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We received a lot of mail about our little series, "Antonio Villaraigosa's Fundraiser o' the Day," and some of it we were even able to publish. For those of you who missed it, or may be in need of some interesting reading over this holiday weekend, we've collected the links into a single, handy guide:
Part One: The $1,000-per-contributer event held in Koreatown, hosted by a trio of Korean American business leaders, including Chang
Y. Lee, president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce, and Alexander Hugh, chief executive of the real estate development company CIC Group.
Part Two: An event at L.A. Live, co-hosted by Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group. (And at the very same time, the mayor was also scheduled to be a featured guest at a
fundraiser for his good friend, councilman and city attorney candidate
Jack Weiss, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.)
Part Three: Villaraigosa had a noon reelection event in downtown Los Angeles, co-hosted by developer David Chang and Kerman Maddox, a consultant
whose firm worked on Villaraigosa’s grand plan
to gain more control over the Los Angeles Unified School District. The mayor then
flew up to San Francisco for a 6 p.m. appearance with former Assembly
Speaker Willie Brown and Darius Anderson, president of the lobbying
firm Platinum Advisors.
Part Four: A fundraiser was held at a San Marino-adjacent
address in Pasadena, hosted by Larry Gonzalez, president of All
Access Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based company devoted to
celebrating "Latino holidays and the Hispanic culture of Southern
California," according to its website.
Part Five: The mayor squeezed no fewer
than six (whew!) fundraisers for his reelection campaign into his weekend
schedule: two on Saturday and four on Sunday. Click for the fascinating details.
Part Six: Another fundraiser is held in downtown L.A. at Liberty Grill, which is owned by Camacho’s Inc.
One of the co-hosts? Yes! Andy
Camacho is founder of the L.A.-based restaurant company, which has concessions at LAX and
Ontario/L.A. International Airport -– facilities overseen by
Villaraigosa’s appointees on the Board of Airport Commissioners.
And that's it, the summertime fundraising sprint by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, with our own David Zahniser connecting the political dots.
-- Veronique de Turenne
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
 We're in the home stretch of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's flurry of fund-raising. Looking to scare away potential opponents, the mayor squeezed no fewer than six fundraisers for his reelection campaign into his weekend schedule: two on Saturday and four on Sunday, according to documents filed with the Ethics Commission. Villaraigosa appears to have no fundraisers today -- on the eighth day, he's resting -- which leaves The Times' David Zahniser to play catchup on the weekend money frenzy:
On Saturday morning, Villaraigosa looked for money from prominent gay and lesbian leaders -– including Bruce Cohen, the Hollywood producer whose marriage to art consultant Gabriel Catone was officiated by the mayor last week, according to a fundraising invitation. Hours later, the mayor attended an outdoor event in Little Tokyo co-hosted by prominent Latino civic leaders. And on Sunday, the city's Persian Americans put together a reelection event in Beverly Hills.
Villaraigosa spokesman Ace Smith would not confirm whether all six events went off without a hitch; we must make do with the six invitations turned in to the Ethics Commission.
Click on the link below for a few of the fundraising sponsors and co-hosts from Saturday and Sunday who will probably have an interest in decisions made by Villaraigosa during the coming years.
Photo: Villaraigosa at the wedding of Bruce Cohen (middle) and Gabriel Catone (left). Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
Read on »
Here we are, Day 5 of Fundraiser o' the Day, the very middle of Antonio Villaraigosa's summertime sprint to line his campaign war chest. Back to cast a discerning eye on the mayor's action-packed -- 11 events in nine days -- schedule is our man in City Hall, David Zahniser: Today’s FOTD offers a look at the world of "special events," parades, festivals and block parties that have become a source of controversy for some critics of City Hall.
An invitation on file with the city’s Ethics Commission says that today’s Villaraigosa fundraiser will be held at 5 p.m. at a San Marino-adjacent address in Pasadena. The host will be Larry Gonzalez, president of All Access Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based company devoted to celebrating "Latino holidays and the Hispanic culture of Southern California, according to its website.
All Access runs such city-sponsored events as Fiesta Broadway, a cultural festival thrown each year in downtown Los Angeles, and El Grito, a Spanish-language concert held annually outside Los Angeles City Hall to commemorate the Mexican War of Independence. Both have received financial help from the city for years.
When Fiesta Broadway took place in April, the Los Angeles City Council forgave nearly $173,000 in fees for the event, which covered parking enforcement and other city costs. El Grito received $75,000 from the city last September and saw $50,000 in city fees waived by the City Council. Those fees were largely incurred by traffic officers who shut down Spring, Main and First streets for the concert.
Faced with a $406-million shortfall, Villaraigosa tried earlier this year to eliminate funding for El Grito and other community events. But the council blocked that effort, and Villaraigosa accepted the changes, signing them into his budget for 2008-09.
When El Grito takes place in September, Gonzales’ company will offer its corporate sponsors a special VIP reception with –- guess who? -- Villaraigosa and the City Council.
Even more illuminating details to come as the series -- and the countdown -- continues.
-- Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Fiesta Broadway website
 It's Day Four of our look at the fund-raising sprint by L.A.'s mayor -- 11 events in nine days. Since it's a rare day of rest for Antonio Villaraigosa, our man in City Hall, David Zahniser, is back with details of Wednesday night's event in San Francisco:
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa does not, in fact, have an event Thursday night where he is raising money for his 2009 reelection. Or at least, he has no invitation filed for today with the city’s Ethics Commission, which would make sense since the mayor will spend the morning pushing for a transit-tax hike and the evening at a gala for the Getty House Foundation, the nonprofit group that maintains the mayor’s mansion in Windsor Square.
