Marcus Allen, the mayor's $290,000 man, says "No thanks"

Antonio Villaraigosa's former deputy chief of staff, Marcus Allen, who the mayor had tapped to be his No. 1 financial guru, has abruptly withdrawn his name from consideration, David Zahniser reports:

Marcus Allen sent a letter to the mayor withdrawing his name from consideration to become the next City Administrative Officer. Although Allen publicly said he was doing so for "personal and professional reasons," he had come under fire in recent weeks from several council members, who questioned his request for a $290,000 annual salary in the middle of a budget crisis.         

Councilwoman Janice Hahn called the nomination "problematic" earlier this week, pointing out that Allen has spent the past year working for two high-profile lobbyists with an array of City Hall clients.         

Allen's announcement came just as a council committee put the final touches on Villaraigosa's budget. But with Allen out of the picture, there is currently no one to oversee that budget, which goes into effect on July 1.

Maybe Sacramento's soon-to-be-free Budget Nun would consider pitching in?

--Veronique de Turenne

Comments

[Al Bundy]

When are we going to be rid of this Mexican used car salesman mayor who hogs the cameras and bores us to tears?

[jay]

Frankly, what we need is a new mayor, a mechanic who can fix our broken city.

[janet]

The Mayor is lucky to be rid of this embarrassment; Allen has also become the poster boy for greed in government by the Daily News and attracted lots of angry reader comments, for wanting almost $100K more than his predecessor, and for his lobbying background, he's not an "economist guru."

Someone in that job should not make a hundred thou more than Councilmembers, who have even been under pressure to take less salary from City Council meeting gadflies (they shouldn't); and my check of DN database shows my local Field Deputies are paid modestly, and deserve their car, being required to drive all over town incl. at night.

The person also needs to have a solid economist background: the Mayor claims no one warned him about the impending disaster. Jack Kyser and private advisors say they did, but we need a real City Hall "guru." (What about the Dep. Mayor for Economic Development, though? Is he bringing in business and investment, or what does he do?)