Austin Beutner

Vanload of Doctors Giving 250,000 Eyeglasses to Kids in Need

Little kids in California get their eyes tested every two years. Then the poor children wait while Medi-Cal officials take weeks, and maybe months, to send them their glasses so they can learn to read. Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner's non-profit organization, Vision to Learn, is dr ... More >>

Mission Creep at the L.A. Fire Department

The LAFD has become a huge mobile health clinic. And that's simply unsustainable

Gray Davis, David Fleming Defend "LA 20/20" to Criticism the Group is Light on High-Tech, Hollywood or Entrepreneurs

Is LA 20/20, the high-powered committee that includes former Gov. Gray Davis and was selected by former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor and multimillionaire Austin Beutner to find ways to bring economic health to L.A., a bit light on entrepreneurs and others who can create jobs? Jack Hump ... More >>

Council President Herb Wesson Taps Mickey Kantor To Study L.A.'s Budget Woes

In the wake of the failure of a half-cent sales tax increase, L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson has recruited Mickey Kantor, the former U.S. Commerce Secretary, to head up a commission to examine L.A.'s troubled finances.Kantor is putting together a group of business and labor leaders to study ... More >>

Are the Koch Brothers Trying to Buy the Los Angeles Times?

Update: The Koch Brothers respond, sort of. See next page. See also: Who Will Buy the Los Angeles Times?The latest rumor about the next owner of the L.A. Times, which is for sale, is a doozy. A bombshell. It's a doozy wrapped in a bombshell exploding inside a Drudge siren. Multiple sources te ... More >>

Who Will Buy the Los Angeles Times?

Why do so many rich men want to buy it? And how did it get to this point anyway?

Los Angeles Times to be Auctioned, as Will All Tribune Post-Bankruptcy Newspapers: Bruce Karsh Will be The Deal's Frank McCourt

Updated below with Tribune clarifying it's not really an auction, reactions from top Los Angeles Times journalists and potential buyer Austin Beutner. Additional reporting by Hillel Aron. CNBC is reporting that Tribune Co. has hired investment bankers to sell off its newspaper unit, which includes ... More >>

Austin Beutner Drops Out of Mayor's Race; Controller Wendy Greuel Likely to Benefit

Austin Beutner, the former L.A. jobs czar, has dropped out of the race for mayor in 2013, saying he needs to "be engaged with my family in a way which is at odds with the demands of a campaign."Beutner got out to an early start last year, with the backing of former Mayor Richard Riordan. But he stru ... More >>

Los Angeles Mayoral Poll 2013 Shows that Voters who Grade Villaraigosa an "F" or "D" Want Zev Yaroslavsky or Wendy Greuel

A poll says 68 percent of Angelenos have no idea who they want for Los Angeles mayor in 2013. Of those who know, pixie Controller Wendy Greuel is doing better than indecisive, undeclared Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who's doing better than "I'm Latino -- really!" Councilman Eric Garcetti. It's great ... More >>

LAFD Response-Time Scandal

Chief Cummings' plummeting morale problem

Map of LAFD Response Times: How Slow Is Emergency Service in Your Neighborhood?

This week, L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings dropped some disconcerting news: His previous assessment that the LAFD had been meeting the national standard for emergency response times was maybe not so accurate. In fact, he said, firefighters are only arriving to the scene within 5 minutes a ... More >>

Cerrell Mayoral Debates Canceled; Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Cite Scheduling Problems

​Last December, Cerrell & Associates announced a series of six mayoral debates, set to begin this month. The debates -- they actually called them "conversations" -- were to focus on a series of issues, and would have been the first opportunity to take a substantive measure of the field.So much ... More >>

Austin Beutner's Troubles Continue, With Dismal Fundraising Report

​It's been a rough week for political newcomer Austin Beutner, who's a candidate in the 2013 race for L.A. mayor. First, his campaign team up and quit.Now, it looks like he's having a hard time raising money. Beutner's campaign disclosed today that he raised just $222,000 in the second half of 201 ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Raises $1.1 Million For Mayor's Bid; Eric Garcetti Close Behind

​Updated. Controller Wendy Greuel announced today that she has raised a total of $1.11 million in the 2013 race for L.A. mayor, giving her a slim advantage over Councilman Eric Garcetti.Garcetti announced today that he had raised $1.06 million since joining the race in September. Greuel launched h ... More >>

Austin Beutner's Aides Bail Out: Was He too Tough on City Hall, or too Easy?

