Common Cause Not for Sale

I wanted to wait to see the reaction, and I'm glad some in this great city are as outraged as I am about Rick Jacobs being appointed to Mayor Eric Garcetti's staff. In The Daily News, Phillip Ung called out the Mayor on the appointment:

Phillip Ung, spokesman for national government watchdog group Common Cause, believes Garcetti's latest appointment throws up red flags.

"There is concern because of the money raised by Jacobs' group and the prominent position he now has within City Hall," Ung said.

Such appointments raise questions about whether the individuals are qualified for the job or are only being hired because of their support for a candidate, Ung said. (The Daily News, August 7, 2013)

It seems Mayor Garcetti is going to great lengths to make sure everyone who took care of the dirty work on his campaign is taken care of, especially the race baiting population.

Two of his people have even started the Race Baiting Caucus. In his disclosure forms, Kevin James admitted to having a $70 dinner with Rick Jacobs.

(Los Angeles City File, 13-881)

Take a look at the ad Jacobs put up hitting Wendy Greuel, disingenuously hinting that she supported Proposition 187:

Well, normally there would be a video here, but it seems like Mr. Jacobs had it taken down off YouTube, probably because he didn't want to answer any questions about it. But if it's like he says, and that there was nothing factually incorrect in the ad, why was the video taken down? Jacobs comments on the ad in the Los Angeles Times story below:

But Rick Jacobs, co-chairman of the Lots of People group, said he would not remove the anti-Greuel spot and argued that everything contained in it was accurate.

“Wendy Greuel was a Republican for not one, not two but 13 years. She was a Republican when Pete Wilson ran for governor and won. Had he not won in 1990, there would not have been a Prop. 187,” Jacobs said. (Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2013)

To clarify, Eric Garcetti did not ask him to take the ad down and in true Eric Garcetti fashion, tweeted his response:

I trust @Wendy_Greuel when she says she was not for Prop 187. I hope everybody inside & outside the campaigns will act responsibly. #LAMayor
— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) May 16, 2013

Did he call on his supporters to take down the ad? No, just that he "hoped" everyone would do the right thing.

Mayor Villaraigosa had this to say about the distasteful ads running at the time:

Do we really need more of this type of leadership running our city? Will someone stand up to the mayor rewarding not just campaign helpers, but Super PAC campaign helpers? Where will we draw the line?