POLITICS (State, Local): Villaraigosa, radio interview: "I want to run for governor"....

* Daily News (City News Service):  "Antonio Villaraigosa: 'I want to run for governor,' says soon-to-be-former L.A. mayor" - From the DN:

Termed-out Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has been coy about his plans when he leaves office at the end of the month, said today he definitely wants to run for governor, although he didn't say when that might happen. Speaking to KPCC radio's Larry Mantle, Villaraigosa said flatly, "I want to run for governor. In fact, I fully expect that I will."

Villaraigosa did not expand on his desire to run, saying only that he believes in "public service." He has hinted in the past that he would not run against Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat. 

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Last month, L.A. Weekly reported that the outgoing mayor would be leaving office facing a questionable future, with little money saved and no job. But Villaraigosa told KPCC he had a vision for his post-mayoral life, noting that he plans to move to Venice. "I love that part of the city, and it's always been a great supporter of mine," he said.

He said he hopes to affiliate with a university or think tank and "maybe do a little public speaking." "Then, you know, I want to do a listening tour," he said. "I think we all want to restore the California dream and I want to figure out how to do it."

For the immediate future, Villaraigosa said he is open to anything................

L.A. CITY HALL: Los Angeles City Council, tentative approval, 11-1 vote, ban on single-use plastic grocery and carryout bags, final vote to be taken next week....

* Los Angeles Times:  "L.A. City Council OKs ban on plastic grocery and carryout bags" - From the LAT:

Los Angeles on Tuesday became the largest city in the nation to move toward a ban on plastic grocery bags, with the City Council barring them in supermarkets, convenience stores and any big retailer that sells groceries.

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L.A.'s ordinance. . . . will be phased in over the next year, reaching large stores on Jan. 1 and smaller ones on July 1, 2014. Customers who want paper bags will have to pay 10 cents for each one, according to the ordinance.

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Because Councilman Bernard C. Parks voted against the measure, a second vote will be needed next week. But no one involved in Tuesday's debate expects the outcome to change. A signature from the mayor -- whether it be the outgoing Antonio Villaraigosa or his successor, Eric Garcetti -- is also expected.

Businesses that fail to comply with the law would face a fine of $100 for  the first violation, $200 after the second and $500 after the third. Fines would be imposed for each day the violation continues.

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Sanitation officials estimate that 2 billion plastic bags are distributed in the city each year.

***ALSO:

* Daily News (City News Service):  "L.A. tenatively OKs single-use plastic grocery bag ban"

* ABC7 TV:  "Los Angeles plastic bag ban tentatively approved"

POLITICS (National): New York City mayoral election, lackluster field of candidates, NYT op-ed, "Lesser Lights, Big City"....

* New York Times (Frank Bruni op-ed):  "Lesser Lights, Big City" - From the NYT:

Anthony Weiner’s quixotic mayoral candidacy is clearly a bid for redemption, and just as clearly a way to sate his epic, boundless need to be noticed. But it wasn’t until I went to the Bronx for a candidates’ forum last week that I realized another function the campaign serves for him. It’s his cardio.

While the nine other contenders at a long conference table did what you’d expect and remained seated as they answered questions, Weiner alone shot to his feet whenever it was his turn to speak, an overeager suitor, an overbearing narcissist. He’d sink back into his chair when his allotted 60 seconds ran out, then rise anew when it was once again Weiner Time. Up, down, up, down: he was part jack-in-the-box, part aerobics instructor and all about Anthony.

When it wasn’t Weiner Time, he made no pretense of caring about or even listening to what his rivals had to say. He’d bury his nose in the papers before him. He’d riffle through them. This despite several news items that had slammed him for similar behavior at a previous forum. For Weiner, rudeness isn’t an oversight. It’s a coat of arms.

He’s a sad spectacle, but that may also make him the perfect mascot for the unfolding mayoral race, which so far doesn’t reflect the greatness of the city whose stewardship is up for grabs. This contest feels crass. It feels small. And it feels all the smaller because of the constant reminders of just how large a figure the departing mayor, Michael Bloomberg, both is and insists on being. . . . . . . .

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To some extent, the race for the Democratic nomination — which pits Quinn and Weiner against Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, and Bill Thompson, the 2009 nominee, among others — has been an anachronistic sequence of genuflections before the teachers’ union, African-American voters, Orthodox Jews, animal-rights advocates.

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The field’s lack of luster prompted Bloomberg last year to try to get Hillary Clinton to throw her pantsuit in the ring. And it has given rise to a belief among some political insiders and a few restless plutocrats that 2017 could be a ripe mayoral-election year for a political outsider interested in emulating Bloomberg’s ascent into office. By then, the theory goes, the winner of 2013 will have failed.

AFTERNOON MEMOS: Litigation, Ron Tutor, former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and former Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson on legal team in Hollywood lawsuits; Westwood Village, revitalization efforts; California median housing prices, major increases, May-over-May 2012-2013, largest percentage increase in more than three decades....

***Various items relating to politics, policy, current or former public officials, etc....

* Los Angeles Times:  "Westwood Village wants to be cool again" - "It's 'never going back' to its heyday as the hottest entertainment neighborhood in L.A., but it hopes to be revitalized through the arts."

* Daily News:  "California median housing price increases by most in 33 years"

* Los Angeles Times:  "Steve Cooley and Alan Jackson join Hollywood legal battle"

POLITICS (National): Detroit financial distress, city appears to be on brink of filing for bankruptcy, report, "In Embattled Detroit, No Talk of Sharing Pain"....

* New York Times:  "In Embattled Detroit, No Talk of Sharing Pain" - From the NYT:

When New York City threatened to declare bankruptcy in 1975, the idea so terrified everyone that it forced the city, its workers and its recalcitrant bankers to sit down and find ways to share the pain. Now another large city, Detroit, appears to be on the brink of filing for bankruptcy, but there is little talk of sharing the pain. Instead, the fiscal crisis in Michigan is setting up as a gigantic clash between bondholders and city retirees.

The city’s proposals, which could give some bondholders as little as 10 cents on the dollar, are making some creditors think they would be better off in bankruptcy. They see the specter of a federal judge imposing involuntary losses as less ominous than it was for New York. “The haircut is so severe,” said Matt Fabian, a managing director of Municipal Market Advisors, “I think it’s scaring them into bankruptcy, rather than away from bankruptcy.”

But city retirees, facing the prospect of sharply reduced benefits whether in bankruptcy or under Detroit’s restructuring proposal, think they stand squarely on the moral high ground because despite the poverty of many current and retired members, they have already offered big concessions. “It’s not the employees that are costing the city money,” said Edward L. McNeil, an official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. . . . . . . .

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A bankruptcy in Detroit would have no precedent, despite an unusual flurry of municipal bankruptcies after the financial crisis. . . . . . . . .

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Public finance experts have warned that broad societal problems could follow a loss of faith in municipalities’ commitments to honor their pledges.................