Press Release of the Day: Wax Antonio Villaraigosa's Day At The Beach

From my Inbox just now: "As outgoing LA Mayor Villaraigosa steps down from office, he enjoys a day at the beach and Santa Monica Pier courtesy of his wax figure from Madame Tussauds Hollywood."

Come on, Madame Tussauds. To make this realistic, you should have surrounded him with wax figures of some of L.A.'s top TV news anchor babes.

Now You Can Take A Bite of The Hot and Saucy "Mayor's Mistress"

As spotted by my friend Joe, from a recent Thrillist email about new pizzeria Apollonia's, it's the "Mayor's Mistress" pizza -- pepperoni, Italian sausage, tomato basil and garlic. Sounds delicious. Do Mirthala (above) or Lu get a discount?

Another Shot at Prop. 13

The L.A. Times once again tackles the discriminatory (toward young home owners) Prop 13 --and in his latest column, discusses how Mayor Villaraigosa wants to take it on.

I'm not sure there's much Villaraigosa can do about it, but it's always worth taking another look at Prop. 13 -- particularly the commercial provision, which has allowed businesses to get away with dirt-cheap property taxes for years (while new business owners suffer).

As a relatively new, young homeowner, I of course will forever seethe about the inequities of who pays what. I know I shouldn't do this, because my blood will boil, but I sometimes check out real estate listings on Zillow of mansions that haven't changed hands in a few decades.

Above, this demonstrates how ridiculously uneven the Prop 13 rules are. This home, at 1937 Orchard Lane in La Canada-Flintridge, was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times. It's a 6,105 square feet house on a full acre property. The ask price? $3.4 million. (Zillow, to be fair, says it's worth $2.9 million).

What did the owners pay on property tax in 2010? $7,500. Because the home was assessed at $473,083. That's right. The County says this home is worth less than, say, a tiny 900 square foot shack in Echo Park. On about 2000 square feet of land. This is ridiculous. And exactly why people hold on to their homes for decades.

I don't know what the answer is, but quite simply, it's unfair to a whole generation of young homeowners.

Mayor Villaraigosa's NFL in LA Pitch

"Are you ready for some FOOTBALL, Los Angeles?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess."

"ALL RIGHT! LET'S BRING FOOTBALL TO L.A.!"

"Uh, sure."

Above, Mayor Villaraigosa's video pitch to the NFL.

(via LA Observed)

Villaraigosa and Garcetti, Soap Opera Stars

The "All My Children" episodes featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council president Eric Garcetti are set to air next week.

According to ABC, "the Mayor will play himself, crossing paths with Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) at ConFusion, the local hotspot that's owned in part by Erica Kane. The two will have a back story of having met at a charity event in LA the year before." Still not sure how Villaraigosa just happens to wind up in the fictional town of Pine Valley.



Garcetti, meanwhile, will appear in a scene with David Canary (who plays the role of Adam Chandler). "His story will find him in Pine Valley, meeting Adam Chandler about the initiatives they are taking together to make Chandler Enterprises more environmentally friendly." How Garcetti's jurisdiction suddenly includes Pine Valley is also a mystery.

Garcetti's episode runs Feb. 16, while Villaraigosa will be seen Feb. 17. The duo, of course, were invited to be on the show as part of "All My Children's" big move to Andrita Studios in Glassell Park.

(Photos: ABC/Rick Rowell)

Memo To The Mayor: We're Not In Los Angeles Anymore

OK, I get it, Mayor V is using the generic version of "L.A." to describe the region, not just the city limits:

I'm at the U2/Black Eye Peas concert with Lu and the world is watching. I love L.A. :)

But c'mon. Fine, attend the U2 concert (along with them "Black Eye Peas") -- but the Rose Bowl is in Pasadena. I'm pretty sure the mayor knows that. So tossing in a "I love L.A." while not really enjoying an event in L.A. seems kinda wrong -- at least for the mayor of Los Angeles.

BTW, this very well may have been the Mayor's first Tweet to mention Lu Parker (the KTLA reporter who he's now dating). I went back almost three months, and never saw her mentioned before Sunday night. Hmm, a sign of bigger things to come?

