Luke Ford

Related on LAObserved:

It was so hot our mayor was having sex with a reporter from an Alaskan TV station. That’s how hot.

That’s my favorite story. Here in Los Angeles, it turns out our mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa was having a long time affair with a Telemundo reporter. The reporter who covered him for the news. Typical politician, he didn’t actually admit it; he said he was illegally south of her border.

Mickey Kaus writes on Slate.com:

According to L.A. Observed, Mayor Villaraigosa appears to have drawn a line around Mirthala Salinas and put his credibility, if not his career, on it:

At today’s photo op du jour, he flatly denied that there have been any other women in his recent past — "a definitive, absolute no."

The mayor’s language is echoed in this local ABC TV report. The LAT, with its traditional flair for the telling detail, truncates it to "no."…

The host is sportscaster Fred Roggin and Los Angeles Times sports columnist T.J. Simers.

I came in after a discussion of soccer star David Beckham.

From MayorSam:

If you’re a politician in trouble and you’ve been accused of being a bad boy, how do you turn around your opponents’ charges? The following are some Techniques for Truth Suppression by David Martin, author of America’s Dreyfus Affair:

Wax indignant. This is also known as the "how dare you?" gambit.

Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors."

From a post to MayorSam:

Last week Hillary sent her husband’s emergency rescue squad to L.A. That’s why Tony Villar was off the cameras for 5 days.

Now…compare his shaky performance last week (before the rescue squad got here) to his ‘performance’ yesterday and today!!!

NOW he’s treating everything like it was an aberration…he’s LAUGHING AND MAKING JOKES about it! He’s even slicker than Bill Clinton…and that’s a herculean feat!

San Fernando Valley Business Journal:

8/15/05

Most college students consider themselves lucky to handle part-time jobs while struggling through term papers and final exams, but Tina Choi had more on her mind than that.

Choi, who immigrated to the United States from South Korea with her parents when she was six years old, had always been conscious of the sometimes difficult relations in Los Angeles. The 1992 riots set off incredible tension throughout the city which captivated the country, and Choi flew back from UC Berkeley in order to help put together a race relations panel for the Oprah Winfrey Show in order to strengthen communications between the African American and Korean American communities.

Once she was finished with school, Choi retuned home to Los Angeles for good, continuing to work for civic improvements in the mayor’s office. As an advocate for the city, Choi worked to attract the attention of commercial and trade delegation groups visiting from across the world. She finished her time in the mayor’s office as an economic development deputy, working on the Harbor Gateway project and helping to convert some former military property into commercial and industrial businesses.

After her time in the public sector, she worked for Playa Vista and recently she started her own business. Her clients are developers that have designs for Los Angeles but need help navigating through the city’s approval process.

"I’ve been doing community mediating for a long time, so development strategy just seemed like a natural segue for me," Choi said. "I’ve done public service and I served in an executive capacity for Playa Vista…but I never had the opportunity to try running my own business."

Many of Choi’s clients are working on build-to-suit condominium projects – she’s also worked with architect and designer Philippe Starck, hotel development companies, and several South Korean businesses interested in investing in the United States. She also saves some time to continue working in the public sector, serving as a commissioner on the South Valley Planning Commission at the urging of Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and Controller Laura Chick.

"It was very important for them to have not only minority representation but gender representation, which was sorely lacking," Choi said.