​Two top strategists have left Austin Beutner's campaign, in the first major shake-up of the 2013 race for L.A. mayor.Ace Smith and Sean Clegg stepped down just a few days before the next campaign finance reports are due. The news was first reported by the L.A. Times' David Zahniser, who surmises ... More >>

Austin Beutner's Jobs Speech Puts Dick Riordan To Sleep

​In his address at Town Hall Los Angeles today, mayoral candidate Austin Beutner did nothing to change his reputation as an uncharismatic public speaker. In fact, former Mayor Richard Riordan, a strong Beutner supporter who happened to be in the audience, actually fell asleep just a few minutes in ... More >>

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Screws Over L.A. With $100 Million Credit Bubble That Could Burst Once He Leaves Office

Los Angeles city leaders are apparently no more responsible or accountable than the self-serving Wall Street banksters who set up America to fall with an impossible Jenga tower of home loans. A new Los Angeles Times expose outlines a series of politically motivated, built-to-fail budget decisions b ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Wrote Measure H, Now He's Working Its Loopholes

Eric Garcetti's Plan To Cut Business Tax Draws Criticism Over Claim That It Will Boost Revenue

Eric Garcetti: Supply-sider​Councilman Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor, has been pushing for a total repeal of the city's business tax. The tax brings in roughly $425 million every year, and is much loathed by the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.Because this is municipal gove ... More >>

Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel Lead in Mayor's Race, Zev Yaroslavsky Trails Slightly, Per Private Poll Results

Zev Yaroslavsky​According to the conventional wisdom, Zev Yaroslavsky is the presumptive front-runner in the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.But a private poll, the results of which were obtained by the L.A. Weekly, turns that wisdom on its head.The poll shows Councilman Eric Garcetti and ... More >>

L.A. City Hall Promises Rent Guarantee to Chinese Car Corporation BYD, Which so Far Employs 20 People Here

treehugger.comBYD comes to L.A.​L.A. leaders like to say how business-friendly our city is and that the big bucks taxpayers invest in billionaire and corporate moves here (Eli Broad's $52 million museum parking lot, architectural firm Gensler's $1 million bonus for doing what it had plannned a ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Claims Fundraising Lead In 2013 Mayor's Race

Wendy Greuel​The relentless Wendy Greuel today claimed the early-early fundraising lead in the 2013 mayor's race.Greuel raised $519,000 in the first six months of the year. That bests Councilwoman Jan Perry, who reported $457,000 and Austin Beutner, who raised $405,000.The winning candidate will l ... More >>

Gaye Williams: L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Names New Chief of Staff

​L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ... yawn ... announced his ... yawn ... new chief of staff ... yawn ... today. (Sort of). And if we were said jefe, one Gaye Williams, onetime deputy to Mayor Richard Riordan and an adviser to mayoral hopeful Austin Beutner, we'd be bummed that Villaraigosa's ... More >>

Rick Caruso Slams Antonio Villaraigosa, Austin Beutner, Bernard Parks And Your Mom In Mayoral Pre-Campaign Speech

​Rick Caruso, billionaire mall tycoon, strode to the lectern at Town Hall Los Angeles this afternoon and gave a blistering assessment of the state of Los Angeles.The schools are terrible -- "an educational gulag." The airport could be in a "Third World country." City Hall is a "roadblock that's ke ... More >>

Laying Odds on Mayoral Race

2013 Los Angeles Mayor Race: Who Has the Best Chance of Replacing Antonio Villaraigosa?

Who will replace this guy, Antonio Villaraigosa, as the next mayor of L.A.?​Update: Link to L.A. Weeklyexclusive on who the experts say will be the next mayor. Believe it or not, someone wants to be the next mayor of Los Angeles in 2013, when Antonio Villaraigosa will be termed out of office ... More >>

Zev Yaroslavsky Will Replace Antonio Villaraigosa as Mayor, Experts Predict

If Zev runs, he’s the man to beat in 2013

Richard Riordan Endorses Private Equity Baron Austin Beutner For Mayor

Ted SoquiRichard Riordan endorses Austin Beutner for mayor​Former Mayor Richard Riordan endorsed fellow rich guy Austin Beutner this morning in the 2013 mayor's race.Beutner limped into Pear Garden, a factory that makes Korean food in downtown L.A. According to his press staff, Beutner tore a liga ... More >>

Austin Beutner Retires From The Mayor's Office To Make Way For 2013 Run

Austin Beutner​After a little more than a year in government, private equity baron Austin Beutner has resigned from the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a move that frees him up to campaign for his boss's job in 2013.Beutner also filed paperwork today with the city Ethics Commission that will ... More >>

Radio Host Kevin James Kicks Off Mayoral Campaign With Shots At Rick Caruso and Austin Beutner

Kevin James​Updated below, 3 p.m.: James can stay on the radio, as long as he doesn't talk about the campaign.Talk radio host Kevin James kicked off his campaign for L.A. mayor this morning with a couple of shots at fellow contenders Austin Beutner and Rick Caruso.James is a long shot, partly beca ... More >>

Villaraigosa screws Jerry Brown: Los Angeles redevelopment honchos had '48 hours of panic' while devising poison pill to shelter $1 billion.

