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Right after he got back from his week in Israel, Mayor Antonio Vllaraigosa took off for a Conference of Mayors gathering in Florida where he will work in a weekend fundraiser at the home of Bernard Klepach, head of former (and potentially future) LAX concessionaire DFASS Group. As a Times web story by David Zahniser and Phil Willon puts it, "Klepach's venture at LAX is expected to be mentioned in the upcoming public corruption case filed against former airport commissioner Leland Wong, who faces a felony charge of conflict of interest, among other allegations." Jury selection begins next week. The story puts the fundraiser in the context of Villaraigosa's airport commissioners looking at new concession deals at LAX. Villaraigosa also has a funder coming up in San Francisco and earlier this month raised campaign cash at an event at the home of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and, in Chicago, at a fundraiser hosted by two founders of JMB Realty, which won city permission to build two 47-story condominium towers in Century City last year. The story details other travels by the mayor and city council members.
LAO on KCRW: Fortuitously, my radio segment this afternoon (recorded earlier today) also talks about the political aspect of Villaraigosa's out of town travels. It airs on KCRW at 4:44 pm or here on the web.