The Buzz Is, ‘What Will Mehaul Say?’

On the day before the Mayor’s Luncheon at the DoubleTree by Hilton, the eponymous Mehaul O’Leary is the leading candidate for being ranked the Most Interesting Man in Town.

Every spring the outgoing mayor’s oratory is the leading candidate for being ranked the Most Sonorous Moment of the Decade.

Not this year. In certain Culver City rooms where important persons convene, The Importants are holding their breaths. What, they wonder, will the 50-year-old Irishman – capable of surprises — tell the crowd of hundreds of fellow Importants?

When Mr. O’Leary, who led his final City Council meeting two evenings ago, disclosed his potential intentions to several Importants, heart surgeons probably should have been standing by.

The Importants don’t know what to expect when the clock strikes noon tomorrow.

At last check, Mr. O’Leary was not prepared to announce his course. “I have not totally decided yet,” said the owner of Joxer Daly’s Irish pub.

“There is starting to be some backlash,” he said, and Importants know that that will not necessarily force Mr. O’Leary into a detour.

What is the true State of the City, through the eyes of Mayor O’Leary?