Meanwhile, Over on Twitter

I must admit, I resisted Twitter as long as possible. But now that I'm hooked, I've finally realized that it's the perfect home for my inane observations.

If you're not following Franklin Avenue on Twitter (and why not? Go over and follow us right now!), here are a few highlights from the past week:

E! anounces that it "will no longer cover the misadventures of 'Speidi,' until the pair does something truly newsworthy." So never, right?
5:10 PM Jun 22nd

Resolutions today with Villaraigosa, Chris Brown and Jon & Kate. Egads, what will we talk about the rest of the summer?!
2:12 PM Jun 22nd

Villaraigosa not running for governor. Had Googled the bios of Sacramento's local TV news reporters. Not interested.
1:29 PM Jun 22nd

We'll find out in a moment whether Villaraigosa is running for govern...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oops, sorry. Don't care enough to finish this Tweet.
1:00 PM Jun 22nd

Just got the latest copy of EW. Ryan Reynolds is now the mag's "new favorite leading man." Really, EW? I mean... really?
4:30 PM Jun 19th

Good Morning America has hired "The Bachelor's" Melissa Rycroft. Wait.. oops, GMA just changed its mind. Can't catch a break, huh, Melissa!
2:00 PM Jun 17th

Turns out those are "Grey's Anatomy" fans there at the Coliseum throwing things at police. Man, are they PISSED that T.R. Knight is leaving.
1:55 PM Jun 17th

Was the crowd at the Laker Rally booing Mayor Villaraigosa, or shouting "LU! LU!" in honor of his KTLA galpal?
1:04 PM Jun 17th

"Lost" exec producers Cuse/Lindelof on Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" tonight. Strangely, this episode was actually taped seven years from now.
11:50 AM Jun 17th

Your Pick for Favorite Villaraigosa News Babe: Mirthala, By a Landslide

Sorry, Lu, it wasn't even close. Even though former local Telemundo/KVEA anchor Mirthala Salinas was embroiled in a much bigger scandal with Antonio Villaraigosa, voters of last week's Franklin Avenue Wednesday Poll overwhelmingly chose her as their favorite Mayor V galpal.

Salinas picked up 65% of the vote, compared to Lu Parker's 23%. The remainder went to six write-in votes, which included:Beverly White, Huell Howser, Vera Jimenez, Sharon Tay, Paul Moyer and Elita Loresca.

Conan Comes to Los Angeles: Kareem, a Mayor V Joke and Another California Driver License

Conan O'Brien cut back on the Los Angeles references in Wednesday night's "Tonight Show," which also didn't include a pre-taped piece. Perhaps that's because unlike the first two editions of "Tonight" with O'Brien, this one included two guests and a musical act, instead of just one guest.

As seen above, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came out after O'Brien noted that a pair of doors located under the audience reminded him of a sports arena. Kareem didn't really say anything, but he was obviously sporting a Lakers jersey on the eve of the NBA Finals Game 1.

Also, notice that takes someone like Abdul-Jabbar to actually make the 6-foot-4 Conan look normal-sized. Pity the poor "Tonight Show" staffer who they brought out to stand next to the two -- that guy's probably normal height, but next to Kareem and Conan, he looked like a shrimp.

O'Brien included a few L.A. references in his monologue; he noted, for example, Los Angeles' original name -- El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula. Added Conan: "Good thing they changed it before Arnold Schwarzenegger moved here."

In his monologue, Conan also mentioned Antonio Villaraigosa's new relationship with KTLA reporter Lu Parker, pointing out that it's Mayor V's second pairing in a row with a TV reporter. "Apparently the reporters in L.A. really mean it when they say they're the team from Action 7." (OK, they can't all be gems.)



Later, guest Julia Louis-Dreyfus picked up on Tuesday's Conan riff on his new California driver's license. O'Brien told the crowd he was asked to try again when his first license photo came out bad; Louis-Dreyfus said she encountered the same thing, and shared her own California license (above). Of course, I'm not sure I buy that this is her actual license photo, given how glammed up it is... but who knows? (UPDATE: As someone noted in the comments, the dates are all screwy on this license. I think we're pretty safe to confirm that this is bogus.)

