Complications for the Mayor

If your name is Villaraigosa, there are two problems with this scenario — you and Mr. Nunez are ideological and physical twins. Not only do you support the same programs, you are both dashingly young, dark and handsome, and irresistibly charismatic even if there is a 15-year age difference. They are running hard at a time when it is hot to be a Hispanic politician in California. With a Spanish-sounding surname, you can get far more accomplished than Freddie O’Brien. They are the West Coast embodiment of alpha males. While he is playing slash-and-burn politics, Mr. Villaraigosa should hire two eyes for the south side of his head when traveling north because Mr. Nunez is not far south of the Mayor’s heels. There is no question now who is No. 1 and who is No. 2. But Mr. Nunez’ objective is not to be the best waterboy ever for the Mayor of Los Angeles. At the last fiscal accounting, Mr. Nunez had $1.1 million in his personal piggy bank. That will grow exponentially before he is term-limited from his present position in ’08. Between Vice President Cheney and President Bush, there are a thousand contrasts and differences. Between Mr. V and Mr. N,  there are a thousand similarities and parallels. Mr. Nunez’ goal is not to be the lieutenant governor of California or the Vice President of the United States.

Having ‘Cheese’ Memorized

Long before he became the first Kid Speaker of the Assembly at a tender but prepared 37 years old, Mr. Nunez learned that his non pareil ally would be the camera. For now, the eye of the camera is large enough to include the Mayor and the Speaker. As of this morning, Mr. Villaraigosa technically is 100 days away from officially becoming the first iron-handed Czar of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Famous for his impatience, he will seize about 100 days before then. Since Mr. Villaraigosa could not trust the voters to thrust this sacred trust into his greedy mitts, he turned to his faithful-for-now servant Mr. Nunez. Mr. Speaker delivered the necessary Sacramento votes (Assembly Bill 1381) to make his pal the Mayor the Czar. Culver City, you should know, was strongly in Mr.  Villaraigosa’s corner, with Assemblyperson Karen Bass and state Sen. Kevin Murray vigorously endorsing the takeover. But they were nowhere to be found yesterday at the Central Library. It was Glamour Day in downtown Los Angeles. The co-stars were Gov. Schwarzenegger, who staged a ceremonial signing of 1381, and Mr. Villaraigosa, the sole beneficiary of the new strong-armed policy. The enabler, Mr. Nunez, who co-sponsored the legislation, was just as prominent pictorially. Seldom did he stray more than 3 inches from the foci of the camera-wielders.

Postscript

As quotable as virtually any politician in America, Mr. Nunez only looks, but never sounds, like the Kid Speaker of the Assembly. He knows the verbal drill. Baffle ‘em with baloney, and the inattentive masses never will know the difference. “This is an ambitious proposal,” Mr. Nunez told one interviewer for a syndicate. “It cuts the bureaucracy, it increases the accountability, it empowers educators, it allows for the re-engineering of our educational system to encourage education in the classroom. But it also provides a central role for our city leaders in improving our public schools.” Give me one pound of the lean baloney, Mr. Butcher.