July 9, 2007 8:26 pm
Photo I took of Mayor Villaraigosa at Lincoln Park autographing a girl’s t-shirt September 4, 2006, during the annual Los Pobladores walk celebrating Los Angeles’ 225th birthday.
About six weeks overdue for a haircut I finally dragged my hairy self over to Tony’s Barbershop on Glendale Boulevard, my regular place for the past four years. When my turn arrived I clambered up into Tony’s chair and told him to take about 10 pounds off the top and a couple off each side.
As he went to work whittling my mop down to a more manageable level I noticed missing from the shelf on the wall opposite his chair the pictures of him and his family with Mayor ‘Tonio that have been up for the past couple years. I started to ask him about them but I realized I didn’t have to. Their absence spoke volumes.
I haven’t felt the need to comment on the mayor and his troubles. Though I’m ashamed of how he’s comported himself so as to make his private life public, I’ve always had issues with him as a politican since his campaign for the office and never bought into him being anything but a power-hungry opportunist who’s pretty much getting by on his looks and charisma — but certainly not anything regarding accomplishments.
Moving beyond the affair itself, media coverage is now looking at the potential long-term negative effects his adulterous relationship might have not only on a second term as mayor but also on his future chances at higher office. I’m jaded enough to look at the re-elections of Schwarzenegger and Duhbya and think that if those two could keep their offices in the face of their shortcomings, a tawdry affair ain’t much of a big thing to overcome in the grand political scheme.
But then to see a reaction like that of my barber Tony eliminating the evidence of his approval and I may be wrong about that. In so unceremoniously divorcing himself from the support and pride he’d previously displayed for Villaraigosa it makes me consider that there may be enough Tonys out there who feel duped and betrayed, and repairing their trust in him will be tough if not impossible no matter how good he looks or how much charisma he projects.
July 9th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Well, this is all a mystery to me. Amusing as the whole thing is, I just don’t see what this has to do with his ability to do his job as mayor. A huge part of that job is being a cheerleader for a much-maligned city, and he has been simply *amazing* at that aspect. Furthermore, I am very much a supporter of his for the simple reason that he has championed the need to make a serious and urgent attempt to build a stronger public transport infrastructure in this city. Given how vitally important that is for the present and future of LA, it would be a real shame if our hopes to build the extensions to the subway (and other projects) were scuppered by what is, frankly, a very naive idealization of political leaders that voters here are prone to, which leads them to confuse public ability with issues from private life. Granted, he encouraged a lot of that confusion himself in his own political campaigns and continued flirtations with the press, but all the same I do wish we could all keep our eyes on the big picture.
Cheers,
-cvj
July 10th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Clifford, there is no denying the mayor’s enthusiasm and an awareness of the need to address pressing issues facing the city and both of those are tremendously appreciated by me as well. But seemingly stalled out halfway through his term and in the still-smoldering ruins of the keystone of his campaign — school reform — this exercise in poor judgment was perhaps the worst thing that could happen to him right now.
From your point of view my barber’s rejection of Villaraigosa stems from an unrealistic ideal, but I think it goes deeper than that. Not just on some sort of puritanically religious or moral level, but something almost familial. If Tony’s expectations of him were too high his expectations for him were even higher and now not only is he ashamed of the mayor but he’s ashamed of himself.
I totally agree that this sordid episode alone should not scuttle either his agenda or his career, but where he goes from here will be the test for him to pass or fail. Who knows? This could be the best thing to happen to Villaraigosa, forcing him to re-evaluate himself as a man and mayor so that he can spend the latter half of his term renewing his fight to better this city and thus rebuilding the faith and trust Tony has lost in him.
And talk about naive: maybe even the faith and trust in him I never had.
March 12th, 2008 at 11:31 am
he is an embarassment to the city, Mexicans, and his dear wife and children.