Bureaucracy bogs down L.A. mayor's efforts to mentor student
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he is frustrated about school district regulations he must follow if he wants to mentor a teenager accused of vandalizing a bus on which the mayor was riding. Villaraigosa had offered to help the Santee High School student. But before Villaraigosa can don his mentor cap, he must complete a one-page application, undergo a tuberculosis test, and submit to fingerprinting and an interview by the school's principal--procedures that can take as long as a month. The mayor believes the procedures are further proof that L.A. Unified's rules thwart even the best intentions.