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Villaraigosa

UCLA will be offering its university perspective to Los Angeles Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa’s transition to office.

Chancellor Albert Carnesale, UCLA Downtown Labor Center Director Larry Frank and UCLA Institute of the Environment Director Mary Nichols were asked to advise Villaraigosa on recruiting and appointing members of the mayor’s staff.

“The fact that there’s a group of UCLA people represented indicates the important role that UCLA plays in the Southern California region,” Nichols said. She added that the presence of UCLA officials on the team demonstrates its prominence in the community as a research institution, as well as a source of professionals who will play an important role in the future of the city.

The team, of which attorney and former-mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg will act as chairman, has 81 members, making it one of the largest transition teams ever assembled for an incoming L.A. mayor.

“We are honored to be asked by Mayor-elect Villaraigosa to serve on this important team, and we look forward to sharing UCLA’s expertise for improving the lives of the people of the Los Angeles community,” Carnesale said in a press release.

Nichols said that as director of the Institute of the Environment, she will be able to advise Villaraigosa on environmental issues affecting the Los Angeles area, including the water supply and finding clean, low-cost energy sources.

“All of these (issues) are things that fall within the gamut of the city,” she said.

“(Villaraigosa) is looking for people who are knowledgeable and sensitive to environmental issues,” Nichols said. “I was asked (to join the team) because the mayor-elect knows that I have a wide circle of acquaintances ... who have been active in the environment.”

Nichols’ political experience includes work as secretary of resources for California under former-Gov. Gray Davis, the assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under former-President Clinton and the secretary for environmental affairs under former-California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Members of the team also include former basketball superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson, UC Regent and former CEO of Paramount Pictures Sherry Lansing and former-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Other appointees that are involved in higher education are James Rosser, president of California State University, Los Angeles, Carolyn Webb de Macias, vice president of external relations at USC, and Tyree Weider, president of Los Angeles Valley College.