Sitting by the Phone, Sitting on the Fence

It’s Wednesday afternoon as I sit here typing away and waiting for Mayor Riordan to call. . . .

OK, so I’m really waiting for one of his press deputies to call. I’ve put in a request for his latest position on no, not leaf blowers, but Assemblywoman Paula Boland’s bill aimed at busting up the city of Los Angeles. . . .

When we left the mayor last Friday, he was, amazingly, declaring himself neutral. Oh, he’s made it clear he thinks it’s a bad idea for the San Fernando Valley to secede from Los Angeles. On that, at least, he’s consistent. . . .

But on the Boland bill itself, Dick “Together We’re the Best� Riordan offered several shifting, all-over-the-map positions in a 36-hour period, lending new meaning to the phrase “weak mayor�. . . .

So for five days now, Mayor Riordan’s been stuck in neutral. Strange inasmuch as this dubious bill would give some Angelenos the right to vote but deny that right to others. . . .

But enough about that. I promised the boss a four-dot potpourri of items, with updates on old stories. . . .

Allow me to be vague about the first. In April, I wrote about how a certain county agency evicted a popular golden retriever named Brandy from her owner’s vitamin store in Chatsworth. . . .

It took some doing, but the bureaucracy showed some heart after all. With help from the office of a certain county supervisor whose last name begins with A, a compromise was worked out that gives Brandy restricted visitation rights. . . .

“We won the battle but lost the war� is how Brandy’s best pal put it. . . .

Certain authorities suggested that maybe Brandy’s owner shouldn’t alert the media about this example of governmental kindness and flexibility. He didn’t. I called him. He told the tale, expressed gratitude for the supervisor’s help and asked me to be circumspect in reporting the new developments . . .

The phone just rang. . . .

It wasn’t the mayor’s office. . . .

Here’s another story worth an update: Les Sisters Southern Kitchen in Chatsworth is celebrating its 10th anniversary--with a party at another restaurant. . . .

It’s been a couple of years since I first wrote about Les Sisters--Kevin Huling’s family-owned restaurant that overcame discrimination and heartache to attract a large and loyal following. . . .

The discrimination occurred when the owner of a Mission Hills strip mall refused to rent space to the Hulings, who are African American. He frankly told them he feared that their plans for a Southern-style eatery would attract a black clientele, and he didn’t want that. . . .

The Hulings could have sued, of course, but they were more interested in finding space. Then a few years after opening in Chatsworth, Kevin’s mother died, requiring him to step in and run the restaurant. . . .

Now, at age 10, Les Sisters hasn’t enough room to stage its own anniversary. Les Sisters will be open for dinner even while the Les Sisters party takes place down Devonshire at Skoby’s Bar & Grill on Sunday, starting at 5 p.m. . . .

Ms. B. J. Sharp will sing the blues and Les Sisters will serve up its jambalaya and its Creole and gumbo dishes. (Kevin, by the way, still hasn’t been to New Orleans.) Save some room for the bourbon bread pudding. . . .

The phone rings, I get my hopes up--and my hopes get flattened. Maybe I’ll call the mayor’s office a third time. . . .

An aide’s aide just told me nope, no new mayoral pronouncements. And she said she’ll pass my message on to press secretary Noelia Rodriguez. . . .

More updates: All systems are go for the modest legislation designed to keep hate propaganda--or any unauthorized material--out of your groceries. . . .

The bill that has its origins in a North Hills resident’s complaint about finding a racist message in a box of Cheez-It crackers passed the state Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday and should be considered by the full Senate within a few weeks. . . .

*

The phone rang, and--guess what?--it was Noelia Rodriguez! . . .

She assured me that the mayor is still opposed to secession, but still a fence-sitter as far as the Boland bill is concerned. . . .

OK, so she didn’t phrase it that way. She said he’s still neutral. . . . Then again, Rodriguez was at City Hall, and the mayor was at that moment supposed to be at Getty House, the ceremonial mayoral residence in Hancock Park, schmoozing with field-tripping fourth- and fifth-graders from Hart Street School in Canoga Park. . . .

Later he’d be visiting the Valley, and who knows what he’d say next? . . . By the way, according to the mayor’s schedule, the Hart Elementary students were visiting Getty House for “a civics program to provide students with an understanding of how government works�. . . .

Uh oh.

*

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Please include a phone number.