Kasim Reed in Atlanta, Jean Quan in Oakland, now this guy. Time for a pool: Which left-wing up-and-comer will be next to deploy city police against the tip of the 99-percent’s spear?

And don’t bother saying “Rahm.” I’ve already got my money on him.

“I respect the protesters’ right to peacefully assemble and express their views,” Villaraigosa said. “City officials have been in a continuous and open dialogue with the organizers of Occupy L.A. However, the protesters must respect city laws and regulations, and while they have been allowed to camp on City Hall lawns, that cannot continue indefinitely.”…

In an interview Wednesday, the mayor said county health inspectors recently visited the encampment and expressed concerns over the cleanliness of the camp. In addition, the demonstration is hurting the city’s lawn and trees…

Meanwhile, about a dozen protesters showed up at Wednesday’s City Council meeting to ask lawmakers to allow them to stay. Protester Alex Everett, 26, said he came because he was alarmed by Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s comments to KABC that it was time for protesters “to move on.”

Everett, who moved out of his house and into a tent outside of City Hall two weeks ago, said he thinks many protesters would not leave without a fight. He said if police move in to clear out the protest, like Oakland police did Tuesday, “it will be violent.”

Villaraigosa wants city officials to draft new restrictions on park use — even though, according to the Times, current law already bars people from camping in parks after 10:30 p.m. I assume that he’s looking for as much legal cover as possible, even to the point of redundancy, before he moves in simply because he knows how ugly things are likely to get. With good reason, per the boldfaced part above. Why not adopt Mike Bloomberg’s tough, smart, savvy approach of letting the protesters ignore the rules instead?

Jeff Emanuel at Red State has started compiling a list of the “Occupy” movement’s greatest hits, but I think things are about to become a lot more civil and mellow. An honest-to-goodness Friend of Barack has stepped up to offer guidance to the protesters; here he is in action in Chicago, via Rebelpundit. With his steadying hand on the wheel of the movement, calmer days must surely be ahead.