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The Telemundo ethics investigation of the Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – Mirthala Salinas affair has been completed according to the Associated Press. A decision and an announcement is due soon – possibly next week.

Flap bets the announcement will be made leaked on Saturday morning/afternoon after the Sunday newspapers have been put to bed. (Over at Mayor Sam’s a commenter says that according to NBC”s Laurel Erickson Mayor Villar will be out of town this weekend with his son).

Perfect timing, eh?

An ethics investigation has been completed and a decision is expected soon concerning a Spanish-language journalist who had an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a person familiar with the probe said Thursday.

Mirthala Salinas was having the relationship with Villaraigosa when she announced the news of his separation from his wife of 20 years on local Telemundo station KVEA, Channel 52.

Executives at the Telemundo network and parent company NBC Universal were reviewing the findings of the three-week investigation, and a decision on the fate of Salinas and perhaps other station personnel was expected to be announced next week, according to the person, who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

Did the Univision disclosure and the Los Angeles Time’s piece on Universal’s development plan hasten the decision?

Probably

But, unless someone leaks some of the negotiation documents, we may never know.

Or will we?

There have been more leaks in this story than a water bucket with holes in its bottom.

Villaraigosa and Salinas wait out a pause in filming on the north steps of the state Capitol. Salinas is now a news anchor on Telemundo 52, June 19, 2006 (now on leave).

Mirthala will take a paid leave of absence for an undetermined period of time obtaining a cash settlement or regular salary. After the leave, she will be reassigned in the company but will not cover the Mayor, the City of Los Angeles or any of the other politicians with whom she has had a “personal relationship.”

Bet the farm……

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Heckled at Transportation Meeting

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Scandal Plagued Mayor Allows Governor to Cut LA Rail Transit Funds

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: NBC Universal Development Surrounds Villaraigosa – Salinas Scandal

Hillary Clinton Watch: Feinstein Endorsement Interrupted By Questions About Mayor Villaraigosa – Mirthala Salinas Affair

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Villaraigosa on WHOSE Side?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Will Telemundo Decide Mirthala’s Fate Today?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With Anita Moreno #2

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still Smitten; Update: Eric Leonard Investigating Documentary Evidence Mayor’s Office Has Different Press Rules for Spanish Language Media

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With LAPD Officer Anita Moreno

And a print rendering of this original cartoon by Patrick O’Connor of the Los Angeles Daily News can be purchased by clicking the link here.

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Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, Telemundo, Univision, Arnold Schwarzenegger

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John Walsh heckles Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarigosa at MTA meeting, July 26, 2007

Eric Spillman scoops Luke Ford on something Villarigosa.

It must be this.

A heckler ripped into Mayor Villaraigosa at today’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority meeting, suggesting that he get therapy for his “sex addiction.”

It happened during the public comment period. A man named John Walsh, who attends most MTA meetings and is known as a gadfly, walked up to the podium and castigated the mayor for being an hour late.

Villaraigosa serves as the vice-chairman of the MTA board of directors. Walsh called him “the vice-chair, no pun intended.”

Then he called on the mayor to resign from his position as co-chair of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The mayor did not respond, and he later left the meeting without talking to reporters.

The video is here.

Soon others besides gadflies will be asking hard questions of the Mayor.

Previous:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Scandal Plagued Mayor Allows Governor to Cut LA Rail Transit Funds

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: NBC Universal Development Surrounds Villaraigosa – Salinas Scandal

Hillary Clinton Watch: Feinstein Endorsement Interrupted By Questions About Mayor Villaraigosa – Mirthala Salinas Affair

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Villaraigosa on WHOSE Side?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Will Telemundo Decide Mirthala’s Fate Today?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With Anita Moreno #2

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still Smitten; Update: Eric Leonard Investigating Documentary Evidence Mayor’s Office Has Different Press Rules for Spanish Language Media

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With LAPD Officer Anita Moreno

And a print rendering of this original cartoon by Patrick O’Connor of the Los Angeles Daily News can be purchased by clicking the link here.

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Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, Telemundo, Univision, Arnold Schwarzenegger

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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mrs. Villaraigosa, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the Mayor’s inauguration, July 1, 2005.

While Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is filling pot holes and opening Panda Express retaurants in Universal City, the Governor has cut Los Angeles rail transit funds by $336 million.

Bill Bradley over at LA Weekly has the poop.

With Antonio preoccupied by an affair, L.A. loses its rail funds. You can thank Mike Villines.

THE BIG CUTS IN LOS ANGELES public-transit funding by state lawmakers have a sudden impact on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who, in his current scandal-struck state, didn’t show up to lobby for his own program. The Legislature stepped into the power vacuum, slashing $336 million earmarked for Los Angeles and imperiling the long-promised Expo Line to the Westside.

The proposed state budget, now weeks past deadline, was approved by the state Assembly with the support of Villaraigosa’s ally and longtime friend Speaker Fabian Núñez of Los Angeles, and aims to take $1.3 billion in gas-tax revenue intended for transit to bail out the state’s general fund.

The loss is a clear setback for Villaraigosa, whose administration is hurtling forward in approving tens of thousands of new units of controversial, dense, high-rise housing in Los Angeles, to be serviced by a now-vanishing state transit budget.

So, the Expo Line rail line linking West LA and downtown Los Angeles is dead because of Telemundo political reporter and main squeeze of the Mayor, you ask?

Yes, sure looks like it.

While the Mayor is hiding out in Los Angeles and at news conferences praising the journalistic ethics of Mirthala, the Governor and GOP raid the funds.

Pretty pathetic that folks from the West Side will have to endure more traffic gridlock because the Mayor could not keep it in his pants.

