He preened, he hugged, he shook hands and hobnobbed with legends and politicians. Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León was in full campaign mode two days before Tuesday’s election, when voters would decide whether he deserved a second term . The setting wasn’t a restaurant or a neighborhood street: It was the VIP section of a dedication ceremony in Boyle Heights for a towering set of murals featuring the late Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela .
Wearing a satin Blue Crew jacket, De León emceed the one-hour-plus program attended by hundreds of baseball fans. Outside the fenced-off area where he held court, workers in neon yellow vests emblazoned with “Kevin de León Cleanup Crew” handed out bottles of water. Nearby, an electric truck bore in Spanish the legend “Courtesy of: Councilmember Kevin de León.
” He led chants and cracked jokes and introduced a parade of speakers — among them Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, actor Edward James Olmos and East LA Community Corporation president Monica Mejia — who thanked him for helping spearhead the mural, along with playwright Josefina Lopez and artist Robert Vargas . That wasn’t enough credit for De León. Just before a giant tarp dropped to reveal one of the murals, he told the crowd that what they were about to see was “my gift to all of you, to all of Boyle Heights and to all of L.
A.” From a distance, I stared with a mix of pity and disgust. It wasn’t surprising that De León was there, because h.
