Herb Wesson

This is a corrected version of the original post; see the note below.   Mayor Herb Wesson? It could happen, and soon - at least in theory. Here's the scenario. It begins with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa leaving office early, a prospect that was reported in a February column by Daily News reporter and columnist Rick Orlov. Given Villaraigosa's central role in the Democratic convention beginning Sept. 3 in Charlotte, Orlov wrote, it stands to reason that the mayor would be rumored to be angling for a post in the Obama cabinet should the president win a second term.

Surrounding himself with the City Council's three African American members, mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti traveled Saturday morning to Leimert Park - the historic heart of black Los Angeles - for a rally in which he sought to galvanize support among black voters. Speaking before a crowd of just a few dozen people, Garcetti presented himself as a candidate with strong family ties to South Los Angeles, speaking about the barbershop his grandfather owned a few miles away. He also touched on issues that resonate with many black Angelenos, making references to crime and a debate over whether the park will be a stop on a future rail line.

The president of the Los Angeles City Council is “guardedly optimistic” that AEG's Farmers Field project still has a heartbeat and that a downtown stadium will ultimately be the home of an NFL team. “I still feel that it's alive,” Councilman Herb Wesson told The Times on Tuesday, adding he is “on bended knees, praying.” “It's been very frustrating with the stops and starts,” said Wesson, who represents the 10 th District and was instrumental in approving a deal for a privately financed stadium and an expansion of the Convention Center.

The president of the Los Angeles City Council is “guardedly optimistic” that AEG's Farmers Field project still has a heartbeat and that a downtown stadium will ultimately be the home of an NFL team. “I still feel that it's alive,” Councilman Herb Wesson told The Times on Tuesday, adding he is “on bended knees, praying.” “It's been very frustrating with the stops and starts,” said Wesson, who represents the 10 th District and was instrumental in approving a deal for a privately financed stadium and an expansion of the Convention Center.

The Los Angeles City Council has a new president, Herb Wesson. But does a new president change anything? The council president is just one vote of 15 on that notoriously difficult to manage body. In that sense, he's not much different from his colleagues. He manages his district and votes along with his colleagues. But the president also has some additional power: He assigns members to committees and acts as the figurehead for the larger body. For years, John Ferraro used the position to establish himself as second only to the mayors with whom he served; more recently, Eric Garcetti has brought a lighter, more cerebral touch to the job and used it to launch his bid for mayor.

Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson made municipal history Wednesday, with his colleagues agreeing unanimously to make him the council's first African American president. That vote may appear in the history books with an asterisk. Wesson's two black colleagues, both of whom have had strained relations with him in recent weeks, did not show up — providing the only no-shows during the vote. Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who for days refused to say whether he would back Wesson, called in sick Wednesday morning.

At a boisterous rally on the south lawn of City Hall, former state Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson declared his candidacy Tuesday for the Los Angeles City Council seat being vacated by Martin Ludlow. Wesson told reporters after the rally that if he won -- the primary is Nov. 8 -- he would serve the remainder of Ludlow's term, until 2007, and then run for reelection. However, Wesson would not rule out a run in 2008 for the county supervisor seat held by Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

Leading state officials said Monday that Herb Wesson is poised to become the next speaker of the California Assembly--the third Los Angeles-area Democrat in a row to lead the state's lower house.

Herb Wesson came to California at age 22 with no job, no college degree, no real prospects to speak of, just a dying father's word that the West held more promise for a young black man than the automobile plants of Cleveland. Wesson sold pots and pans, buffed floors, tended bar at parties in the Hollywood Hills--and even tried his hand at stand-up comedy--as he searched for an identity in Los Angeles.

Two years after taking charge of the state Assembly with a promise that his leadership "was not about me, it's about we," Speaker Herb Wesson relinquished control Monday and counted among his greatest accomplishments simply unifying a fractious group of Democrats. Being forced out by term limits, the Culver City Democrat was the seventh speaker in nine years to lead the Legislature's larger house.

