Elections 2005

Last year's Los Angeles city election set a record for independent expenditures by unions, corporations and individuals, for a total of $4.9 million spent outside the city's system of campaign finance limits, according to a study released Tuesday. Organized labor accounted for 86% of the independent spending, including nearly $640,000 by the California Teacher's Assn. to support then-City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor, the city Ethics Commission review found.

As the primary campaign nears its end, the race for the Republican nomination for state controller has grown testy. The main candidates are former state Assemblyman Tony Strickland of Moorpark, an anti-tax crusader who hopes to rally the party's core conservatives, and state Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, a moderate who has been known to reach across party lines.

Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla unveiled a legally provocative plan Wednesday to put a half-cent sales-tax increase on the May ballot that he said could pass with just a majority of the vote, not the two-thirds usually required to raise taxes. Padilla and other officials said the increase would enable the city to expand the Los Angeles Police Department, which is understaffed compared with other major urban departments.

Mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled his environmental plan for the city Thursday, pledging to plant 1 million trees and turn the city's Department of Water and Power into a cutting-edge environmental utility that would generate high-paying "green" jobs. The Eastside councilman also received an endorsement from the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. That support had been sought by Mayor James K. Hahn, state Sen. Richard Alarcon and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg.

Unveiling a new education initiative, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg on Friday proposed tapping the city's housing trust fund to assist teachers in buying a home near where they work. In a letter to the president of United Teachers Los Angeles, Hertzberg said his program would be modeled after a similar effort to help teachers buy homes in San Jose, one of the state's most expensive areas.

As Iraq lurches toward elections this month, its neighbor Iran is emerging as one of the hottest campaign issues. Iraq's outspoken defense minister fired one of the first salvos last month, charging that the front-running slate, the Shiite Muslim-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, was controlled by Tehran and was determined to "build an Islamic dictatorship and have turbaned clerics rule in Iraq." The minister, Hazem Shaalan, is a Shiite, but is running on a rival, more secular slate.

Mohammad Jassim Labban appears on the TV screen, frozen against a flat blue and white backdrop. Eyes moving over an unseen script, he reads in an earnest monotone, promising to improve education, healthcare and retiree benefits as the candidate of the left-wing Coalition of the United People. "My dear fellow citizens," he says in conclusion, "your vote will increase our potential to realize these objectives for a better life for the present and future of our beloved boys and girls."

With just eight weeks to go before the Los Angeles mayoral election, the leading candidates are seeking to win over critical voting blocs in a city whose electoral math has become as complex as its electorate. Latinos, African Americans, Republicans, San Fernando Valley residents and Westside liberals -- groups that were once almost predictable in their allegiances -- are up for grabs.

Outgoing Los Angeles City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said Wednesday that she was endorsing Flora Gil Krisiloff in the three-way race to replace her in the 11th District. Miscikowski credited Krisiloff's expertise in land-use planning and development as the main reason for her decision. "You are sometimes getting more project applications thrown at you than the rest of the city combined," said Miscikowski, who is being forced out by term limits.

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn sparred Wednesday over who should be blamed for the city's traffic problems, which consistently rank as the worst in the nation. Hertzberg, who is running for mayor, used a morning drive-time radio talk show to announce a 10-point transportation plan dubbed the "Commuters' Bill of Rights." He also said that Hahn was "asleep at the switch" for missing numerous Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meetings.