Villaraigosa in the Wrong Place at the Right Time

Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa has a problem: He wants to run for mayor of Los Angeles, but he can’t run and also do his job as speaker. Yet he needs the power and the prestige of the speaker’s office to run for mayor.

It’s a Catch-22.

Sure, the mayoral election is not until the spring of 2001. And Villaraigosa should have plenty of time to spare then, because he’ll be termed out of the Assembly at the end of 2000. But the race actually will begin long before that.

For example: The legal fund-raising period starts this April. That’s when City Atty. Jim Hahn, for one, intends to begin aggressively collecting bucks for a mayoral campaign. But if Villaraigosa also did that--using the power of his office to attract special interest money--he wouldn’t be speaker long, because Assembly Democrats would consider it a double-cross. They expect him to concentrate on raising money for their reelection races in 2000. That’s part of a speaker’s job.

This is especially sensitive now among Assembly Democrats because the previous speaker, Cruz Bustamante, took roughly $1.3 million he’d presumably raised for their campaigns and used it to run for lieutenant governor. Villaraigosa has promised not to do that.

“I’ve pledged, ‘Everything I raise will be for you,’ ” he says. “[Colleagues] need confidence that your No. 1 focus is them. They need to know that you’re focused on developing the [Democratic] agenda, on running the house efficiently, on developing a plan for the [2000] election and on raising the money.”

And if you’re focused on all that, you really can’t be focused on running for mayor--regardless of all the speculation and your dreams.

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Villaraigosa has another problem: Name ID.

The Assembly speaker can wield great power over public policy in California. He’s a big man in Sacramento and among movers and shakers all over the state. But among workaday folks, he’s little known. L.A. TV and radio seldom mention his name, because they virtually ignore state government.

Local government, however, gets some attention. So Hahn and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, another potential candidate, are practically household names.

“No legislator is going to be as well known as the least-known City Council member,” contends one L.A. political consultant.

Villaraigosa, a former barrio street kid, would generate enormous ethnic pride trying to become the first Latino L.A. mayor since 1872. But the Latino share of the city electorate still is only in the 15%-20% range.

So perhaps Villaraigosa, a relatively young 46, should aim lower and run for City Council in his first local race. A Mount Washington resident, he could choose between seats now held by Mike Hernandez or Jackie Goldberg. Both will be termed out in 2001.

“I’m not running for City Council,” Villaraigosa insists. He feels it would be too big a step down.

A race for county supervisor seems out because the board doesn’t have term limits and Villaraigosa is in Gloria Molina’s district.

But he does have other options: Wait for 2002 and run for some statewide office or the state Senate seat of Richard Polanco, who will be termed out. His legislative buddies could carve out a congressional district for him during the 2001 reapportionment. A top post in an Al Gore administration is conceivable.

Villaraigosa just shrugs. He’s thinking L.A. mayor--while trying to stay fixed on Sacramento. A real feat.

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“I would be proud to serve the city of L.A.,” he says, “but right now I’ve got to focus on this job. Because you know what, if I do good in this job, those opportunities will open up. If I don’t do a good job, maybe I will have to look at City Council.”

Villaraigosa does seem to be doing a good job. He appointed all the Assembly committees before January, one of the earliest times in recent history. He already has drafted a Democratic election plan for 2000. He is Gov. Gray Davis’ main man in the Legislature and is carrying one of the major school reform bills.

“I’m hitching my wagon to his horse,” Villaraigosa says. “He’s the guy, the leader of our party.”

Is he concerned about looking like a sycophant, I asked. That got a rise. “I’m not going to be a sycophant for anybody,” he asserts. “I didn’t get here because I’m a shrinking violet. But my focus will be on cooperation--not confrontation.”

Villaraigosa’s mayoral strategy is to excel here, increase his Capitol news coverage and hope that attracts L.A. TV and radio. But this, again, is part of the Catch-22: While he needs to shine as speaker to run for mayor, he’s unlikely to get on TV unless he rescues a treed cat, sticks up a 7-Eleven or jackknifes a truck.