With just a few days left before absentee ballots are mailed in the L.A. mayor's race, Wendy Greuel has released a new TV ad highlighting her endorsements from Barbara Boxer, Richard Riordan and Magic Johnson.

The Greuel campaign has spent heavily on this one — about $700,000 over the next five days — so expect to see it soon on a screen near you.

Here's the ad:
In the ad, Richard Riordan gives Greuel credit for taking on the City Council during the city's budget crisis and finding millions of dollars in waste. However, Greuel's role in addressing the city's budget deficit was relatively minor. And in previous remarks, Riordan has said that Greuel was “under the total control” of the city's unions.
The ad also does not repeat the Greuel campaign's controversial claim that she has identified $160 million in waste, fraud and abuse.
Greuel's opponent in the May 21 runoff, Councilman Eric Garcetti, quickly took issue with the ad's claims.
“Greuel's ad is false all over the place and exaggerates her resume,” said Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman.
Millman alleged that Greuel “had nothing to do” with rebuilding collapsed freeways. Indeed, she worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In a letter of support, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros credited Greuel for “spearhead[ing] our agency's efforts to coordinate relief and recovery for victims.”
Millman also alleged that Greuel exaggerated her role in the creation of the L.A.'s BEST after-school program. The director of the program, Carla Sanger, has credited Greuel for her work on launching the program.
Millman also said that Greuel failed to mention that she voted for $56 million in cuts to the Fire Department when she was on the City Council.
John Shallman, Greuel's strategist, shot back, saying “Our ad is incredibly powerful and compelling, and it clearly has the Garcetti campaign scared about its strong appeal to voters in every corner of the City. Mr. Garcetti's response is so pathetic and so over-the-top false that it doesn't even justify a response.”

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