Los Angles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Panda Express opening at Universal City Walk, JUly 25, 2007

Sooner or later some LA pol will have the “COJONES” to call the Mayor out on this lack of attention to the job.

Jimmy Hahn are you listening?

And NEVER let it be said that Arnold doesn’t know how to press an advantage.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa directs high school students during a clean-up project in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles Tuesday, July 10, 2007, as a kick-off event for a summer youth employment program.

Previous:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: NBC Universal Development Surrounds Villaraigosa – Salinas Scandal

Hillary Clinton Watch: Feinstein Endorsement Interrupted By Questions About Mayor Villaraigosa – Mirthala Salinas Affair

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Villaraigosa on WHOSE Side?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Will Telemundo Decide Mirthala’s Fate Today?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With Anita Moreno #2

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still Smitten; Update: Eric Leonard Investigating Documentary Evidence Mayor’s Office Has Different Press Rules for Spanish Language Media

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With LAPD Officer Anita Moreno

And a print rendering of this original cartoon by Patrick O’Connor of the Los Angeles Daily News can be purchased by clicking the link here.

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Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, Telemundo, Univision, Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Mayor Villaraigosa was at Universal CityWalk Wednesday for the grand opening of the 1,000th Panda Inn restaurant.

Remember Flap stated weeks ago that the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – NBC/Telemundo affair scandal disclosure was the tip of the iceberg.

Well, yesterday we find out that the Mayor has been fed questions for a supposed impromptu television interview program on Spanish language Telemundo competitor, Univision.

And today the Los Angeles Times exposes the interwoven web of the Mayor, Mirthala, and a massive NBC/Universal Development Project over which the Mayor has government purview.

Finally, an investigative story by the Los Angeles Times on this scandal.

Ok, here we go…….

Affair, NBC project cross paths

A $3-billion Universal City development is getting new scrutiny as Telemundo officials undertake a review of the mayor’s girlfriend

The extramarital affair between Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a newscaster for Telemundo has created a new set of complications for the broadcaster’s corporate parent, NBC Universal — and possibly the mayor himself.

Even as its Spanish-language subsidiary is poised to decide the future of Mirthala Salinas, the now-suspended reporter who embarked on a romantic relationship with Villaraigosa while she reported on him, NBC Universal is proceeding with a massive $3-billion development plan that city officials must ultimately approve.

Although Telemundo executives hold the key to the career of Salinas, now the subject of an internal investigation into whether she compromised the company’s journalistic mission, Villaraigosa holds his own considerable power over NBC Universal. The entertainment conglomerate will very likely need Villaraigosa’s help to navigate the city’s approval process as it spends the next year pushing its Universal City Vision Plan, a concept the mayor embraced seven months ago.

Remember Telemundo Channel 52 political reporter Mirthala Salinas, the Mayor’s girl friend, has been on paid leave since July 5 due to an ethics investigation. Remember Mirthala announced the Mayor’s divorce “on air” while she knew that she was the “other woman” involved in the break-up.

Also, Salinas had been involved with other politicians ( City Council President and now California State Senator Alex Padilla and Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nunez) while a political reporter.

The Mayor on Monday stated that he had not been contacted by NBC Universal in the investigation.

Also, for background, NBC Universal and specifically KNBC television has fired an employee, reporter, Kyung Lah, when it was discovered she was having an affair in the workplace. And who was the station general manager at the time?

Paula Madison

Manuel Abud VP/GM KVEA-TV/Telemundo & Paula Madison former
General Manager KNBC-TV Los Angeles

From Eric Longabardi

Sources inside NBC/Universal confirm to ERSNews that Paula Madison, former General Manager of KNBC-TV and now head of diversity for NBC/Universal had the authority and was in fact the person who was responsible for removing Salinas from the political reporting beat due to her personal relationship with the Mayor. ERSNews sought direct comment from Ms. Madison about her role in the case, but was referred to NBC/Telemundo spokesman Victor Franco, who declined comment, saying only that the internal investigation of the matter was nearing completion and they withhold any comment until it was complete. Asked by ERSNew.com when that would be, spokesman Franco would only say “soon”.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has expressed support for NBC Universal’s plans, which call for a hotel, homes and offices.

So, now, we understand the delay by NBC Universal in disposing of Mirthala Salinas. They are damned if they fire her and they are damned if they keep her. But, whatever they do, this scandal is not over.

Why?

Because of the massive Universal City Vision Plan which the Mayor supports, local residents oppose and which other politicians including Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge consider too large.

“The councilman is opposed to the project as proposed,” said Renee Weitzer, chief of staff to LaBonge, who is out of the country and could not be reached. “We feel it’s too dense. It’s too big, and the site is too small.”

Flap smells a Los Angeles County Grand Jury investigation here and an emergence of other politicians to rival Villaraigosa for the Mayorship in two years. How do you spell former Mayor Jimmy Hahn?

Mayor Villar better hope Mirthala Salinas keeps some sort of work.

He may need HER support in the future.

Hillary Clinton Watch: Feinstein Endorsement Interrupted By Questions About Mayor Villaraigosa – Mirthala Salinas Affair

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Villaraigosa on WHOSE Side?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Will Telemundo Decide Mirthala’s Fate Today?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With Anita Moreno #2

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still Smitten; Update: Eric Leonard Investigating Documentary Evidence Mayor’s Office Has Different Press Rules for Spanish Language Media

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mayor Denies Affair With LAPD Officer Anita Moreno

And a print rendering of this original cartoon by Patrick O’Connor of the Los Angeles Daily News can be purchased by clicking the link here.

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Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, Telemundo, Univision

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Day By Day by Chris Muir

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The Day By Day Archive

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Technorati Tags: Day By Day, Chris Muir

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