Broad Opposition Not Sinking Mayor's LAUSD Mission

By Rick Orlov, Columnist

Word on the street is that billionaire-philanthropist Eli Broad's much publicized opposition to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's LAUSD-takeover legislation hasn't had much of an impact. And that has been a disappointment to school officials fighting the mayor.

It's not that Broad has flip-flopped, only that his opposition has flopped. In his circles, he's been unable to persuade any friends to join him in scuttling the mayor's effort and he has decided to move to the sidelines in the debate.

So when the mayor's opponents have gone hunting for powerful allies, they've been dismayed to find that Broad isn't playing. That means no financial support, no phone calls to friendly legislators, no heavyweight to help them fight their battle.

Since Broad wrote his opposition letter to the mayor, the two have continued their discussions and the school measure is undergoing constant rewrites as it heads to the state Legislature this week.

Frustrated at what he sees as limits on his ability to reshape city government, the mayor is quietly trying to lift some of the restrictions imposed by the city's civil service system.

The mayor wants to increase the number of positions exempt from civil service procedures from the current level of 150 to about 450 - a gambit unsuccessfully tried nearly a decade ago by former Mayor Richard Riordan.

The effort this time also is running into the same obstacles with fear of political patronage.

Supporters of the mayor's plan say he wants to raise the limit on exempt employees because of the number of workers who have been taken by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and temporary help hired to work with neighborhood councils.

"It would give him more flexibility in filling some key jobs," one official said. "Most of the exempt jobs now are filled by the general managers, their top assistants and DONE. It doesn't leave the mayor with much room."

When politicians lament the calls for term limits and efforts like the so-called clean money campaign to try to reduce the influence of money in politics, they only have themselves to blame.

Consider the report in last week's Capitol Weekly as state legislators returned to close out their summer session.

There are more than 1,700 pieces of legislation waiting for action and in the final 19 days of the legislative session, 75 fundraisers had been planned.

That's about four a day, meaning lobbyists and contributors will be providing breakfast, lunch, dinner and a cocktail each day for legislators - most of whom are facing only token opposition in November.

Another question is why are there 1,700 bills waiting for action?

Perhaps what really is needed is a limit on the number of bills an official can introduce in any one year.

This is the last week the City Council is in session before members go on summer recess - and at least one employee group wants to make sure everyone knows they're gone.

The Engineers and Architects Association, locked in a two-year contract dispute with the city, is threatening to begin a series of work actions Aug. 22 and rotate among the different agencies where its members work.

During that time, it is planning to run a radio commercial reminding residents that while its workers are on strike, the council is off and the public faces the prospect of gridlocked streets, a shutdown of Los Angeles International Airport and the loss of other city services.

And, the union says, it knows who it thinks is responsible.

"Blame the mayor, blame the council. ... We are tired of being mistreated," the union says in its ad.

Councilman Jack Weiss has built much of his career on the long-distance battle against terrorism - pushing city officials to deal with security issues at LAX and throughout the city.

He got a firsthand view of the impact of terrorism recently when he spent a week in Israel to show his support for that country's battle against Hezbollah.

"You can't appreciate the traumatizing impact it has on a people until you see it firsthand," Weiss said. "We were in areas where thousands of rockets and bombs have gone off in the past six years.

"It has redoubled my conviction that we need to help Israel and be prepared ourselves for an attack."

Weiss was part of a delegation that raised more than $1.75 million in Los Angeles to help Israel.

Staff Writer Naush Boghossian contributed.

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