Much to my delight, I discovered that the former Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, apparently has a column for the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. His latest piece reminds me of the golden age of journalism, when Larry King’s “King’s Things” made USA Today the must-read powerhouse of the printed word that it is today.

(Villaraigosa lobbied dementia-suffering Spanos about Bolts-to-L.A.?)

The crazy thing is, Brown doesn’t just cover Frisco. He covers all! Excerpt:

Here’s a scoop. The San Diego Chargers are looking to move to Los Angeles.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his people were at the Chargers playoff game last week, and they were being extremely solicitous of team owner Alex Spanos.

Yeah, you read that right. Alex Spanos. One problem though, Alex Spanos, sadly, recently revealed he has dementia, and has essentially removed himself from public life.

So was Brown wrong in his reportage? If you know Villaraigosa like we know Villaraigoisa in this town, not necessarily. Read more…

OK, you probably don’t know who the mayor of Los Angeles is. Not many do. But his name is Antonio Villaraigosa. Thanks to an embarrassing divorce (he cheated with local TV anchor) and non-stop political scandal during his brief tenure here, he’s become a laughingstock. (Think Kwame Kilpatrick.)

(Disgraced L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s burning dilemma)

Once a rising star in the Democratic party and a possible frontrunner for governor of California, he’s since become someone the party is trying to shoo out of sight. But despite Villaraigosa’s debacle of an administration, he continues to be a shameless media whore.

Take for instance last Monday night, which saw harrowing wildfires raging throughout northern Los Angeles, threatening property (19 homes were lost) and lives of local residents (two dead).

Meanwhile, the Dodgers played the Phillies 30 minutes away.

One guess where Villaraigosa ended up. Read more…

A fine tradition of any sports championship series is the friendly wagers between the mayors of the competing cities. And the NBA Finals match-up between the Lakers and Celtics is no different.

Except this time, there will be no friendly swap of regional foodstuffs. No clam chowder vs. Fatburger bets here.

(Sorry - no dice)

Adam Rose of the L.A. TIMES was rummaging through the garbage outside City Hall looking for an evening meal (recent paycuts have been pretty brutal at the Times - damn you, sports blogs!), when he came across a copy of a letter not-so-fresh off the desk of mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The letter was addressed to Boston mayor Thomas Menino, and it outlined Antonio’s proposal for a high-rolling wager between the two civic servants:

Read more…