Los Angeles, CA – Mayor Hires Jewish Activist As Chief Policy Advisor.

Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today he had hired as his No. 2 policy advisor one of the city’s top public interest lawyers — an attorney who spent nearly a decade advocating on behalf of immigrants, low income neighborhoods and homeless residents in need of legal representation.

Villaraigosa’s deputy chief of staff will be Dan Grunfeld, president and chief executive of Public Counsel, the largest organization in the United States that provides legal aid to the poor and disenfranchised.

Grunfeld, who will coordinate Villaraigosa’s policy agenda, has never worked for a government agency.

Grunfeld, the son of a diplomat, was born in Jerusalem and split his time between Tel Aviv and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while growing up. [latimes]