Midway through his term, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is getting generally solid marks from local business leaders for his performance.

The popular mayor has won praise for his lobbying for more state and federal funding and for boosting the city’s profile both here and abroad. He’s also credited with sustaining the city’s development boom as several mega-projects have steamed ahead even as the local housing market has stalled.

But, local business leaders say, the mayor could do more to aid existing enterprises coping with the high cost of doing business and to bring Los Angeles International Airport into the modern era. And they lament the mayor’s inability or unwillingness to rein in the pro-union tendencies of the City Council.

“Looking back on the first two years, he deserves a lot of credit for leading on transportation and education. He has a very good track record on development. But there could also be a little more balance with labor interests and we’d like to see more attention on an economic strategy for the future of jobs in this city,” said Brendan Huffman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

A year ago, even that kind of mild criticism from business interests was unheard as Villaraigosa was riding a wave of popularity and business leaders sought to stay in his good graces.

But since then, the mayor has been dealt a legal setback in his attempt to assume more control over the troubled Los Angeles Unified School District and the city failed in its bid – heavily backed by local businesses – to be the U.S. choice to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Furthermore, business leaders were stung by the City Council’s passage of a living wage ordinance targeting hotels around Los Angeles International Airport. Villaraigosa unsuccessfully attempted to forge a last-minute compromise. In the end, the hotels won a court injunction blocking the ordinance from taking effect.

While some business leaders were quick to point the finger at themselves for not mobilizing quickly enough on the living wage issue, others said they would like to have seen Villaraigosa get involved earlier on.

Reached last week while on a trip to Washington D.C. to lobby for passage of an immigration reform bill, Villaraigosa defended his attempt to negotiate a compromise.

“I don’t engage in finger-pointing; instead, I like to bring the parties together. I like to find common ground between business and labor,” he said.

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