'Disengaged' mayor has checked out, Daily News says

In a Sunday editorial, the Daily News says Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has gone AWOL. The piece kicks off what the paper calls a series of editorials "calling out Villaraigosa for his apparent lack of interest."

Just one year into his second term, with no big election or high-powered appointment to look forward to, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa seems to have run out of steam. He's acting like a lame-duck official – but with three years still to go....

Long gone is the vibrant leader who once presided over PowerPoint presentations for the annual budget showdowns, who kicked off the city's massive school reform effort and who told Los Angeles during his first inaugural speech to "Dream with me."

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The Los Angeles that Villaraigosa talked of when accepting the job of mayor is a far cry from the city of today. Then, the country admired the exciting new mayor and lauded the city that elected him. Now, the same city is a national disgrace, notorious for its precarious finances, mass layoffs and its bumbling attempt to adopt renewable energy. A good many L.A. residents speak of their mayor and city leadership with open contempt.

Also in the Daily News: Valley Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes is singled out in Sacramento as a legislator willing to carry bills written and sponsored by special interests.