The $24 Million Question: Whom Is Villaraigosa Hiding?

The $24 Million Question: Whom Is Villaraigosa Hiding? By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, WalterMooreForMayor.com December 17, 2008 The L.A. Weekly reports that Mayor Villaraigosa appointed 50 people to decide how to dole out $24 million per year of our tax money for "anti-gang" programs. Who was on this "blue ribbon" panel, you ask? Good question. Villaraigosa refuses to say. You read that right. Villaraigosa refuses to disclose anything about the identity of the people deciding how to spend millions of dollars of our money. Are any of them convicted felons? Villaraigosa does not want you to know. Are any of them "consultants" or employees of the "non-profits" applying for those millions? Maybe, maybe not. For all we know, each has a major conflict of interest. Did any of these 50 people contribute to, or receive payments from, the Mayor's various fundraising committees? You can't tell. The City Ethics Commission has a public database to keep track of such contributions and expenditures, but it is useless without the names of the 50 decision-makers. The starting salary for an LAPD officer is $56,522. Assuming for the sake of argument that each such officer cost the City $100,000 per year, the $24 million could pay for 240 additional officers. That brings us to you. Do you want to keep the Mayor who expects you to believe the best way to fight crime is to appoint a secret group to give $24 million of your money per year to groups you know nothing about? Or would you prefer a new Mayor, who believes in open government, and who thinks the best way to fight gangs is to take control of the streets by hiring more police? (That would be yours truly, of course.) Well, it's not enough just to want change. You must take action. You are not a spectator in this coming election. You are a participant. We can win, but only if you -- yes, you -- help spread the word. The good news is, you can reach thousands of voters between now and election day just by getting a free "Walter Moore for Mayor" yard sign or bumper sticker. Seriously. They really work. Every week I hear from new supporters who learned about me not from all those articles about me in the L.A. Times, or from the many profiles on the local TV news shows, but instead from a bumper sticker or yard sign. To win, we must let our fellow citizens know they have a good alternative, a reason to go to the polls on March 3. Click here to get a sign and a sticker.