Wednesday Poll: Mirthala vs. Lu

All right, it's a smackdown of local TV news proportions. Which Antonio Villaraigosa paramour do you choose? Are you a member of Team Mirthala or Team Lu? OR... is there another local TV news star you think Mayor V oughta be with (Jackie Johnson? Sharon Tay?) Vote below.

Really, Mayor Villaraigosa? Really?

(KNBC photo by David Reese.)

KNBC's website first broke the news today that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has a new girlfriend -- and like the last one, the new one comes from the world of TV journalism.

Villaraigosa is involved with KTLA anchor (and former Miss USA) Lu Parker, the station confirmed this afternoon.

Villaraigosa, of course, famously had an affair with former KVEA anchor Mirthala Salinas while still married to his wife; Villaraigosa eventually split from his wife and later Salinas as well. Salinas left the Telemundo station after being reassigned because of the relationship.

With a nod to "Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update," I think this brings us to an edition of... "Really?"



REALLY, Mayor V?! Another TV newscaster? How'd that last one turn out? OH YEAH, she was yanked from her anchor chair and sent packing to a Riverside bureau before she quit. And although your relationship didn't last long, it had a permanent impact on your image and reputation as a politician. Sure, you were easily re-elected... but that's because your most serious competitor was a right-wing nutjob. And now, you're still pondering a run for Governor, so whaddyuh do... you go ahead and start dating another high-profile newscaster, just to remind everyone of how disappointed they were in you the last time you did it.

Plus, this all comes out the same month your picture with the word "FAILURE" underneath can be seen on newsstands and in grocery store checkouts across Southern California (via Los Angeles mag). REALLY, Mayor Antonio? This is the time to let this relationship go public?

I will say this much: Given the plight of journalism and journalists these days, it's heartening to know that you're a big supporter of the people -- well, I suppose, certain people -- who make up our trade.



REALLY, Lu Parker?! You saw what happened to Mirthala Salinas' career. and you still think this is a good idea? And you anchor for a major L.A. TV station, and have covered the Mayor -- as recently as Sunday night, reporting on the possibility he's dropping his plans to run for Governor. You were dating the Mayor, yet went ahead with that report anyway. (Do you have inside knowledge that he has no plans? Perhaps he wouldn't be hanging out with you in Larchmont book stores if he was plotting a run?)

KTLA finally said yesterday that Parker will no longer cover local politics. REALLY, KTLA? Wouldn't you and your competitors have to actually cover local politics in order to pull someone off the politics beat?

And Lu, what's up with the website and the blog? You're not alone in this, several local anchors have posted semi-racy or revealing photos on their sites, so I don't want to just single you out. (I still don't get it though -- you guys are all still reporters. I don't remember seeing Hal Fishman or Jerry Dunphy posting pics of themselves in a Speedo on their sites -- or even cheesecake photos of earlier female anchors like Christine Lund popping up.)

But REALLY, your most recent blog post starts off with the protest that your blog is "by no means about me." Yet that post is right next to... a revealing shot of you in a bikini top, with your arms seductively up. REALLY, Lu? Not about you?



And then there's you, KNBC. You REALLY can't hide your glee at discovering that Mayor Villaraigosa has a thing with Parker. Your website even broke the news not with a normal news story, but rather with this snarky post.

REALLY, KNBC? I seem to recall that Salinas was an anchor on YOUR SISTER STATION, KVEA. And although it's a tad weird and journalistically questionable that Parker is dating Villaraigosa, he is a single man now. Back in 2007, it was your anchor who was dating a still-married Villaraigosa --a relationship that, again, tarnished his career.

And that concludes "REALLY?!: The Villaraigosa Edition."

15% Turnout

(Photo by Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

239,374 ballots were cast Tuesday (or via absentee ballot) out of 1,596,165 registered voters in Los Angeles. But I guess that's what happens when people don't really feel invested in any race. I'm sure there are some voters who expressed their dislike of Antonio Villaraigosa -- and their dislike of any of his challengers, none of which could really be taken seriously -- by not showing up to the polls.

