It is one of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's little secrets: "I cried when I saw `The Lion King."' He also recently revealed that he has a secret desire to make a cameo appearance on "Ugly Betty." The confessions came during an interview Villaraigosa taped for a show called "The Drop" on Si TV, a cable network aimed at the English-speaking urban Latino community.
The show is scheduled to be broadcast May 21 and includes comments from Villaraigosa about his life as mayor and what is involved with the job. He was also asked some offbeat questions. Villaraigosa said the three artists he listens to the most on his iPod are Mary J.
Blige, Shakira and Alejandro Fernandez. He admits a guilty pleasure: Almond Roca candy. And his funniest moment being mayor?
"When they skewered me on ("The Daily Show") after I delivered the Spanish-speaking response to the State of the Union. They made me look like Antonio Banderas." In the category of letting no good deed go unquestioned, Councilman Richard Alarc n - who has been at City Hall for less than two months in his second go-round - is enduring wide speculation about his political future.
He also has called for a doubling of neighborhood councils' annual budgets - to $100,000. But not all of his actions have been embraced by colleagues. Alarc n's decision to hold a Neighborhood and Education Committee meeting in Van Nuys last week drew some ire because little notice was given on the location and date change.
"I promised we would come out to the community, and that's what we're doing," Alarc n said. "We are going to hold meetings all over the city." Alarc n insisted he is not using his post as a platform for another run for mayor.
At least not immediately. "I just got back here, and I love this job," Alarc n said. "I'm here for six years.
I am not looking for anything else." The Los Angeles Unified School District has a new superintendent and looks likely to get a new school board, but apparently still has the same old communication problems. Take the recent release of the report, commissioned by Superintendent David Brewer, looking at the district's problems.
The report said the district is disorganized, lacks financial controls and suffers from a pervasive lack of accountability. To A.J.
Duffy, head of United Teachers Los Angeles, the findings were not surprising. But what was surprising was the way the report was released. Duffy was never provided a preview of the report or even given a copy of it the day it was released.
"It was a point of vexation for me," Duffy said. "One of the first things I said to (Brewer) was that I wanted to work with the district to do problem solving. It's hard to work with people who don't work with you.
" A copy of the report is at the Daily News Web site, . Former LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer is returning to Los Angeles for a brief visit this week. During his stay, he will promote his involvement in the Strong American Schools campaigned called "ED in 08," designed to work with schools to make education a top issue in the presidential election.
The $60 million program is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, with Romer serving as chairman of the effort. Among its goals are creating three priorities: basic-education standards, an effective core of teachers and time plus support for learning.
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