Antonio not so confident about Weiss

In a meeting today with Times editors and reporters, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was asked if he could guarantee that his ally, Councilman Jack Weiss, would win the City Attorney runoff on May 19. Maeve Reston:

“You know, I’ll tell you something,” Villaraigosa said with a brief sigh, “Weiss is a man of integrity, intelligence; he is a former U.S. attorney who’s best equipped to be the city attorney of this town, period. His views on public policy are consonant with this town and who we are. But I can’t guarantee that."

Villaraigosa noted that the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which recently hired Don Novey, the former head of the powerful state prison guards union as its political consultant, is now putting considerable muscle behind [Carmen] Trutanich.

The union recently spent $250,000 on radio spots, $17,636 on a mailer, and $2,645 on a billboard highlighting Trutanich’s endorsements by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Sheriff Lee Baca and calling him “law enforcement's choice for city attorney.”

“These guys are going to spend a lot of money. Don Novey is leading a charge,” Villaraigosa said. “I can’t guarantee it; I can’t tell you I know for sure what’s going to happen. But I can tell you – he’s a good man. He’s a good man, and I think people need to take a second look.”

Kinda sounds like the mayor thinks his man is toast.