Mystery L.A. City Hall Blogger Pulls Plug on Must-Read Website

Gossip about the mayor and council members. Top 10 lists of the “hottest” men and women in City Hall. A blistering missive from an irritated councilman. And, amid the froth, the occasional in-depth discussion of municipal issues.

In less than two months, the mysterious “4th Floor Blog” became a must-read among the ambitious, well-dressed folks who prowl the fourth floor of City Hall setting policy for Los Angeles and worrying about their place in its power structure.

But on Thursday, just as the site was beginning to sizzle and perhaps slip uncomfortably close to scurrilous, the anonymous blogger decided to call it quits.

“Adios,” wrote the blogger, who works on the fourth floor where council members have their offices.

“The blog is closing because interest in my identity ... has compromised my ability to protect confidential sources.”

Mayoral hopeful Bob Hertzberg intervened Thursday afternoon with a last-ditch attempt to save the blog by offering the blogger a protected space on his own mayoral website.

“The 4th Floor Blog provided a sometimes lighthearted, sometimes incisive, but always interesting perspective that will be hard to reproduce,” he wrote. But in an interview, the blogger, who asked not to be identified, said Hertzberg’s offer could not provide absolute protection from exposure, and anything less than that was simply too risky.

Indeed, in May, a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C., was fired after blogging in lurid detail about her sexual exploits with government officials and others.

To the dismay of the prurient, the 4th Floor was not quite so racy.

When the blog launched in September, postings reported on routine comings and goings in council offices and mayoral campaigns, and on items of note on the council agenda.

There was some salty dialogue about how the council treats the public, with entries chiding City Council members for their habitual tardiness for meetings and for gabbing with one another while constituents testify earnestly before them.

When Councilman Greig Smith hit a youth riding a motor scooter, it was noted, and snide comments flooded in via e-mail.

A controversial television ad in favor of a county sales tax initiative, which featured a hysterical woman frantically dialing 911, also received a lot of ink.

As Mayor James K. Hahn and City Controller Laura Chick engaged in one spat after another over audits, commission appointments and other issues, the blogger suggested that the two were acting like schoolchildren.

This month, the blog took a risque turn.

First came a call for nominations for the “Top 10 Hottest City Employees.” One of the winners, announced this week, was Councilman Tony Cardenas. The councilman said he happily revealed that honor to his wife, who reacted with surprise.

Councilwoman Jan Perry received an honorable mention, a designation she said she welcomed.

“Finally,” she said, noting that she had watched with envy as male colleagues were celebrated by other publications in years past.

Then came an item soliciting information on the intensely private mayor’s personal life.

That degenerated into postings speculating on the dating life and sexual proclivities of various members of city government, along with several messages deploring such comments.

“I remember the days when having a mistress got you a free cocktail,” mused one poster. Another fired back: “This ... is unprofessional and is not appropriate for anyone involved.”

Finally, the blogger posted a blistering e-mail from Councilman Bernard C. Parks, blasting comments that criticized his position on an obscure issue pertaining to city employees’ retirement benefits.

“Even implying that I am in the pocket of lobbyists or anyone else

“While writing about who is or who isn’t ‘City Hall’s’ hottest employee is amusing to some, I doubt it qualifies you as an expert on anything pertinent,” Parks added.

The blogger was wistful about the brief experiment in open government: “Obviously, the blog struck a nerve.”

The blog’s demise elicited numerous farewell postings.

One said that “in a real sense, the blog was a virtual bathroom wall for City Hall.”

And another, higher-minded, one said the blog would be “sorely missed ... the city family really does need a safe place where staff, activists, participants” can share ideas in a way that “causes City Hall types ... to ... think about what might be really going on behind the curtain.”