There's also the possibility that a majority of Angelenos didn't even realize there was a city vote yesterday. As far as I can tell, the local newscasts opened their 11 p.m. shows with an update on the votes... but were already on to stories such as "The Botox Bandit" by 11:06.

Strangely enough, Villaraigosa took the stage at the Westin Bonaventure before 11 p.m. to give his acceptance speech. That means the 11 p.m. newscasts didn't have to go live, and just carried a clip or two of him. I wonder: Did channels 2, 4 and 7 alert Villaraigosa's team that they had no intention of carrying his speech live? Did his people decide it would be better to go during the 10 p.m. hour, when channels 5, 9 and 11 might go live (I have no idea if they did). Or did the TV coverage not factor into when he gave his speech?

Los Angeles Election Day: Have You Voted Yet?

(Photo by Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times.)

Methinks this will be the scene at polling places all over L.A.: No lines and plenty of room for the few, the proud, the voting public.

Not sure what's going on? LAist has a handy guide on today's vote.

Here We Go Again: The Century Plaza Hotel in Trouble

(Flickr pic by GurhanKara.)

Built in 1966, the Century Plaza Hotel -- located on land formerly inhabited by 20th Century Fox, which earlier had to sell off most of its lot to resolve a financial crisis -- might not live to see its 50th birthday.

As the L.A. Times reports, new owner Michael Rosenfeld would like to demolish the hotel and replace it with two high rises. Mayor Villaraigosa supports the plan, but some Westside residents, not so much.

The Century Plaza Hotel pretty much replaced the Ambassador Hotel as one of the prime go-to venue for events, banquets, etc.

The paper writes:

The 726-room Century Plaza has played host to U.S. presidents, rock stars and business moguls, and served as the location for countless galas and social functions since it was completed in 1966 as the centerpiece of an office, retail and residential development carved out of the former back lot of the 20th Century Fox film studio.

For many years the Century Plaza's doormen wore red Beefeater costumes. The hotel's ballrooms welcomed high-profile events, including an opening charity gala in 1966 emceed by Bob Hope, who with singer Andy Williams entertained the likes of Ronald and Nancy Reagan and Walt and Lillian Disney.

President Nixon hosted a state dinner there in 1969 for the Apollo 11 astronauts after their successful journey to the moon. In 1995, Hollywood studio head and notorious embezzler David Begelman committed suicide in a room at the hotel.

The architect was Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed New York's World Trade Center towers.

The proposal by Los Angeles developer Michael Rosenfeld, who bought the property for $366.5 million in May, calls for razing the 19-story arc-shaped hotel on Avenue of the Stars and erecting two 50-story towers in its place. At 600 feet, they would be the tallest buildings in Century City and among the tallest in the region, with 293 condominiums, 100,000 square feet of office space, 106,000 square feet of retail space and a 240-room luxury hotel.

Is it too soon to start a "Save the Century Plaza Hotel" campaign?

C'mon Shake Your Body, Antonio, Do The Conga

My favorite Internet item of the day: Losanjealous' multi-part series, Photos of Mayor Villaraigosa Jamming On Congas With Sheila E. At LA Live.

Primetime -- Sorta -- For Villaraigosa At the Democratic Convention

A lot has been made of the fact that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't have a major presence at this week's Democratic Convention. (I suppose his whole separation and dalliance with ex-Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas wasn't the kind of image they wanted to portray in primetime -- particularly post-John Edwards.)

Still, da mayor got some primo primetime face time on Tuesday night thanks to his strategic seat -- behind President Clinton, who seemed to be having a good time watching Hillary go attack McCain. ("No way, no how, no McCain." Brilliant.)

Get to Know Los Angeles' Old Time Mayors

You know Antonio Villaraigosa, remember Jim Hahn... sorta remember Richard Riordan, and Tom Bradley -- that's right, he was mayor for decades. There's Sam Yorty and Frank Shaw... and after that, things get hazy.

