Villaraigosa Picks Activist as His Policy Advisor

It is an intriguing choice for his No. 2. LAT:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today he had hired as his No. 2 policy advisor one of the city's top public interest lawyers -- an attorney who spent nearly a decade advocating on behalf of immigrants, low-income neighborhoods and homeless residents in need of legal representation.

Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff will be Dan Grunfeld, president and chief executive of Public Counsel, the largest organization in the United States that provides legal aid to the poor and disenfranchised.

Grunfeld, who will coordinate Villaraigosa's policy agenda, has never worked for a government agency. Still, the Beverlywood resident said he had a background in policy, having teamed up with Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley to fight elder abuse and having sued Kaiser Permanente over the alleged dumping of homeless patients on skid row.

Hopefully this choice will lead to some smoother sailing for the Mayor, after quite the rocky last couple months. Having an advocate for the poor in the upper ranks of the administration sounds like a good idea to me.