Gotcha Politics: Villaraigosa and Water

There is nothing that a newspaper columnist loves more than a gotcha moment of contradiction with a politician. The article in today's LAT on Mayor Villaraigosa follows a well worn path. Politician makes a promise. Reporter gets a tip from one of their political rivals or comes up with the idea on their own. They do a little digging and find an inconsistency. Breathlessly, they publish it, allowing folks a whack at the piñata.

In this case, it was the Mayor's plea for individuals to cut back on their water use by 10%. One would think that they would have tracked his water use over time and shown that it would have gone up or stayed static to prompt a story. No, in this case it was the fact that his water use was significantly higher than comparable properties in the area. I am not going to defend the Mayor on this one. I am sure that he could find ways to reduce his water impact significantly. Indeed, what was greatly missing from this discussion was the use of native plantings, instead of lush landscapes that are water eaters.

Instead of prompting a discussion about ways politicians are working to reduce their water, or even finding proof that they have failed to do as promised, the immediately placed them on the defensive. In Villaraigosa's case, he had a unique defense: gophers.

Villaraigosa blamed his comparatively high water use at Mount Washington on gophers that chewed holes through a rubberized drip-irrigation system installed beneath his hillside backyard to protect against erosion and to ostensibly save water.

"We were unable to determine there was a leak. It's underground," he said. "We intended to conserve water by purchasing a drip water system."

Villaraigosa said he did not notice increases in his water bill because his wife handled that chore. "I didn't have access to those bills," he said.

Note to politicians: water bills are public information. They can be used to establish residency (Ed Jew in SF) or fodder for columnists like this one. I hope they follow up with the Mayor in a few months to see if he has gotten his act in gear. If he hasn't, then that is a real story.