Antonio Villaraigosa's Fundraiser o' the Day

He's baaaack, our own David Zahniser, with the final installment of our illuminating series about the fundraising  sprint -- 11 events in nine days -- by LA's mayor:

Where does the time go? With his nine-day fundraising blitz coming to a close, the mayor has one last event to bring cash into his campaign coffers.

According to info filed with the city’s Ethics Commission, tonight’s fundraiser will be held in downtown Los Angeles at Liberty Grill, a sit-down steakhouse owned by the restaurant company Camacho’s Inc. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that one of the two co-hosts is Andy Camacho, founder of the Los Angeles-based restaurant company.

Camacho’s has concessions at Los Angeles International Airport and Ontario/LA International Airport – facilities overseen by Villaraigosa’s appointees on the Board of Airport Commissioners. Concessions for the Camacho’s two LAX restaurants are set to expire in 2010, according to the airport agency.

Andy Camacho already co-hosted a VIllaraigosa fundraiser on June 24, according to another invitation. On that same day, the Los Angeles City Council voted to award a five-year lease to Camacho’s. Inc. to operate a 3,460 square foot café and store in a building at the El Pueblo monument that surrounds Olvera Street.

The vote came at the recommendation of Villaraigosa’s appointees at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Monument Authority. They said the agreement should charge Camacho’s $1.60 per square foot in the lease’s first year, $1.80 in the second year, and $2 in the third, fourth and fifth, plus maintenance fees.

Camacho’s won the lease through a Request for Proposals application, which is a competitive process. Still, a real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis told the Downtown News last month that rents at Olvera Street have been below market rate – and should be closer to $3.75 or $4 per square foot, depending on building conditions.

With tonight’s event, Villaraigosa will have had at least 21 re-election fundraisers in three months – more than half of them since June 21! He’ll likely take a break, now that the deadline for his first fundraising period is past. But with the next deadline scheduled for Sept. 30, don’t be surprised to see him hop aboard the money train again in a couple months.

It's been an enlightening nine days for readers and, we're guessing, an enriching time for the mayor.

--Veronique de Turenne