It was fascinating to read over the weekend how Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has lost weight, enjoyed a yoga regimen and cut out some meat from his diet. “I'm at a great place with my family and kids, my sisters, and you could put Lu in there as well,” he said, referring to his beau, KTLA News reporter and anchor Lu Parker.

It's good to know that he's beaming with a new sense of inner-peace because, in case he hasn't noticed, the city is is not “at a great place.” If the city was a reflection of Mayor V., it would be the philandering, heavier, embattled Villaraigosa, not the svelte, meditative man we have here.

The revelation is another strange move from our out-of-touch mayor, who has recently headed off the Europe on a $120,000 taxpayer-funded trip, scheduled soap opera appearances and often moved behind the ball on major issues facing the city such as the budget and medical marijuana dispensaries. The city is in the toilet financially, but the mayor is happy about his weight. Excellent.

I guess we haven't called him the “all-about-me mayor” for nothing.

The proclamation of his inner-peace, in fact, demonstrates once again Villaraigosa's blatant arrogance when it comes to governing this city, which is facing a $400 million deficit, likely layoffs, a fire department that can't fully staff its companies, and the worst roads in the nation. Can you imagine what would happen if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing a similar but amplified budget mess on the state level, gave an interview touting “eating healthier and eating less, including meatless Mondays” … ? Or President Obama, during 2008's bank bailout, talking about how good he feels?

Bizarro.

Here's an observation: How poor the city is doing correlates directly with how well Villaraigosa is feeling. Citizens must miss the bad old days.

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