I just ran across the 5/18/05 Laura Mecoy article "Villaraigosa wins L.A. mayor's race", which contains this:

For instance, he quickly renounced Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA, a controversial group he joined in college, and avoided the criticism Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante faced after he refused to renounce the organization during his unsuccessful 2003 gubernatorial campaign.

Perhaps Mecoy lives in a separate universe or something.

Because, as I recall and as I believe to be accurate in our universe, Antonio Villaraigosa ("AV") didn't renounce MEChA until a week before the election. A local reporter who closely followed the race confirmed that as having been the first time AV renounced that group.

And, that was after refusing to renounce that organization, saying "I was in the Boy Scouts too."

And, four years ago he also refused to renounce that group to a KNX reporter. He played the "help I'm being oppressed" race card at that time.

And, of course, Mecoy's "quickly" is apparently meant in the geological sense, as he was a member three decades ago.

He avoided the criticism because papers like the L.A. Times (and probably the SacBee as well) simply ignored his involvement in suspect causes and groups.

Now, he can move on to renouncing his involvement with a parade which was lead by the Mexican Army band and that concerned demanding rights for Mexican citizens who are in the U.S. illegally. But, wait, that's not the even more shocking association that the LAT and the SacBee can ignore. Details in "AVWatch: Villaraigosa's under-reported associations".