Posted on 05/18/2005 4:26:12 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday plunged into the kind of controversy that could underlie his role as the first Latino leader of the multicultural city in over a century.
Villaraigosa, 52, the high school dropout son of Mexican immigrants, scored a resounding election victory over incumbent James Hahn in Tuesday's mayoral elections, making him one of the nation's highest profile Latino leaders.
Despite a campaign that underplayed race and a result that reflected cross-cultural support, Villaraigosa's historic win also underscored the growing influence of Latino voters in California and across the United States.
"It doesn't matter whether you grew up on the westside or the eastside, whether you're from south Los Angeles or Sylmar," Villaraigosa told cheering supporters at a victory celebration downtown.
"It doesn't matter whether you go to work in a fancy car or in a bus, or whether you worship in a cathedral or a mosque. We are all Angelenos and we all have a difference to make," he said.
Only hours later police were called to a city high school where fighting broke out shortly before a visit by Villaraigosa. Police and officials insisted the campus scuffles were not racially motivated and were quickly contained. But some parents and students said they involved black and Latino students.
No-one was seriously hurt, there were no arrests and the motive for the fighting was unclear. But it highlighted tensions that surfaced earlier in May when about 51,000 students stayed away from Los Angeles schools amid rumors of impending gang violence between black and Latino youths over drugs on Cinco de Mayo, a big Latino festival.
ZERO TOLERANCE
"I'm going to be a mayor that doesn't hide under a rock," Villaraigosa said of the scuffles. "The one commitment we have to our schools is safe passage for our children (and) zero tolerance for racial violence."
Villaraigosa, a charismatic Democrat, took about 59 percent of votes cast on Tuesday against 41 percent for fellow Democrat James Hahn, a political veteran who was elected mayor in 2001.
He becomes the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872 when the city was a frontier town emerging from its Mexican roots.
Latinos are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles, making up 47 percent of the city's 3.7 million population. Whites make up 30 percent, African-Americans 11 percent and Asians about 10 percent.
Villaraigosa, who is more fluent in English than Spanish, had played down his ethnicity, relying on charisma to build alliances with blacks, liberal whites and moderate Republicans.
But political experts said he would be foolish to ignore lingering unease among many in the city over its shifting demographics.
"The fact that Antonio is Latino will bring those issues right up to the forefront rather than sweeping them under the rug," said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
"I think he would govern at his peril if he tried to ignore that. He is going to have to demonstrate that he will be a mayor for all of Los Angeles. Given his personality and background, I have no doubt he will do extremely well in that area," Guerra said.
Except the rather large percentage of Illegals.....
Is he going to try to get the original City Seal restored?
as an angeleno, i have to wait and see. neither candidate was conservative, to say the least, and there were many charges of corruption against current mayor. however, new mayor is no prize either. we'll see if all those South of the Border get to be Angelenos too! i live in the San Fernando Valley part of the city that tried to secede -- so people are pretty cynical in general here.
PS: "Mecha" is the Spanish word for fuse, as in the fuse of the lit dynamite bomb the MEChA eagle is getting ready to drop.
The new mayor is a leftist Democrat. The guy he is replacing is a leftist Democrat. The media is having an orgasm right now because the new guy Rat is "Hispanic" (of course, before he went into politics, his name was Tony Villar. Now he's Antonio Villaigaraso, Mr. Latio Heritage).
Meet the new boss... same as the old boss...
Hahn is a liberal DemocRAT
Villaraigosa is a liberal DemocRAT
Hahn let the illegals in
Villaraigosa lets the illegals in
Hahn was in with the unions
Villaraigosa is in with different unions
Ummmm...well.... not much difference.
Until Mexico annexes us.
Given the choice between a bum, and a bum who used to be president of the ACLU, I had to go with the just plain bum. But let's see whether four more years of even leftier left wing shenanigans in the mayor's office will cause a shift in LA voting patterns. Not holding my breath. One consolation is that the mayor here really doesn't have any power. That resides with the county supervisors, the downtown business interests, and the unions. The mayor is basically a cardboard cutout with an I Love LA sticker.
He took the bar exam 4 times, flunked all of them.
He is past prez of the CA ACLU
He is a former union activist.
This is merely a stepping stone.
I live in LA, fortunately(unfortunately during Riordan's 8 years) the Mayor in LA has very little power.
If illegals are included in the equation that percentage is quite a bit higher.
"Villaraigosa, who is more fluent in English than Spanish......"
lol....that the article even had to point that out is pretty pathetic. ....and very telling.
Southern California was paradise in the 1960's- best education system in the world, also.
Now, it is a dump- the stuff of nightmares.
LOL, see my post #14. Great minds ......
Maybe if things get really really really bad the voters might get interested again, what was the turnout 25-30%?
My father was telling me that immigrants USED to anglicanize their names. For example, an uncle of mine had a very Italian name and he changed it to Jim when he immigrated.
But it's not just anglican names people used to change the spelling at AT LEAST the pronounciation to make it easier. And if they wanted to name their child a cultural or family name, they would give them an American name to go by. I actually have a friend who is Greek and her real first name is Greek. And like many Greek names it sounds very pretty but is particularly difficult to say. So her mother gave her an Anglican middle name. That's assimiliating.
Now people want to stand out.
Yup, in that range. I don't know what it takes to get LA voters interested - we may be the most accustomed to our own impotence citizens in the country. The only effective way to fix LA is to break it up into about a dozen smaller, self-governing cities - Burbank, Glendale and Beverly Hills all work better. The SF Valley, where I live, should be at least four of them. Short of that, there's no hope.
Villaraigosa, 52, the high school dropout son of Mexican immigrants...
Now, why are they failing to mention that he graduated from UCLA and also has a law degree (albeit from some half-baked law school and he's flunked the bar a few times)?
Latinos are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles
I didn't know that. Am I the last one to find this out?
But political experts said he would be foolish to ignore lingering unease among many in the city over its shifting demographics.
Oh-oh, trouble she is a-brewing.
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