Mayors

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will select a new police chief at a time when crime is declining and the city is enjoying a prolonged respite from racial strife, sparing him from the political perils that bloodied the three previous mayors facing similiar appointments. Even the potential gift of a controversy-free selection process, however, does little to diminish the pressure on Villaraigosa to name a successor capable of measuring up to William J. Bratton. The outgoing police chief is largely credited with transforming the LAPD into a more effective and accountable agency that has salved decades of animosity with minorities in Los Angeles.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may have narrowly won a third term this week but he also earned -- or, rather, very handsomely paid for -- a less-welcome distinction: becoming the latest in a long line of politicians to prove that money can't buy everything. It's something Californians know, having rejected a number of rich candidates, and something President Obama can attest to; his path to Washington was paved in 2004 when he beat a wealthy rival who spent $30 million in a U.S. Senate primary.

The mayor of Gulfport faces federal fraud charges for allegedly filing a false claim for disaster assistance after Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Brent Warr says he will continue to run the city, which was heavily damaged by Katrina's wind and storm surge in 2005. The indictment alleges Warr and his wife, Laura, sought a grant for a damaged beachfront house they did not live in. They pleaded not guilty.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said today that mayors from across the country have reached an agreement with key members of Congress that will likely take as much as $150 billion of the federal economic stimulus package that would have gone to states and route it directly to city governments. In his third lobbying trip since last month, Pulido joined a score of other mayors, including L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in Washington on Wednesday to lobby key members of Congress to give cities a share of the funding.

A rental home on a property owned by the mayor of Bell remained sealed Sunday as law enforcement agents continued their investigation of a suspected methamphetamine lab in the residence. Mayor Oscar Hernandez said in a phone interview that the two men arrested at the small guest house Saturday by a multi-agency state task force were released later the same morning. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would not confirm whether the men had been released. Hernandez, who did not identify the two men, said he rented the house to a couple and their two daughters.

Job creation will top the agenda of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's second and final term in office, which begins today when he is officially sworn in on the south steps of City Hall. Villaraigosa also will call for a crackdown on the city's failing schools, vowing to work in concert with his political allies on the Los Angeles Unified School District board to find "competitive alternatives," including charter schools, to clean house and take control of subpar campuses, according to some of the mayor's top aides.

Councilman John Greiner was unanimously chosen as mayor by his peers Tuesday, replacing Gil Jones in the ceremonial position. Greiner has served on the council since 1996 and recently won reappointment after no challengers came forward for the November election. Gil Jones has been on the council since 1990 and served as mayor in 1991, 1992 and 1997. His term will end in 2000. At the same meeting, Councilwoman Collene Campbell was appointed mayor pro tem. She has served on the council since 1992.

Millions of fingers scurrying over mobile electronic devices probably paused this week as news emerged of a trove of text messages containing flirty and sexually explicit chat between Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and one of his top aides. Even those engaging in more wholesome dialogue would be wise to wonder: Do text messages disappear -- like oral conversations -- or are they permanently logged somewhere for potential retrieval -- as e-mail usually is?

In a city that routinely sees more than 400 homicides a year, the 2003 slaying of Tamara "Strawberry" Greene was an easily overlooked crime. Few people initially took notice when the 27-year-old stripper was found slumped over the steering wheel of her green Buick Skylark. But soon the city was buzzing with rumors that she had danced at a party at the mayor's mansion -- a story that has never been proven.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan named an influential group of civic leaders 15 years ago to streamline what was said to be a tortuous city permitting process that made Los Angeles seem almost hostile to business. Many of the 83 proposals, however, ended up on a shelf collecting dust. Now, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has pledged to fix the same problems and dozens of others believed to impede investment.