LA’s Jewish mayor for the weekend

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg made a good run for Los Angeles mayor. And while he’s no Marano, Antonio Villaraigosa is a proud supporter of Israel and friend of the Jews and even honorary member of the tribe. Thus far, though, Los Angeles, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, has not sworn in a Jewish mayor.

But that doesn’t mean a Jew hasn’t acted as LA mayor. That’s Council President Eric Garcetti’s duty every time Villaraigosa leaves the country.

This weekend, though, Villaraigosa will be in Africa. And with Garcetti, whose mother is Jewish, also out of the country, LAObserved reports that the “the barely existent duties of acting mayor” will fall to Jan Perry, who was recently sworn in as president pro tem.

The weekend in charge may very well make Perry, who represents the council district running from downtown through South Los Angeles, the first black Jewish woman in charge of a major metropolis.

The Jewish Journal profiled Perry, who converted to Judaism in the early ‘80s, when she was elected to the City Council in 2001. An excerpt:

The almost blanket dearth of mention of her Jewishness during the campaign may have something to do with the makeup of the 9th District electorate, which includes the cash-strapped downtown core and some business-improvement districts like the Central City Business District, the Fashion District and the Jewelry Mart.

It is hard to imagine that her conversion would have widespread voter appeal to the people who live in the district, although it probably didn’t harm her attempts to establish ties to business elites.

Perry, who is married to Westside litigator Doug Galanter and mother to their daughter, says she didn’t bring it up because, notwithstanding her support for faith-based social programs, she believes staunchly in the separation of church and state. “I never ran on a Jewish ticket,” she says. “It’s just not something I generally do.”

Read the rest here.