Ron Kaye snags the secret CRA documents.​Read the blow-by-blow here about the possibly illegal doings by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency in January, as it went into panic mode to squirrel away $1 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown says must be shifted from subsidizing rich L.A. devel ... More >>

L.A. Controller Wendy Greuel Says She Wants To Be Your Next Mayor

L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel​It's not all that unexpected -- we've been hearing this rumor for years -- but L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel has announced that she'll be entering Los Angeles' mayoral race, according to Rick Orlov of the Daily News. L.A. City Council President Eric Garc ... More >>

Community Watchdog Cary Brazeman Fights Villaraigosa's Crusade to Allow Development Everywhere

L.A.'s postwar zoning code on the chopping block

Hollywood is missing 30,300 people. Antonio Villaraigosa's "elegant density" plan says they'll appear

New, improved Hollywood Boulevard​Los Angeles City Hall produces padded "population growth estimates" for L.A., an over-jammed city now driving away more humans than it attracts. Now, Antonio Villaraigosa and Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner are using the junk data to further remake Hollywood. Cit ... More >>

Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner Being Floated As Possible L.A. Mayoral Candidate

​With little political or policy background businessman Austin Beutner has gotten some plum leadership assignments within the administration of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, including interim chief of the powerful Department of Water and Power. His name is now being floated as a poss ... More >>

Vent To L.A. City Council Tonight About DWP

​A special City Council committee will meet tonight at 6 at the Mar Vista Rec Center Auditorium -- 11430 Woodbine Street -- to hear public comment about reforming the Department of Water and Power. DWP has been an embattled agency, especially since the Spring, which the Weekly called, "City H ... More >>

L.A. City Council Tries To Rein In DWP

​ The City Council today will vote to put measures before the voters that seek to create more accountability and transparency at the Department of Water and Power, the oft-times opaque utility that has clashed with the council this year. The initiatives, which would amend the city charter and ... More >>

Hush-hush at the Los Angeles DWP

Promising "transparency," chief Austin Beutner paints the tarnished utility even darker

DWP Officials Hauled Before City Council

​ The City Council did its best Congress imitation today, hauling up officials and former officials from the L.A. Department of Water and Power. Council members grilled them -- and did some grandstanding -- on charges that the public utility misled council members about $73.5 million in surpl ... More >>

Los Angeles Water And Power Officials Skip City Council Meeting; Councilmembers Outraged

​Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials on Wednesday skipped a joint city council committee about a recent audit released by City Controller Wendy Gruel that accused the DWP of lying to push through a rate hike, according to the Daily News. The city council's Audits and Governme ... More >>

Water Bills Will Increase Under Proposed DWP Budget

​Water bills would increase starting Jan. 1 under a budget proposal submitted Tuesday by the Department of Water and Power. The proposal calls for an increase of about 4 to 6 percent for "tier 1" customers and a 6 to 8 percent raise for "tier 2" customers. Tier 1 customers are typically resi ... More >>

Who Wants To Be An L.A. Mayor?

Eric Garcetti.​Los Angeles City Council president Eric Garcetti is a perennial favorite. Councilwoman Jan Perry is rumored to be throwing her hat in the ring. And mall developer and former police commission member Rick Caruso says he's also leaning toward a run to replace Mayor Antonio Villara ... More >>

Tracy Gray: Hawking L.A.

L.A. Water And Power Chief Pours Gas On Immigration Fire, Asks Arizona Conventions To Come To L.A.

​Austin Beutner, city Job Czar and general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, this week entered the debate with an Arizona power commissioner over the L.A.'s boycott of the desert state. He invited conventions that are also avoiding Arizona over its controversial immigra ... More >>

DWP: Reservoir Dogs

Can Austin Beutner negotiate a DWP swamp protected by top belligerent Raman Raj?

Where's Antonio? Chatting with Obama, Hanging with James Cameron

It was a big week for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who gave his annual "state of the city" speech on Tuesday, even though he said it wouldn't be that kind of speech. Instead, the mayor largely talked about his proposed budget and the Los Angeles of his youth.Office of the Mayor of L.A.LAP ... More >>

Villaraigosa 2010-11 budget: look for Wall Street-style backdoors, city asset sales, flip-flops

The mayor will release his official Los Angeles 2010-11 fiscal year city budget today, and it's widely expected to contain more flip-flops than a sidewalk sale at a 99-cent store. The Los Angeles City Council appears stunned by yesterday's announcement by Antonio Villaraigosa that the city doesn't n ... More >>

Beutner's Top Job Is To Find Someone to Replace Beutner

​Austin Beutner, who as deputy mayor already oversees 13 agencies at City Hall, now has one more in his portfolio: the DWP.Beutner, who just came on board three months ago, was introduced today as the Department of Water and Power's interim general manager, the second straight interim GM and the n ... More >>

Connecting the really strange dots between Austin Beutner, National Enquirer, Los Angeles Times and Villaraigosa

Austin Beutner​That love letter to Antonio Villaraigosa's new aide Austin Beutner in the Los Angeles Times today got us thinking about the most fascinating fact the L.A. media leaves out when it comes to  the super-rich, super-successful investment banker Beutner: his previous role as a honch ... More >>

City Hall's 2010 DWP Debacle

How Beutner, Carr, Carson, D'Arcy, Freeman, Greuel, Raj, Santana, Szabo, Villaraigosa & Co. pushed L.A. to the cliff edge