TIPOFF WEDNESDAY IS GET-ACQUAINTED DAY FOR BREWER, VILLARAIGOSA.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

After riding a tide of good will during his first week as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, retired Navy Adm. David Brewer III faces a critical meeting Wednesday when he finally sits down with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The two are scheduled to meet Wednesday after Villaraigosa has a couple of days to decompress from his two-week trade mission to Asia and Brewer returns from a weeklong trip to his home in Washington, D.C.

While the agenda includes a discussion about the LAUSD and what needs to be done to improve it, many view the meeting as the chance to see whether the two high-profile leaders can work together.

If Villaraigosa and Brewer can collaborate -- even for just a year or two -- it will give the mayor time to establish the authority over the district that was granted to him under recently passed legislation.

While Villaraigosa and his staff have remained critical of the district's decision to hire Brewer as soon as the mayor left the city, the reviews of Brewer generally have been favorable.

There is also the possibility that Brewer -- who comes to Los Angeles after a 36-year military career -- will succeed in reforming the nation's second-largest school district.

``If he is successful, I guarantee that Antonio Villaraigosa will be calling David Brewer the Bill Bratton of education,'' said one local politician. ``(Villaraigosa) didn't hire Bratton either and you would think the two were blood brothers these days.''

In the meantime, there will be the school board election next March, and the mayor's top political aides are already trying to recruit candidates to replace the current board.

Outgoing Superintendent Roy Romer has been graceful in watching the tributes being paid to Brewer, joking that his own selection six years ago was not achieved with the same unanimous vote given his successor.

Some board members were leery about extending the job to someone whose r(hrt)sum(hrt) included jobs as Colorado governor and chairman of the Democratic Party, but none in the classroom.

To honor Romer, however, some of the city's top movers and shakers will be attending a Regency Club dinner hosted by billionaire Eli Broad.

It is only fitting: It was Broad and former Mayor Richard Riordan who persuaded Romer that the superintendent's job might be an interesting challenge.

Former City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski will be honored this week by People for Parks for her more than 30 years of work trying to create parks and preserve open space.

Miscikowski, who has generally retreated from the public spotlight since being termed out of the City Council in 2005, was selected for her years of work on the council and as chief deputy to former Councilman Marvin Braude. During her tenure, she helped create the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and was active in the protection of beaches and parks.

People for Parks has been working for nearly two decades to raise funds for more city parks.

There is a shift coming within the mayor's press office.

Joe Ramallo, who has been with Villaraigosa since his days on the City Council, is moving over to take charge as communications director for the Department of Water and Power.

The utility has been long on controversy in recent years -- including being at the heart of some of the pay-to-play and overbilling scandals of the Hahn administration and dealing with a series of power outages in recent months.

Putting Ramallo at the DWP will allow the mayor to have a consistent voice coming from the agency.

Councilman Tom LaBonge likes to pride himself on being the official greeter and ``Mr. Los Angeles'' to anyone who happens by -- except when it comes to TV psychologist Dr. Phil.

After neighbors complained, LaBonge said his office pushed Film LA to shut down filming at the home of Dr. Phil McGraw in the Miracle Mile area, where the television personality was using the house as a backdrop for his show.

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