NOT FEELING THEM — The runoff race for city attorney, between Councilman Jack Weiss and attorney Carmen Trutanich, kicked off with a debate Saturday and I still don’t like either one of them. As I’ve mentioned before, I dislike Weiss because he is the alter ego of the mayor and electing him city attorney is tantamount to making the mayor the head of another city department, one that most definitely needs to be independent of the mayor’s influence.

I dislike Trutanich for a number of reasons. First, he’s a Republican whom I understand has re-registered as an independent, meaning, he’s still a Republican and is therefore, ideologically abhorrent to me. Secondly, I resent his attempt to gain Brownie points by claiming a nebulous association with South Los Angeles. His biography states Trutanich grew up in “the South Los Angeles town of San Pedro.” And in her statement endorsing Trutanich, Rep. Maxine Waters enthuses about his “being from South Los Angeles…” Oh, give me a break! Everybody in San Pedro who considers yourself a resident of South L.A. raise your hand. … I don’t see any.

I also dislike Trutanich’s connection with the National Rifle Association and his client list heavily laden with polluters and others on the wrong side of environmental issues. I especially dislike the fact that he is endorsed by District Attorney Steve Cooley, a man I deeply detest and whose selective prosecution of African-Americans is a subject I intend to thoroughly explore in the near future. So, what am I faced with? Weiss or Tru? I think I’ll pass on both these turkeys.

SOMETHING GOOD COMETH — The Associated Press reported something really wonderful last week: the University of Massachusetts in Amherst plans to scan, catalog, digitize and put online papers of civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois! It seems the university’s W.E.B. Du Bois Library has an estimated 100,000 diaries, letters, photographs and other items related to Du Bois. These items include correspondence between other iconic blacks, such as Booker T. Washington and Langston Hughes, as well as other important public figures of the day, such as Albert Einstein and Mohandas Gandhi. I can hardly wait.

Something else good is in the offing: The California State Parks Foundation, in partnership with USC, will host on May 4 the inaugural conference in its Hidden Stories Series entitled “100 Years Since Allensworth: Is California Living Up to the Legacy?” This interesting-sounding groundbreaking conference is expected to explore the meaningful contributions that African-Americans have made to California in the area of work, play and civic engagement. I’ve been asked to participate and I just might because I do know a thing or two about this.

Here’s some more good stuff: Assemblyman Curren Price introduced a bill in the Assembly the other day that is designed to hold the line on rising education costs for students attending the University of California’s 10-campus system or any one of the California State University’s 23 campuses. AB 462 is entitled the College Affordability Act of 9009 and would freeze tuition at the CSU and UC schools for the next five years.

DATEBOOK — Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is calling all Inglewood elderly to a meeting Thursday so they can tell county officials what needs to be done to improve senior services in the Inglewood area. The meeting is scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Inglewood Senior Center, 330 Centinela Ave.

Rep. Diane Watson is sponsoring the “Working Into Recovery” resource fair Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at FAME Renaissance, 1968 W. Adams Blvd. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will join Watson and representatives of several government agencies in assisting constituents in understanding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The resource fair is designed to provide hands-on assistance from experienced counselors knowledgeable about housing, job development, banking, mortgage loans and other issues of concern. “If you are having problems with housing foreclosures or need help upgrading your resume or locating a job, this free resource fair is for you,” Watson said.

THIS AND THAT — The Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line launched a grassroots drive last week to petition the mayor, governor and MTA for resources from the federal stimulus package and Measure R to add grade separations to the current street-level portion of the Expo Line in South L.A. The group calls this endeavor the “Expo Line South L.A. Grade Separation Project,” and members have elicited support from local politicians who had heretofore been fence-sitters or opponents to changing the design of the rail project.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass recently received the Johnnie L. Cochran Public Service Award from the Loyola Law School African-American Alumni Association. The award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in his/her profession, dedication to social justice and commitment to serving the community. The award is named for the late Loyola alum attorney Johnnie L. Cochran (class of ’62), who dedicated his career to helping underserved constituencies fight for justice.

They held a special ceremony on April Fools Day in which the Board of Supervisors formally renamed Admiralty Park in Marina del Rey the Yvonne B. Burke Park in honor of the former 2nd District supervisor, who resided in the Marina and in Brentwood and not in her district as required by law. The supervisors unanimously approved this renaming thing late last year.

And in his proper 2nd District, Burke’s successor, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, helped one of his constituents, Gertrude Baines, the world’s oldest person, celebrate her 115th birthday Tuesday. Baines, born April; 6, 1894, is confined to the Western Convalescent Home in the 2nd District where she was feted with a program filled with musical tributes and well wishes. The daughter of a man born into slavery, Baines has lived through 21 presidents and seven U.S. wars.

Dexter Scott King, the second son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has sold his Malibu home for $1.99 million. Dexter lived in the 4,705 square feet ocean-view home for several years, but he recently began renting it.

AND FINALLY — I was invited Monday to see Arthur Ross, son of my good buddy, Debbie Beavers, perform in what was termed “a wonderful musical” in Leimert Park Monday night. He was appearing with Zonya Lee, who came straight from Broadway’s “The Color Purple.” But it’s Monday night now and I can’t go because I’m busy writing this thing. Why do people do me like that?