Reuters: L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa picks NFL talks over immigrant boycott

[DeepModem Mom]

L.A. mayor picks NFL talks over immigrant boycott
Sat Apr 29, 2006
By Aarthi Sivaraman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles' first Latino mayor in the modern era, will skip huge pro-immigration rallies planned for Monday to meet with pro football officials in Dallas, leaving organizers feeling like "a ship without a captain."

Oscar Sanchez, an organizer of the Great American Boycott in Los Angeles, said the mayor's office previously told the group he would speak at a downtown Los Angeles rally on Monday -- then backed out.

Instead, the mayor will be in Dallas speaking with National Football League officials about the possibility of bringing a team back to Los Angeles.

Activists said the rallies, which could become the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, would shut down major U.S. cities and serve as an indicator of their economic power, with or without the mayor.

They have predicted that 2 million to 3 million people would flood the streets of Los Angeles alone....

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-04-29T120337Z_01_N28405852_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-IMMIGRATION-LOS-ANGELES.xml&rpc=22

[Radio_Guy]

1. Screw the NFL

He is the elested leader of Los Angeles. He needs to be out there with the boycott leading the charge against the blatant racism anti-immigration brings.

[wndycty]

2. Jeeze. . .

. . .he really put himself out there during the last march, but I guess that is not enough. An NFL team in Los Angeles is about economic development and jobs for the residents of Southern California. Do you understand the economic impact of a professional team? Tons of jobs and business for entrepreneurs.

[KingFlorez]

3. It's an economic issue

An team could bring money to the city, so he did the right thing

[951-Riverside]

4. Villaraigosa is smarter than I thought

There really isn't a point to the May 1st boycott/rallies.

[wndycty]

5. There is a point. . .

. . .however regardless an NFL team boosts the LA economy thus creating more opportunity and jobs for the people of Los Angeles.

[DaveColorado]

6. Yeah he's probably doing the right thing

for his people by helping to bring more jobs to the city.