Okay, so we were all geared up, popcorn in hand, waiting for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to announce his selection for Chief of Police on Monday. We were primed. We were deliriously anticipatory. We had paper streamers and noisemakers and were entirely prepared to whoop and holler supportively for whichever of the three he named: Charlie Beck or Jim McDonnell or Michel Moore.
Furthermore, we really, really felt we knew who it was going to be. We’d done our reconnaissance flights, read the I Ching, laid out the Tarot, swirled some tea leaves, thrown some bones. We figured our analysis was a Las Vegas oddsmaker’s sure thing. And we surmised that the decision had likely been locked and loaded for a while—even though the mayor made a big To-Do about calling everyone back for interviews on Sunday, and everything.
But, whatever. We liked each of the candidates a lot and were going to be happy whichever way it went.
Then came the word that, no, there wasn’t going to be a Monday announcement after all. The clay was still wet, the cake hadn’t risen, the pot hadn’t boiled, the stone had yet to be carved.
The mayor was still thinking.
The selection was now to be made public on Tuesday.
What’s this?! Tuesday? Was it really possible that AV was still undecided?
We were confused.
Then we talked to persons with cooler heads than our own (who also happened to be in something of a position to know). And they laid it out succinctly.
The mayor is not dithering. This isn’t indecision, or extended contemplation. It is stage management.
In part, Antonio is milking the moment. But the delay is more than that. AV is making it clear that it is he who is making this decision. Not the police commission. Not Bill Bratton. Not….fill in the blank with any number of prominent names who have been energetically lobbying behind the scenes for this candidate or that one.
Moreover, by delaying a day, Antonio is flashing a message in neon letters to the chief-to-be, that it is to the mayor—not anyone else—that the new head of the LAPD will owe his job.
Yeah, it’s a power play, with a liberal sprinkling of narcissism thrown in.
On the other hand, he who takes the credit also gets the blame if things go wrong. And, with the plethora of challenges presented by the present economy (double-digit unemployment, a sinking city budget, shredded social safety nets, looming prisoner release) a hell of a lot could go wrong under any chief. So, if Antonio is gambling a pile of political capital on the bet that he and the new C.O.P. will be able to continue to make things go right in the post-Bratton realm of protect and serve, one cannot honestly say that is a bad thing.
It’s even, kind of, you know, leader-ish.
Okay, then, see you Tuesday. Same time, same place, same noisemakers. New popcorn.
It’s a shame the new police chief candidates aren’t selecting a new mayor. VillaBaboso has done nothing as mayor of Los Angeles other than apologize to the illegal aliens for their may day greeting by the LAPD. We can thank the millions of poor illegal aliens for much of the problem of (double-digit unemployment, a sinking city budget, shredded social safety nets, looming prisoner release). There is a limit to the amount of poor any state or country can support. California and Los Angeles have long past the point of giving free medical, education, social services to anyone who managed to illegally sneak across the border. The federal government is the next to feel the financial burden.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-english29-2009oct29,0,108049.story
By Anna Gorman
Nearly 30% of Los Angeles Unified School District students placed in English language learning classes in early primary grades were still in the program when they started high school, increasing their chances of dropping out, according to a new study released Wednesday.
“The clay was still wet, the cake hadn’t risen, the pot hadn’t boiled, the stone had yet to be carved.”
Are you trying to say that, despite all contrary signals, the parrot wasn’t dead ?
Why this is an outrage. A complete and total outrage! I bought a new suit for today, and shoes.
I am still outraged at the Suleman family!
Still outraged after the balloon boy said “They did this for the show?”
Still outraged with Lehman Brothers.
Is there no stop to this I ask?
This has absolutely ruined the day for me and my dog ‘Storm’.
Celeste can you please find out if in fact Michael Moore is Latino as he is pretending to be at this time. Many people are saying its not true and he never has made it a point until now because of Latino being 46% in Los Angeles. Daily News even questioned it. Channel 5 aired a brief clip stating Moore has Latino on his bio
You’re being too hard on the mayor. Let’s blame Jerry and Gavin for the mayor’s blown deadline. Antonio was simply too distracted by a possible entry into the governor’s race to keep to his original plan of announcing his choice for chief.
Brittanicus, I deleted your comment. The next time you want to post a 1500 plus word screed on a topic that relates in no way to the subject at hand, kindly get your own blog.
It’s like bursting into a community gathering where you have never introduced yourself, and screaming at the top of your lungs for 45-minutes about whatever comes into your head. It’s not a good way to make friends, or to gain converts for your issue.
You are welcome to return, but please review what your mother told you about common courtesy before you do.
I’m hearing that McDonnell is the right person for the job.
Everyone over here is saying that if Mayor Villa-penis selects Beck, its totally an inside butt rubbing politico scam.
Janet, Mike Moore is part Basque. (He has a Spanish-born Basque father.) It’s not what we generally think of as Hispanic in Los Angeles. But he’s listed on the LAPD rosters as Hispanic and is a member of the Latin American Law Enforcement Association, and active in that org.
It’s a bit of a stretch but…you know…whatever.
Evidently he claims that heritage and is proud of it. This isn’t a new opportunistic thing. I’ve heard it for years.
Michael Moore was thrown in as a side-kick hand shake-thank you.
P. Both Charlie Beck and Jim McDonnell are extremely qualified, are very well-respected by those who have worked with or under them, and would be excellent chiefs. They each have different strengths. Mike Moore is also very, very qualified but is not, as you say, a front runner.
There will assuredly be politics in the choice, but that in no way diminishes the qualifications of the men. I know all three, but particularly McDonnell and Beck. And they each have lots to offer.
I’ll do a last rundown on all three for tomorrow morning.
Stop playing around and delete Brittanicus ass, Celeste. He is still up there^^^. Show that you have what it takes, and that you just don’t talk big!!!!!!!
Thanks, SMS. I thought I did delete it. Ghosts in the machine. It’s gone now.
‘Brittanicus ass’
Mission accomplished !!! … He came on this blog like a vulger pig, Celeste.
America is proud of you, and all other freedom loving women who will not wear the burka nor cower to the types of Brittanicus as they raise the back of their hands to bully.
George
Not so fast, George. There are burkas and there are haute burkas. http://www.burkameetshautecouture.com/hm_englisch.htm
Woody to Brittanicus, “too many words”.
An idea for the new LAPD police chief, the LAPD cops are more corrupt than any of mexico’s humble hard working cops.
Disban the LAPD now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/oct/30/lt-mexico-police-overhaul-103009/
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s top security official on Friday proposed disbanding Mexico’s 2,022 municipal police forces and combining them with state law enforcement agencies to better combat corruption and crime.
Local police have fewer resources to fight crime, and their lower salaries make them more susceptible to corruption, Mexican Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said.
“Public safety should be a state policy,” he added.
Consolidating police forces would improve communication among officials, he said, and bring greater security to areas where local police have traditionally lacked the means to fight crime. Nearly 90 percent of the country’s municipal police forces have staffs of less than 100 people, he said.
Garcia Luna spoke to reporters at the end of a meeting of public safety chiefs from Mexico’s 31 states and the capital, where officials presented a report titled “A New Police Model.”
The report describes local police as “an easy target for corruption,” with more than 60 percent of them receiving monthly salaries of only 4,000 pesos (about $300). Most of them have completed less than 10 years of schooling and are either at basic education levels or illiterate, according to the report.
“Mike Moore is part Basque.”
LOL. I think John Wayne was, too.