Wagner insults Italians and weasels

Steven Greenhut: Assemblyman Don Wagner, R-Irvine, got himself in a bit of a scuffle after he made a Soprano’s reference in his talk defending redevelopment agencies. Actually, Wagner rightly compared some of the tactics of these agencies to the Mafia, which then drew the ire of Anthony Portantino, an Italian-American Democrat from La Canada-Flintridge, who demanded an apology. Wagner gave a weird apology that was more insulting than his original remarks, saying he would “apologize to any Italian-Americans who are not in the Mafia and engaged in insurance scams.” But Wagner, despite his attacks on redevelopment agencies, voted to try to save them. He later changed his no on AB26x1, which would eliminate the agencies on a simple majority vote, to an abstention. I was going to call him a weasel, but that’s an insult to weasels.

JUNE 15


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