I meant, but never got around to linking to this excellent piece by Robert Greene in the Los Angeles Times last month. Greene notes that formerly obscure ex-mayor Cristobal Aguilar re-entered our conciousness after Villaraigosa began running for mayor (countless news reports reminded us that Villaraigosa would be the first Latino mayor since Aguilar, in 1872).

Writes Greene:

But do you know any other Los Angeles mayors? Many L.A. residents would be able to name more mayors of New York (Bloomberg, Giuliani, Koch, Dinkins, Lindsay, LaGuardia -- and no big deal if you forgot Abe Beame) or Chicago (Daley, Washington, uh, Daley) than of their own city.

Maybe that's because Bradley was mayor for a generation and made us forget the relative short-termers who came before. In 1993, when Bradley opted against a sixth term, Los Angeles voters adopted term limits. But a good argument could be made that they weren't needed, because before Bradley, voters tossed out one mayor after another. Who was the last pre-Bradley mayor to leave office voluntarily, without being defeated for reelection, recalled or otherwise trying to regain office?

It took Greene a while, but he digs up several contenders -- and the final answer.

Revealed: The Long-Lost Fourth Jonas Brother!

Teenage heartthrobs Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, Antonio Jonasraigosa and Nick Jonas participate in Earth Day festivities thrown by Disney. (Photo via Disney press release.)

Ex-Mayor Gal Pal's Fiance Wants Everyone to Know: Mirthala's Back To Her Senses

The site's front page -- "I am Marrying my Best Friend!" shortened from the original line, "I am Marrying my Best Friend now That She has Stopped Banging the Mayor!"

There's no better web find today than Curbed LA's discovery of the cheesy online wedding site for Mirthala Salinas and b.f. Yanni Raz.

Mirthala, of course, made headlines last year when she started dating Antonio Villaraigosa -- all while reporting on Villaraigosa's separation from his wife as an anchor at Telemundo's KVEA/Channel 52. (Check out Los Angeles magazine's profile of Mirthala here.)

Well, she and the mayor broke up at the end of last year, she parted ways with Telemundo and eventually landed a new job as a morning host on Spanish talk radio 690 AM. And... she's now engaged to marry real estate agent Raz.

Now, their site. For starters, the headline "My Woman Is Back on Track again" links to a few graphs on Mirthala's new job at 690 AM... as well as a link to an ABC7 story about the gig. The ABC7 story's lede? "Mirthala Salinas, the mayor's ex-girlfriend, is back on the air and back in the news."

OK, really? You want everyone visiting your wedding website to be reminded of Mirthala's tawdry year in the headlines?

Now, this:


Yanni Raz Really didn't know that his basically locking him self in "SALINAS PRISON" That's, um, sweet?

And this:


Mirthala Salinas Understands today that the world is YANNI CHINGASSSSSSSSSSS Take that, Mayor V!

From Television City to Studio City: CBS Moves

CBS' long-awaited move from Television City -- its West Coast base since 1952 -- to the CBS Studio Center (also known as the "Radford lot") happens at the end of the month.



It's been a long time coming; the network first started circulating drawings of a new CBS building in 2003; ground breaking took place (above, CBS' Leslie Moonves, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others) in 2005.

I write in Variety:

The new 162,000-square-foot building, which has been housing KCBS and KCAL since last April, will also lodge Eye topper Leslie Moonves' West Coast office. It will be the home base for CBS Paramount TV Network Entertainment Group head Nancy Tellem and CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler.

Much of the CBS Entertainment team will also make the move to the building, although some departments will remain at Television City. Plan is to gradually bring other staffers over in waves.

As for Television City, the historic landmark -- which first opened in 1952 -- isn't in danger of disappearing. Unlike Columbia Square, which went dark after CBS sold the facility and KCBS/KCAL (plus KNX and KCBS-FM) moved out, TV City is still owned by the Eye and will remain an active facility.

In other words, contestants will still be "comin' on down" for "The Price is Right" at TV City for the forseeable future.

By April, Fox becomes the only major broadcast net not located in the San Fernando Valley. NBC Entertainment is also moving this year, from Burbank to the Universal lot.