Leaks

LEAKS!....Southern California is once again facing a major drought, and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has urged residents to reduce water use. So how are LA officials themselves doing? Well, it turns out that the water use histories of elected officials are public record (who knew?), and both Villaraigosa and city attorney Rocky Delgadillo have been using enough water to float a rice barge. So what's their excuse?

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.

....Delgadillo's backyard sprinkler system and his house have "had innumerable leaks over the past few years," said spokesman Nick Velasquez, adding that Delgadillo and his wife, Michelle, have "worked to identify and repair these leaks, and continue to recognize the importance of water conservation."

(Not that their futures look bright at the moment anyway. Between Villaraigosa's philandering and Delgadillo's wife's "accidental" personal use — and subsequent trashing — of a city vehicle, LA city politics is wide open for a newcomer right now. It could be you!)