Conversation over ribs, yellow tail tuna and quiche on Monday focused little on the events of 18-19 years ago and a lot on what’s in the future. Looks bright for all! It was a great relief to be assured that Lance Ito does not plan to become a Texan.
Leaving Taix French Restaurant in Echo Park after lunch with AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito.
I haven’t lived in the Los Angeles area for more than a decade, so when Eric Garcetti stopped by our table to greet his acquaintance, Lance Ito, I was slow to recognize him as the newly elected mayor of Los Angeles and son of Gil Garcetti, who coincidently, or maybe ironically, was Los Angeles County District Attorney during the Simpson murder trial era.
Ito and Deutsch might have known who the man with the new mayor was, although they didn’t indicate that they did when Garcetti introduced him simply as Shaun Donovan. But I didn’t. I thought he might be on Garcetti’s staff when Linda, whom Ito introduced as being with the Associated Press, asked Garcetti a question. The impression I got when Donovan, eyeing Deutsch, touched the mayor’s arm and indicated that they should go, was that he felt wary about Garcetti answering, impromptu, a reporter’s question.
Although Donovan might have just been on a tight schedule, I might also have been right about the man’s caution. I was wrong, however, in thinking he might be a mayoral aid. He was the Shaun Donovan who is United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Anatomy of a Trial blog 