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Columns, Weekly (25,001 & Above) Second Place Los Angeles Downtown News
Lessons From The Ticket Scandal Why Free Admission to High-Profile Events Doesn’t Always Pay
by Jon Regardie
In recent weeks Antonio Villaraigosa, whose
day job is mayor of Los Angeles, has found himself swimming in a sticky swamp for apparently accepting free, great seats
THE REGARDIE REPORT to scores of concerts, basketball and baseball games and other high-profile events. The resulting maelstrom of media coverage brings to mind three important lessons that every politician should know about political scandal. First, political scandal is not that hard to avoid. I realize this may sound shocking in a country where reports of graft and extramarital relations flow like a shopping cart in the L.A. River. But really, the key to not getting caught taking bribes or selling a senate seat is not to take bribes or sell a senate seat in the first place. This should be McChrystal clear by now: You may get away with it for a little while, but ultimately they’ll catch ya. It’s the same with sex scandals. If you don’t want your private life dragged into newspapers and across TV screens, then don’t do things like look for assignations in public restrooms, don’t claim you’re hiking the Appalachian Trail while cheating on your wife, and don’t tell reporters that the reason you’re not wearing your wedding ring is because you’ve been working out so much that you’re mucho buff and have lost weight in the fingers. Again, excuses may buy time, but in the long run, they’ll catch ya. The second important thing to know is that, if it’s a mini scandal and you didn’t hurt anyone or engage in any felonies, you can usually make it go away with a well-timed and sincere mea culpa. It’s the old adage about making something a one-day story. Come clean, admit mistakes, and the most lasting damage may be a knuckle-smacking editorial from a newspaper. But if it’s small stuff and you continue to deny, deny, deny, it can erupt like an Icelandic volcano. The third thing to know is the pretty truth about the American public: While your foes will always denigrate you, past supporters actually want to forgive you and, if you don’t treat your constituents like morons, they’ll give you a second chance. Ted Kennedy had a stellar career after Chappaquiddick. Marion Barry was elected to office in Washington, D.C, even after being videotaped smoking crack. Gavin Newsom survived some off-putting philandering and just snagged the Democratic nod for lieutenant
governor. Bill Clinton has become an éminence grise despite being Lewinskyed. Any of the above lessons would serve AnVil well as his ticket pickle grows more sour, with the Ethics Commission now investigating and the District Attorney’s office inquiring into the matter. Villaraigosa finally released some details and tried to tell his side of the story on Friday, but it came so late that it can’t reverse the damage already done.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein cracked was known as Watergate because would be for a scandal involving a fence company so it could be awesomely known as Gategate. The second lesson is that Villaraigosa actually has decent taste in music. It’s very mainstream, to be sure, but in the wake of reports by John Schwada on Fox 11 and in the Los Angeles Times, we’ve learned that Villaraigosa and sometimes Lu Parker have taken in (or at least appeared at) performances by U2, Beyonce, Tina Turner, Aretha More lessons Franklin, Shakira and Mary J. Blige, among The issue isn’t that he This is not to say others. He seems to that ticketpalooza has got caught, but that he have an affinity for been without educais wiggling and trying respected female R&Btional fodder. In fact, tinged artists as well as the growing scandal to evade the matter. critically lauded Latino — it’s at the point It’s turning into ticketpop acts and crooners where reporters are such as Juanes, Luis whack•a-mole, and each pestering him about Miguel, Mana and Pepe it at many events, time a new charge comes Aguilar. Yeah, he’d and he keeps dodging down there’s a new excuse. up his cool quotient the questions — has if he mixed it up a bit taught us three imporand checked out/presented nice certificates to tant things. the Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon, Green Day The first lesson is that this should not be or the Buzzcocks, but at least he’s not taking in called Ticketgate. Attaching “gate” to any politithe Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus. Good on ya, cal scandal of significance — e.g. Irangate, mayor! Iraqgate, and there are dozens of others on The third, and arguably most important lesWikipedia — is stupid and lazy. The case that son, is that he still doesn’t grasp why people are
“Crane Crushes House” Breaking News Photo, Daily (25,001 - 100,000) Second Place, by Christopher Chang, Photographer, The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa
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so upset. At this point excuse. Look, a legitimate argument can be made that the mayor of Los Angeles should be out in public, generating attention and excitement for the city. This adds up over time. One of the strikes against Jim Hahn was that he preferred to stay in the background and, when he did go out, barely chose to interact. But, if you attend these events and don’t pay, you need to follow the rules. You may think that rules such as having to report who gave you the tickets are stupid, but they’re still the rules. AnVil thought he found a loophole by claiming he was performing important city business and thus didn’t have to ID the donor. About the only way this could fly is if he persuaded Tina Turner and Juanes to oversee a chorus comprised of the City Council (I can totally picture Ed Reyes doing a solo on “Proud Mary”). Claiming that official business means presenting a pretty city certificate to celebs who could care less doesn’t fool anyone. Everything would be fine if Villaraigosa detailed his donors and then paid his own way to other concerts or games, and even though he has shared some sacrifice and taken a pay cut, his salary still allows him to afford some choice seats. Sure, he may not have cash like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and be able to purchase four-figure front-row tickets to every home game of the NBA Finals, but why not at least pull a man-of-the-people stunt and watch a game or two in a bar? Uh oh, I think I just had a Good Political Photo Opp Idea. Stop me before I come up with another. Villaraigosa has turned this thing into a case of my-ticket-you-stick-it. After the story broke, all he needed to do was call a press conference, say, “My bad, I misinterpreted the law due to errant advice from my former legal counsel, and I apologize. In the future I’ll pay for my tickets or properly reveal who donated them.” The whole thing would have blown over. Instead, he waited a month, until he was forced to act. Actually, there is a fourth lesson in all of this. On at least two occasions, on nights when he could have done anything in the entire world, Villaraigosa chose to go to Staples Center to watch the Clippers. We’ve learned he may have been temporarily insane.
Contact Jon Regardie at: regardie@downtownnews.com
Ph: 916-288-6020, Fax 916-288-6034, Website: www.cnpa.com