Perry tries to link fellow mayoral candidate Greuel to Villaraigosa
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Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry has launched a second attack via mailer on her rival for the mayor’s office, City Controller Wendy Greuel.
The latest mailer, apparently aimed at conservatives, attempts to taint Greuel by tying her to current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The missive features a photo of Greuel and Villaraigosa — grinning and standing arm-in-arm — under the headline: “Wendy Greuel: Brought to you by the same people who brought you Antonio Villaraigosa.”
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Perry’s broadsides against Greuel appear intended to weaken the controller among conservative and fiscally hawkish voters, many of them in the San Fernando Valley. Though Greuel is seen as a favorite to get many of those voters, Perry and entertainment lawyer Kevin James are working hard to peel off as many as they can.
The Perry mailer plays off a Times story from late last month that described how dozens of Villaraigosa associates and campaign donors had rallied around Greuel’s campaign for mayor. Featured prominently is a quote: “Wendy Greuel would be Antonio Villaraigosa’s third term in many ways, and that’s a bad thing.”
It’s not a neutral party delivering that observation but rather candidate James.
In The Times story, Greuel said she is ‘absolutely not’ Villaraigosa’s heir apparent. She said she had held Villaraigosa and City Council members accountable in her work as controller. ‘I am not afraid to stand up and say that the city needs to be transformed,’ she said. Villaraigosa has not indicated which, if any, candidate he will endorse in the campaign to replace him. He is scheduled to leave office June 31 after completing the maximum two allowable terms.
The mailer comes closely on the heels of another that accused Greuel of using a special program at City Hall to fix tickets for “her supporters and other political insiders.” Greuel rebutted that she had actually exposed the so-called Gold Card Desk through one of her audits and hit Perry for hypocrisy. The councilwoman blamed Greuel for voting for a contract for the company that oversaw the parking desk, but Perry voted to hire the company, too.
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-- James Rainey
Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
