A Vote of Confidence for Villaraigosa

As a transplanted New Yorker in L.A. for the last decade, I’ve had the dubious privilege of observing the city from an outsider’s perspective, often criticizing it for its hostility, discourteousness and superficiality. But on Friday morning, after listening carefully to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s inaugural speech, I became a loyal Angeleno. In one of the most beautifully poetic and articulate political speeches in recent memory, Villaraigosa has already restored a positive energy and air of hope and determination to City Hall.

His promise to be mayor of all Angelenos rang true in this household. His stirring invocation of immigrant Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers as metaphor for the city’s multicultural diversity made me proud of my Italian American heritage, and his sensitive inclusion of sexual orientation as the basis for equal rights under the law made me glad to be gay in the City of Angels.

John Alan Giarelli

Los Angeles