California: Los Angeles City Council

Nell Soto, a former assemblywoman, state senator and trailblazer in Latino politics, died today. She was 82.

Soto was politically engaged for six decades, dating back to the 1940s, when she walked precincts for Edward Roybal, the the first Latino elected in a century to the Los Angeles City Council.

Her husband, Phil Soto, won election to the state Assembly in 1962 along with John Moreno, the first Latinos in the modern era to serve in the Legislature. He passed away in 1997 and the New York Times described him and his wife as "at the forefront of virtually every Hispanic movement."

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said in a prepared statement announcing Soto's death that the Pomona Democrat was "a champion for the people of Pomona and her entire district, for the Inland Empire and, in fact, for all the people of California.

(cross-posted from my campaign blog)

Last week, President Obama laid out his administration's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan to deal with the foreclosure crisis. I wanted to weigh in on it since, as President of the Los Angeles City Council, it's been an issue my office has been working extremely hard on for months at the local level.

Obama's plan would devote $75 billion from the TARP funds as well as $200 billion in additional funding commitments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help between 7-9 million families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. This is particularly important here in California where, according to

Who is the mystery sign stealer in the District 5 Los Angeles City Council race?

That was the hot topic Thursday in the Westside district where six candidates are seeking to replace Councilman Jack Weiss in the March 3 election.

One of those candidates, neighborhood council member David T. Vahedi, said he grew tired of seeing more than 400 lawn signs vanish from the yards of his supporters. So he asked a friend to put a camera outside a home in Rancho Park where two lawn signs have disappeared in recent weeks.

Two videos now posted on YouTube.com were the result, according to Vahedi and his supporters. The grainy images show what looks like the same woman removing Vahedi signs.

"One of the greatest things about our country is that, as a democracy, we can state our support for candidates and issues," he said.

To find ground zero of L.A's outdoor advertising wars, a good place to start is the Los Angeles City Council's 5th District -- or more specifically, a two-mile stretch of Westwood Boulevard.

Your first stop would be Westwood at Wilshire Boulevard, where supergraphics -- large vinyl images -- are stretched across opposite sides of a 12-story medical building. A second would be near Westwood and National Boulevard, where a six-story office building advertises Johnnie Walker whiskey on one side and TV counselor Dr. Phil on another.

Then there are four other stops on Westwood Boulevard: three intersections with digital billboards and a fourth with yet another supergraphic, all installed in the last two years.