This is a corrected version of the original post; see the note below.   Mayor Herb Wesson? It could happen, and soon - at least in theory. Here's the scenario. It begins with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa leaving office early, a prospect that was reported in a February column by Daily News reporter and columnist Rick Orlov. Given Villaraigosa's central role in the Democratic convention beginning Sept. 3 in Charlotte, Orlov wrote, it stands to reason that the mayor would be rumored to be angling for a post in the Obama cabinet should the president win a second term.

Two years ago, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson shared a happy moment with Koreatown's civic leaders, basking in their praise as they thanked him for putting their neighborhood — complete with new street signs — on the official city map. Now, that jubilant moment seems a distant memory. Koreatown neighborhood leaders, civic groups and activists are locked in a rare display of open political insurrection against Wesson, a seasoned politician who has spent the last six years representing much of their community.

Newly installed Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson engineered another shake-up at City Hall on Friday, stripping rival lawmakers Bernard C. Parks and Jan Perry of key committee chairmanships that had major influence over the city budget crisis and utility rates. The move is expected to widen the bitter divide between Wesson and the council's only other African American members, who are at odds with the council president over proposed new political district boundaries.

The Los Angeles City Council has a new president, Herb Wesson. But does a new president change anything? The council president is just one vote of 15 on that notoriously difficult to manage body. In that sense, he's not much different from his colleagues. He manages his district and votes along with his colleagues. But the president also has some additional power: He assigns members to committees and acts as the figurehead for the larger body. For years, John Ferraro used the position to establish himself as second only to the mayors with whom he served; more recently, Eric Garcetti has brought a lighter, more cerebral touch to the job and used it to launch his bid for mayor.

Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson made municipal history Wednesday, with his colleagues agreeing unanimously to make him the council's first African American president. That vote may appear in the history books with an asterisk. Wesson's two black colleagues, both of whom have had strained relations with him in recent weeks, did not show up — providing the only no-shows during the vote. Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who for days refused to say whether he would back Wesson, called in sick Wednesday morning.

Before getting into politics, Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson went door to door selling cookware. After that, he sold tires. Then there was that stint as a bill collector, cajoling people down on their luck to make good on their unpaid debts. The powers of persuasion he developed then — and has honed since inside government — will be sorely tested in the coming months as he steps into his newest political post: president of the Los Angeles City Council. A former speaker of the state Assembly, Wesson is in line to run a 15-member body criticized by the public for getting distracted, ignoring policy details and sometimes even failing to show up. But Wesson, who lives in the Mid-City neighborhood of Wellington Square, said he intends to safeguard the council's reputation.

The oldest son of Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson received $30,000 last year from a supposedly independent political fundraising committee whose initial treasurer said the group was organized with help from Wesson's office. When interviewed last week, Herb Wesson III would not specifically describe what he did for the money or for whom he worked beyond saying that he provided "advice and some relationship-building."

The Wessons of Cleveland were not a college-going clan. When the men grew up, most headed straight for the assembly line at Ford or Chevrolet. But the son called Herb was different. To him, college sounded like a good idea, so off he went. All was well until dad fell ill and had to leave his job during Wesson's senior year. When the paychecks stopped, the boy had to pull out, simple as that.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti announced Thursday he is backing Councilman Herb Wesson as his successor, a move that could pave the way for the council to elect its first African American president in its 161-year history. Garcetti, who is running for mayor, said he would introduce a motion Friday calling for Wesson to become president at the council's first meeting in January. Wesson, 60, has already signaled interest in the job, and supporters hope to put six other signatures on the motion — enough to show that a majority of the council supports him. The maneuvering comes two weeks after the abrupt resignation of the council's president pro tem, Jan Perry, who said she did not like behind-the-scenes negotiations over the presidency and the upcoming process for redrawing council district boundaries.

Six members of the Los Angeles City Council were pulling ahead of their challengers in Tuesday's election, despite a year in which council members struggled to get a handle on a sweeping budget crisis. Nine of 10 ballot measures were sailing to victory, including one to trim pension benefits for newly hired police and firefighters and another that would allocate more money for libraries that were cut back in the wake of fiscal woes. Voters approved a tax on medical marijuana.