---
[ ARCHIVE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive)
# Commissioner Andrea Alarcon Should Resign
November 26 2012
Written by Joseph Mailander.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
OPINION: Andrea Alarcon's $130K a year position as head of the Public Works Commission puts her directly in charge of many of the City's top public safety issues, even while men and women twice her age must answer to her judgments. But she has now fumbled in providing for the personal safety of her own daughter twice, and should not be able to seek unspecified "treatment" while serving at the public's mercy.
[UPDATE: [Alarcon takes leave of absence](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/11/councilman-richard-alarcon-defends-his-daughters-parenting.html) --media do not specify if it's paid or unpaid.]
[UPDATE II: reader reports that KNX and NPR affiliates report that Alarcon's LOA is paid out of her sick days]
Thanksgiving day, my site was getting some unusual traffic. I could see that a whole lot of people in town were googling the name "Andrea Alarcon", about whom I've written without pulling many punches over the past two years.
Only this morning did I learn why the traffic was happening. Andrea Alarcon's 11-year-old daughter was found [wandering City Hall](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/11/la-public-works-commissioner-help.html) alone last Friday about 11:45 p.m. Alarcon herself did not turn up to locate her daughter until about 2 a.m.
The story was held by our local fishwrap the LA Times from last Saturday until Thanksgiving day.
Andrea Alarcon, daughter of the Councilman Richard Alarcon and mother of the goddaughter of the Mayor, was appointed to head the Public Works Commission three years ago, at the tender age of thirty-one.
This is a person who doesn't have some cush low-profile but well-paying job in our Public Works Department. No, this is a person who heads our Public Works Commission. Now thirty-three years old, she makes decisions that impact countless city venues and events and approves contracts for tens of millions of dollars. ([The rest of Joseph Mailander … including who and what her decisions impact and shame on media and Mayor-wannabes … here.](http://www.josephmailander.com/2012/11/andrea-alarcon-should-resign.html))
(Joseph Mailander is a writer, an LA observer and a contributor to CityWatch. He is also the author of New World Triptych and The Plasma of Terror. Mailander blogs at [www.josephmailander.com](http://www.josephmailander.com).) Photo credit: Dan Krauss
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 95
Pub: Nov 27, 2012
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Last Name
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
### [Why Would LA Voters Elect A City Attorney Who Has Never Tried A Case In Court In Front Of A Jury?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
OP-ED - I am writing to my neighbors over my deep concern about the candidacy of Marissa Roy for Los Angeles City Attor…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
### [A Los Angeles Trilogy: The Successes and Failures That Defined Our Leadership](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
NICK’S VIEW - Los Angeles needs purposeful, decisive leadership. Without it, the city risks sleepwalking into crisis. T…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33516-if-your-family-were-being-stalked-who-would-protect-you)
### [If Your Family Were Being Stalked, Who Would Protect You?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33516-if-your-family-were-being-stalked-who-would-protect-you)
MARSY'S LAW - Imagine a 54-year-old man fixates on your child. He won't stop. Then he turns on you and the rest of your…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)
### [Nithya Raman’s ‘Fascist’ Stunt Wasn’t Leadership. It Was Disqualifying](https://mail.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)
THE BOTTOM LINE - Los Angeles has enough serious problems without turning the race for mayor into a social-media circus…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
### [The Slow-Motion Erasure Of The West Bank](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
WEST BANK - There are crimes that arrive with explosions, and crimes that advance quietly—through a bulldozer at dawn…
---
## [ ARCHIVE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)### [Early Intervention and Jobs are Key to Stemming Chronic Homelessness in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)
### [Tucker Carlson and Gay Rightwinger Blame California Wildfires On Hiring LGBTQ People](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/18755-tucker-carlson-and-gay-rightwinger-blame-california-wildfires-on-hiring-lgbtq-people)
### [Anti-LGBTQ Veep Just Can’t Stop Talking about Mayor Pete](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/17690-anti-lgbtq-veep-just-can-t-stop-talking-about-mayor-pete)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)### [NEWS PULSE: ‘Corrupt System’ Reason for Not Voting in 2018 … Majority Wants More Than Two Parties](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)### [Dead Dog Set on Fire … Sparks Fears for Strays in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)