LOS ANGELES -- Eric Garcetti celebrated the start of
his first term as mayor Sunday with a promise to do
the basic things right while getting Los Angeles'
economy rolling again.

The 42-year-old Ivy Leaguer, a veteran city
councilman and son of a former prosecutor, took a
ceremonial oath of office on the City Hall steps as part
of inaugural festivities featuring Jimmy Kimmel and
the musician Moby.Officially, he takes over the job
leading a sprawling city of nearly 4 million people on
Monday.

"These times demand a back-to-basics mayor focused
above all else on our economy and jobs," Garcetti said
in a speech punctuated by optimism and recognition
of a tough job ahead.

"We have to accept that the days of seemingly
spontaneous growth in huge mega-industries are
gone, maybe for good," he said.

He replaces fellow Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, 60,
who exits after two uneven terms during which he
expanded rail lines in a city notoriously choked by
cars and pushed to improve a school district over
which the mayor has no direct control.

Garcetti sketched an agenda that included cultivating
ideas with business executives and universities,
stopping the flight of Hollywood productions and
reducing red tape and business taxes long seen as
discouraging job growth.

"You'll have a local government that's off your back
and on your side," he promised.
The new mayor takes charge of a city with problems
all too familiar: knotted freeways, an unemployment
rate hovering around double digits, many struggling
schools, battered roadways.

The lingering homeless problem was on display just
steps from the podium, where park benches were
occupied by sleeping bodies.

Garcetti has long said he will focus on the economy
"like a laser beam" and try to recover jobs lost in the
recession. His goals range from getting all city
workers to contribute to costly health care to dealing
with long-standing gripes about potholes and cracked
sidewalks.

In a historical footnote, Garcetti becomes the city's
first elected Jewish mayor. His background reflects the
city's diversity: he often refers to his Italian and
Mexican roots, and talked in the speech about family
members fleeing persecution in Poland and Russia to
come to the U.S.

Garcetti has a temperate, wonky style – he was a
Rhodes Scholar, after attending Columbia University –
that will be a change from Villaraigosa, who was
known for his outsized personality and ability to
make headlines about his nightlife and dating.
It was Kimmel who brought the laughs, at one point
blaming Villaraigosa's administration for the
unusually hot weather.

It also will be a generational change. Garcetti is just a
few years older than Villaraigosa's eldest daughter.
Garcetti was elected with a yawn from most residents
– not even one in four voters cast a ballot in his May
runoff against Controller Wendy Greuel. Los Angeles
is known for mostly ignoring the scrum of local
politics.

That means he takes office with many residents
having no idea who he is.

Garcetti was able to defeat Greuel, a fellow Democrat,
by depicting her as a pawn of utility union bosses in a
city long friendly to labor, an outcome expected to
echo beyond California as unions nationwide face
threats to their clout.

The budget remains a central issue, though he didn't
address it directly. He promised to make government
"leaner and more efficient," including using more
technology.

Bankrupt Stockton and other California cities are in
worse shape, but spending in Los Angeles is projected
to outpace revenue for years and rising pension and
retiree health care bills threaten money that could
otherwise go to libraries, tree-trimming and street
repairs.

He's also facing a new round of labor contract talks.
"I will make my share of mistakes in this job," he said
at one point.

http://huffpost.com/us/entry/3525970

Ever wonder why California is such a cluster fuck? With so many Jews holding state positions, where else can California be?