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California Today

California Today: Garcetti Muses on Villaraigosa’s Defeat

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.Credit...Denis Poroy/Associated Press

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If you are a big-city mayor thinking of running for higher office, you’ve no doubt noticed the crash-and-burn campaign for governor waged by Antonio Villaraigosa, the former two-term mayor of Los Angeles. Mr. Villaraigosa came in third; Gavin Newsom, the Democrat lieutenant governor, came in first, followed by John Cox, a Republican.

Which brings us to Eric M. Garcetti, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, who is considering a run for president. Mr. Garcetti has some thoughts on why his predecessor at City Hall lost, which he shared with our Jess Bidgood, who caught up with him at the International Mayors Climate Summit in Boston last week.

Mr. Garcetti said much of the blame should be placed with charter school supporters — including Eli Broad and Michael Bloomberg — who set up an independent committee and spent millions of dollars on behalf of Mr. Villaraigosa. “His allies overplayed the importance of an old educational debate and spent $23 million on ‘are you pro-charter, pro-reform,’ versus pro-teacher, pro-union, which was a stupid and silly waste of money,” he said. “If, you know, I had that much money to spend, I would have been spending it differently.”

He also said that Mr. Villaraigosa sent a muddled, who-am-I message to voters, many of whom did not know him outside of Los Angeles.

“It’s also tough to both pull in Republicans — which I think that’s what that money was supposed to partially help do, he would be the guy who wasn’t as liberal — and also say, Hey, Gavin Newsom is the elitist candidate and I’m about the working man,” Mr. Garcetti said. “It’s confusing, it’s two different messages.” He added, “If it’s all about, ‘I’m going to be the person who really fights and ends poverty,’ plant your flag and go through with that one.”

Mr. Villaraigosa could not be reached for comment.

Still, Mr. Garcetti said that Mr. Villaraigosa was in a tough position: running against a popular opponent and constrained by law from coordinating with the independent committees. “And lastly, he got killed off by President Trump,” Mr. Garcetti said, referring to Mr. Trump’s tweet-dorsement of Mr. Cox in a bid to make sure Republicans had at least one statewide candidate on the ballot this November.

(Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.)

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All sorts of deep thinkers have joined the debate over artificial intelligence, including those at an annual conference hosted in Palm Springs, Calif., by Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos.
Credit...Jack Nicas/The New York Times

• Over dinner, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg debated the future — and dangers — of artificial intelligence. A deep dive into the debate over A.I. roiling Silicon Valley. . [The New York Times]

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John Lasseter, a co-founder of Pixar, has long been one of Disney’s most important creative executives, serving as a force behind the “Toy Story,” “Cars” and “Frozen” franchises.Credit...Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

• John Lasseter, the creative force behind Pixar, will leave the company at the end of the year. He had been on leave from the Walt Disney Company, Pixar’s parent, because of accusations of unwanted hugging in the workplace. [The New York Times]

• The election for mayor of San Francisco was still too close to call Sunday evening, with London Breed holding a slight edge over Mark Leno. Authorities said they still need to count 25,000 ballots, which will likely take up much of this week. [KQED]

• On the afternoon last week that Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles was set to name a new police chief, he still had not made up his mind. An behind-the-scenes look at the search for L.A.’s new police chief. [Los Angeles Times]

• How would you go about designing a new California city? Joe Mathews, a columnist, has a few ideas. [San Francisco Chronicle]

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The Warriors celebrated their second straight N.B.A. championship on Friday, but continued dominance is far from a given. Credit...Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The Golden State Warriors won a third N.B.A. championship in four years, and our columnist takes up the dynasty question. [The New York Times]

• Putting the dominance of the Warriors into historical context. [The New York Times]

Power lines and equipment were to blame for the wildfires that tore through Northern California’s wine country last fall. [Curbed San Francisco]

• Charter school advocates ponder next moves after sinking $23 million into Antonio Villaraigosa’s failed campaign for governor. [Associated Press]

• The Sacramento Bee outlines new coverage plans, and says it needs an additional 45,000 paid subscribers to sustain its newsroom. [Sacramento Bee]

Tom Hanks makes his Los Angeles stage debut in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.” This reviewer calls it a “noble effort.” [Los Angeles Times]

Coming Up This Week:

• The Bay Area on Tuesday will host a parade to celebrate the Golden State Warriors’ championship. Here is everything you need to know if you plan to attend.

• A multigenre series of free concerts at the California Plaza state in downtown Los Angeles begins on Friday.

• KCRW’s Summer Nights Series — including concerts, a DJ, food and drink — continues this week in Old Pasadena.

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Anthony BourdainCredit...Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press

The death of Anthony Bourdain shook the rarefied worlds he inhabited — that of celebrity chefs, food writers and television executives. It was also felt deeply among the restaurant owners of the out-of-the-way places around the world that he helped champion.

He brought his shows many times to California, and especially loved the diversity of Los Angeles’ food scene.

One of those places was Tacos Villa Corona, a small walk-up counter in Atwater Village. Mr. Bourdain visited the joint for one of his shows in 2012, and business was never the same.

“We were all very sad, first of all,” said David Flores, whose family has owned the taco stand since 1993. “And grateful. We’re very grateful. We were locally known before but he took us to another level.”

On Sunday morning, the lines were longer than usual, he said, as customers came to eat breakfast burritos and tacos and feel connected to Mr. Bourdain. After Mr. Bourdain’s visit, he said, tourists began flocking to their place.

“They would come to our place first, and then go to Disneyland,” Mr. Flores said. “Because of Anthony Bourdain.”

For two great takes on Mr. Bourdain’s legacy in California, read this and this.

California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

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