By Rick Orlov
Welcome to the new city game show: "Who gets the credit?"
It's not always an easy game to win, especially when the contestants are up for re-election as they are on Tuesday.
Such was the case last Friday, when Mayor James Hahn and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced that about $12 million in savings from reduced legal payouts would pay for hiring 109 police officers.
Delgadillo's staff thought he should get the credit. For the news conference, they decorated the podium with the official seal of the City Attorney's Office and Delgadillo's name, and created a sign reading: "Rocky Delgadillo: Putting More Police on the Street."
Not so fast, said aides to Hahn -- who is engaged in a bitter fight for a second term.
A towel was placed over the podium as television cameras got set up. And when it was removed -- voila! -- the official seal of the mayor adorned the podium and the sign had been changed to drop Delgadillo's name. Sheriff Lee Baca was the official target at last week's annual political roast to benefit the American Diabetes Association, but it was Hahn who seemed to get the most barbs.
Hahn made a brief appearance at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. He quickly became the butt of many of the jokes, with the speakers noting his reliance on Police Chief Bill Bratton as a political ally.
For instance, Council President Alex Padilla stood behind a life-size cardboard cutout of Bratton and looked over its shoulder at the crowd of 800.
"When the mayor's gone, one of my duties is to be acting mayor," Padilla said. "So, I figured I would stand where the mayor usually does."
District Attorney Steve Cooley turned out to be one of the best of those who roasted Baca, taking note of the sheriff's habit of digressing into some strange topics while speaking.
"A wise man once said truth is stranger than fiction," Cooley said. "I bet he never heard a Lee Baca speech." Making a surprise appearance at the event was Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who is running for state attorney general next year.
The former governor, who has held nearly every other state office, took exception to the introduction he was given by Councilman Eric Garcetti.
"I'm not the one being roasted, so knock off all that Gov. Moonbeam stuff," Brown barked at Garcetti.
Chastised, Garcetti returned to center stage. "Thank you, Gov. Moonbeam." The star of the event, which raised an estimated $400,000 for diabetes research and has raised some $4 million over its eight years, was Laurie Berghoff, the 19-year-old daughter of lobbyist Arnie Berghoff.
Diagnosed with the disease when she was 4, she got right to the point in summarizing the impact of being a diabetic. "It sucks."
RoyalSports.com, an online casino, last week announced it was offering odds on who would be the next politician involved in a sex scandal.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was listed as the favorite, with the casino saying it would pay $250 for every $100 bet that Schwawrzenegger would be the target.
He was followed by former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., were both listed as 7-1 underdogs.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2748070,00.html
RoyalSports.com
Welcome to the new city game show: "Who gets the credit?"
It's not always an easy game to win, especially when the contestants are up for re-election as they are on Tuesday.
Such was the case last Friday, when Mayor James Hahn and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced that about $12 million in savings from reduced legal payouts would pay for hiring 109 police officers.
Delgadillo's staff thought he should get the credit. For the news conference, they decorated the podium with the official seal of the City Attorney's Office and Delgadillo's name, and created a sign reading: "Rocky Delgadillo: Putting More Police on the Street."
Not so fast, said aides to Hahn -- who is engaged in a bitter fight for a second term.
A towel was placed over the podium as television cameras got set up. And when it was removed -- voila! -- the official seal of the mayor adorned the podium and the sign had been changed to drop Delgadillo's name. Sheriff Lee Baca was the official target at last week's annual political roast to benefit the American Diabetes Association, but it was Hahn who seemed to get the most barbs.
Hahn made a brief appearance at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. He quickly became the butt of many of the jokes, with the speakers noting his reliance on Police Chief Bill Bratton as a political ally.
For instance, Council President Alex Padilla stood behind a life-size cardboard cutout of Bratton and looked over its shoulder at the crowd of 800.
"When the mayor's gone, one of my duties is to be acting mayor," Padilla said. "So, I figured I would stand where the mayor usually does."
District Attorney Steve Cooley turned out to be one of the best of those who roasted Baca, taking note of the sheriff's habit of digressing into some strange topics while speaking.
"A wise man once said truth is stranger than fiction," Cooley said. "I bet he never heard a Lee Baca speech." Making a surprise appearance at the event was Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who is running for state attorney general next year.
The former governor, who has held nearly every other state office, took exception to the introduction he was given by Councilman Eric Garcetti.
"I'm not the one being roasted, so knock off all that Gov. Moonbeam stuff," Brown barked at Garcetti.
Chastised, Garcetti returned to center stage. "Thank you, Gov. Moonbeam." The star of the event, which raised an estimated $400,000 for diabetes research and has raised some $4 million over its eight years, was Laurie Berghoff, the 19-year-old daughter of lobbyist Arnie Berghoff.
Diagnosed with the disease when she was 4, she got right to the point in summarizing the impact of being a diabetic. "It sucks."
RoyalSports.com, an online casino, last week announced it was offering odds on who would be the next politician involved in a sex scandal.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was listed as the favorite, with the casino saying it would pay $250 for every $100 bet that Schwawrzenegger would be the target.
He was followed by former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., were both listed as 7-1 underdogs.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2748070,00.html
RoyalSports.com
