On the City Council and as labor czar, Ludlow left a trail of broken hopes
By DAVID ZAHNISER
L.A. WEEKLY/Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - 7:00 pm
The farewell oratory of Martin Ludlow, the former Los Angeles City Councilman who reached the peak of the county's labor union hierarchy only to be toppled by an ethics investigation, was in many ways a public relations triumph.
Ludlow — dogged by a multi-agency probe of his 2003 council campaign and the union money that funded it — delivered a thundering speech in which he apologized, claimed responsibility and spoke of his pending redemption, all without stating what his transgressions actually were.
The performance was hailed by a Greek chorus of union leaders who stood behind their leader, clapping and chanting, "Si se puede." Always a gifted public speaker, Ludlow bade goodbye as executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and offered his support to his longtime political ally, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
"He is my hermano grande. I love him dearly," Ludlow declared. "And Mayor Villaraigosa will be just fine."
Well, that's good to know. But this event wasn't about the mayor. Or was it? Few believe that Ludlow would have scored the County Fed job if Villaraigosa thought it was a terrible idea. And no one knows which politicians, if any, are under scrutiny in the probe of Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents 30,000 public school workers and has helped dozens of politicians over the years.
Since that stirring resignation speech, the tale of Ludlow has produced another, less upbeat storyline — one that is at odds with the unified front shown at AFL-CIO headquarters. Ludlow's allies in labor and elsewhere portrayed him as a departing visionary who would one day rise again. But for many who experienced him at City Hall, Ludlow was simply another disappointing politician who never quite lived up to his billing.
more at: http://www.laweekly.com/news/12807/the-trouble-with-martin/ -- Jim Devine / Bust Big Brother Bush! "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." -- Oscar Wilde.