along with many other politicians sleeping during President George W. Bush's 2007 State of the Union speech. Villaraigosa also delivered the Democratic Party's Spanish-language response to President Bush's 2006 State of the Union address from his mayoral residence, the Getty House. Villaraigosa is the first mayor since Tom Bradley who has opted to live in the Getty House; both Mayors Riordan and Hahn chose to stay in their own homes, Riordan in his mansion in Brentwood, and Hahn in his single-family house in San Pedro.
   Villaraigosa has received criticism because of his membership in MEChA while attending UCLA and his support for immigration reform. He has also been criticized because of the high frequency in which he holds press conferences, attends photo-ops, and travels out-of-town (including campaigning for Hillary Clinton).
   On September 24, 2007, Mayor Villaraigosa received the Seven Seals Award, the highest honor awarded by the Department of Defense to a civilian. The award is symbolic of the seven services that comprise the reserve components and is bestowed upon employers who actively support their employees in the National Guard and Army Reserve.

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