So instead, let's take a look at the Villaraigosa fund-raiser held last night in San Francisco, a champagne reception headed by three S.F. politicos, who served as co-chairs. Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris, Supervisor Fiona Ma and former mayor and state Assembly speaker Willie Brown, a mentor of Villaraigosa, each promised to raise at least $10,000, according to the invitation filed with the city’s Ethics Commission.
The fourth and final co-chair on the invitation is Darius Anderson, president of the lobbying and government relations firm Platinum Advisers. Although Platinum is not a registered lobbyist in the city of Los Angeles, it has 61 clients in Sacramento, according to the secretary of state’s website. Those clients include AT&T, Lennar Homes, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the city of Upland, whose motto just happens to be “The City of Gracious Living,” by the way.
Those clients might not need any help from Mayor Villaraigosa in 2009. But Gov. Villaraigosa in 2010? You never know.
We'll be back with Day Five of our fund-raiser watch tomorrow.
-- Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Associated Press
 It's Day 3 of the great Antonio Villaraigosa fundraiser marathon -- 11 events in nine days -- and our man in City Hall, David Zahniser, is back with the details. In this installment, a two-fer that packs a punch. Take it away, Dave:
Villaraigosa had a noon re-election event in downtown Los Angeles, then flew up to San Francisco for a 6 p.m. appearance with former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and Darius Anderson, president of the lobbying firm Platinum Advisors. (A bit more on that tomorrow.)
The noon fundraiser was co-hosted by developer David Chang and Kerman Maddox, a consultant whose firm earned some cash when it worked on Villaraigosa’s grand plan to gain more control over Los Angeles Unified School District.
Dakota Communications, Maddox's lobbying and consulting firm, has such clients as Los Angeles World Airports and Westfield, the shopping mall owner. Last year, the firm entered the spotlight when it represented Home Depot as the hardware giant waged a bitter fight to open in Sunland-Tujunga.
Home Depot gave Dakota nearly $308,000 last year to lobby City Hall, according to reports filed with the city’s Ethics Commission. During that campaign, a Dakota memo surfaced showing that the firm planned to charge Home Depot roughly $24,000 to transport 150 supporters in orange T-shirts to City Hall to speak on behalf of the project.
In the memo, Dakota also promised to submit an op-ed piece to various newspapers that told a "wonderfully sincere and compelling story" about the Home Depot’s commitment to Los Angeles in the aftermath of the 1992 riots.
Although Home Depot is still working to get building permits in Sunland-Tujunga, Dakota no longer represents the company.
See you back tomorrow for Day 4 of our look at Antonio Villaraigosa's fundraising.
--Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Los Angeles Times
 We're in a quandary today at L.A. Now about which Fundraiser of the Day to spotlight. There's tonight's shindig for Sen. Barack Obama at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which will sweeten Democratic coffers and snarl downtown traffic all in one fell swoop. Or what about GOP Sen. John McCain’s presidential fundraisers in Riverside?
But we've promised to track the financial sprint -- 11 fundraisers in nine days -- of L.A.'s mayor, so the blog post goes to tonight’s Antonio Villaraigosa campaign event at L.A. Live, the complex that houses the Nokia Theater and, soon, a 54-story hotel.
Our man in City Hall, David Zahniser, is back with more details: The fundraiser at L.A. Live will be co-hosted by Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, according to an invitation filed with the city’s Ethics Commission. Three years ago, Villaraigosa supported AEG’s plan for building L.A. with roughly $270 million in city subsidies. Since Villaraigosa took office, AEG has given $485,000 in contributions to various mayoral initiatives, from a telephone tax measure on February’s ballot to Villaraigosa’s ill-fated effort to gain control of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Yet there’s another interesting name on the invitation: lawyer and lobbyist Tim McOsker. A resident of San Pedro, McOsker spent four years as chief of staff to former Mayor James Hahn -- the man Villaraigosa defeated in 2005.
Since City Hall is all about forgiveness, he’s now a co-host of a Villaraigosa campaign event -– and someone with clients ranging from AT&T to real estate developer Bob Bisno, the man behind a proposal for 1,950 new homes on an undeveloped stretch of San Pedro.
(Click for more - you'll be glad you did)
--Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times
Read on »
 We're launching a special (and short-lived) feature here on L.A. Now, tracking the campaign fundraisers planned by L.A.'s mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. He's planning 11 events in the next nine days, and our own David Zahniser will give the details -- and the context for each one.
Let's start with tonight's $1,000-per-contributor event in Koreatown, held at 6:30 p.m. at the J.J. Grand Hotel. Here's David: The fundraiser will be co-hosted by three Korean American business leaders, including Chang Y. Lee, president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce, according to an invitation filed with the city’s Ethics Commission.
Perhaps the most noteworthy co-host is Alexander Hugh, chief executive of the real estate development company CIC Group –- a firm that received permission from City Hall last year to build a condominium hotel with 16- and 21-story towers at 7th Street and Hobart Boulevard.
Villaraigosa made the project a top priority and had representatives of his business team lobby for its passage. But one planning department official warned that the project would be too large for the surrounding Koreatown neighborhood.
(Click for more)
-- Veronique de Turenne
Photo: David Zahniser / Los Angeles Times
Read on »
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Veronique de Turenne
Veronique de Turenne is a journalist, essayist, book critic and blogger, and has been a staff writer at virtually every newspaper in Southern California. One of the highlights of her career was interviewing Vin Scully in his broadcast booth at Dodger Stadium, then receiving a handwritten thank you note from him a week later. She lives in Malibu.
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