How About Cutting Villaraigosa's Entourage?

How About Cutting Villaraigosa's Entourage? By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, WalterMooreForMayor.com December 16, 2008 Guess how many staffers Mayor Villaraigosa has? Five? Ten? Twenty? You’re not even close! Villaraigosa has a “regular” staff of 93, and that is up by 23 positions from last year’s level of 70. That’s an increase of 32.8%. Click here to see the page from the budget listing the positions and salaries. And, courtesy of the Daily News, you can browse their names, exact titles and salaries. Click here to see that. What do these people actually do? The L.A. Times explained it as follows: "It’s up to a swarm of harried aides to keep the boss hydrated and happy, primped and pampered, ensuring that he has clean hands and fresh breath (he gobbles Listerine strips by the pack). "Villaraigosa is chauffeured around town by police in a black GMC Yukon. "Two personal assistants, assigned to him in alternating shifts, tend to his needs, shadowing him from morning to night and keeping him in view at all times should he need anything. His seven press aides field questions from reporters, arrange news conferences and keep him in the loop about breaking events. * * * "Aides are instructed to carry Listerine breath strips, business cards, two pens, a Sharpie marker, a notepad, a small hand sanitizer, bottled water and an extra copy of briefing materials and speech cards." Before we lay off crossing guards, or slow down the hiring of police officers, how about we see if the Mayor can “get by” with “just” 70 staffers -- you know, the same number he had last year. Heck, if Villaraigosa showed up for work more than 11% of the time, he could do some of the work we’re paying all those other people to do. If you want a Mayor who will do the job without a massive entourage, I'm your man. Make it happen: put a yard sign in your yard and a sticker on your car. Click here to get a sign and a sticker.