Villaraigosa's remarks on paying for Michael Jackson's memorial service anger readers

Michael Jackson's extravagant memorial service drew criticism last week from city officials who were concerned over the event's estimated $1.4-million price tag. 

However, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced this morning that he would not be attempting to recoup any of the cost, arguing that it was the city's responsibility to oversee the event.  According to L.A. Now, he even criticized a donation website that had been set up by his staff.

“I thought it was ridiculous,” the mayor told reporters during a visit to Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. 

Villaraigosa said Los Angeles is a large metropolitan city where major events occur routinely, and that the city is obligated to protect public safety. He added that no one would have expected New York or Chicago to ask others to donate for basic city services during a major event, and he said he is not going to ask AEG, the owner of the Staples Center, to either pay or raise money to offset the city’s expenses.

Many readers believe that Villaraigosa's comments are inappropriate considering the city's financial troubles.

"Given the budget Mr. Mayor, just why should the tax payers pay funeral expenses fpr a private citizen when librarys, parks, hospitals & schools are facing shortened hours/closures, city employees are facing layoffs & furloughs? Oh, wait I know ... it's just another part of your political platform of kising up to the rich & famous," said kgoddess.

Antonio Villaraigosa's job approval sinks, a new poll finds

A new Los Angeles Times poll finds that many voters think the city is off-track and the mayor is partially to blame. Meanwhile, locals do not want to raise taxes to ease the budget deficit. On the verge of his second term, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has many challenges, and now it appears that the citizens of L.A. can be added to his growing list of issues.

Although they consider the city's budget deficit an urgent problem, voters steadfastly oppose raising taxes or fees to stem the deepening fiscal crisis. Even the notion of raising taxes to improve fire protection, a comparatively easy sell in wildfire-prone Southern California, was rejected handily.

Villaraigosa received a favorable job approval rating from 55% of the registered voters surveyed. The showing is statistically equivalent to the 53.4% of the vote he won in the city's March election against a field of little-known and underfunded candidates. He officially begins his second term July 1.

For Villaraigosa, who casts himself as a unifying political force in the mold of five-term Mayor Tom Bradley, the survey also indicated some fraying in the broad ethnic coalition that carried him into office in 2005. Almost three-fourths of Latino voters gave the mayor high marks, as did almost two out of three African Americans, but a narrow plurality of white voters gave him negative grades.

So what's your opinion? Has the mayor done a good job? Does he have the right plan? What should be done to best serve Los Angeles, and is Antonio Villaraigosa going to be the one who does it?

—Tony Pierce

Photo: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, speaking at a March 31 news conference, is trying to revive his million trees program, a promise to plant a million trees in L.A. It was a cornerstone of his environmental agenda when first elected mayor, but only about 200,000 trees have been planted so far.

Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times