South El Monte's housekeeping mayor

Over in South El Monte, members of the City Council have found something truly novel to fight about: Some think the mayor, Blanca Figueroa, has moved into her office, ditching her woebegone house and making herself far too at home at City Hall. They've gone so far as to institute a curfew to force her out of the building by 11 p.m. Figueroa denies that she's camping out, says her house is just fine and maintains that she's just putting in more than her share of hours on behalf of taxpayers. We're not going to resolve this peculiar debate, but the participants give away plenty about themselves by the way they are handling it.

December 27, 2008