Jack Stephen Weiss (born August 21, 1964) is an American
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
and former
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He is co-founder of BlueLine Grid, Inc., formerly known as Bratton Technologies, Inc. Weiss is also a former member of the
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California.
The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...
representing the
5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to:
Europe
* District 5 (Zürich)
* District 5, Düsseldorf
* V District, Turku
* Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta
* Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...
from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2000. He is a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Background and early career
Weiss graduated from
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...
in 1982, and then graduated with honors from the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 1986.
After graduation, Weiss moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as an arms control researcher and as a
legislative assistant A legislative assistant (LA) or legislative analyst is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer, a government agency as a legislative affairs professional, or in the government relations and regulatory affairs industry by monitor ...
on
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
. He then attended
UCLA School of Law
The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...
and graduated in 1992.
While at UCLA, Weiss was the editor-in-chief of the
UCLA Law Review
The ''UCLA Law Review'' is a bimonthly law review established in 1953 and published by students of the UCLA School of Law, where it also sponsors an annual symposium.
Membership is decided based on performance on a write-on competition. The edi ...
. After graduating from UCLA, Weiss served as a law clerk to a federal judge in California. Weiss then briefly practiced as an attorney with the Los Angeles law firm of
Irell & Manella LLP.
Business career
Weiss is a co-founder of BlueLine Grid, Inc., a New York-based start-up that provides mobile communications tools to public sector employees and agencies. The Company was originally known as Bratton Technologies, Inc., which Weiss co-founded in January 2013 with
Bill Bratton
William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American law enforcement officer and businessman who served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016). He previously served as the Commissioner of th ...
and David Riker, a company with the mission of connecting all public safety agencies in the United States. BlueLine Grid launched a mobile communications application for public employees in May 2014.
In 2009, Weiss joined Virginia-based security and global investigations firm
Altegrity Risk International
Altegrity Risk International (ARI) was a New York City-based global risk consulting and information services company. A subsidiary of Altegrity, Inc. of Falls Church, VA, ARI provided investigations, business intelligence, forensic accounting, c ...
. In August 2010, Altegrity acquired
Kroll
Kroll is a German, Anglo-Saxon, and Scottish surname.
Notable people with the surname include:
* Colin Kroll (1983/4–2018), American businessman; co-founder of Vine and HQ Trivia
* Eric Kroll (born 1946), American photographer
* Fredric Kr ...
, a global risk consulting company, and in September 2010, Weiss was chosen to head Kroll's Los Angeles office. Weiss led the company's expansion its due diligence and fraud investigative services in local corporate and legal communities.
Legal career
Weiss joined the
United States Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
's Office for the Central District of California in 1994. He was assigned to the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section and the Major Frauds Section, and he brought cases involving white collar crime, corruption, civil rights, and violent crimes. He initiated the government’s prosecution of a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge who had conducted an affair with a defendant in his court.
Political career
Los Angeles City Council
In 2001, Weiss was elected to the Los Angeles City Council from
5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to:
Europe
* District 5 (Zürich)
* District 5, Düsseldorf
* V District, Turku
* Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta
* Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...
, defeating former
state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
, assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring th ...
by 369 votes.
During his tenure on the Los Angeles City Council, Weiss chaired the Public Safety Committee;
the Redistricting Committee; the Arts, Health and Humanities Committee; and, the Information Technology and General Services Committee. He also served on the Planning and Land Use Management Committee,
[maloney.house.gov/documents/olddocs/Homeland/weiss.pdf] and contributed to the unsuccessful bid to hold the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Los Angeles.
Weiss supported the efforts of Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
and Police Chief
William Bratton
William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American law enforcement officer and businessman who served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016). He previously served as the Commissioner of the ...
to increase the City's trash collection fees to raise funds to hire new police officers.
Weiss was active on issues involving homeland security and the police department. He was a frequent speaker and author on the topic of terrorism preparedness.
During his tenure on the Council, Weiss wrote legislation that toughened the city’s gun laws,
and he served as the founding chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
In 2002, Weiss wrote a ten-point plan called "Preparing Los Angeles for Terrorism." Weiss was also an outspoken supporter of the State of Israel.
Weiss won reelection in 2005 with 71.9% of the vote.
As a city councilman, Weiss was criticized for accepting campaign contributions from real estate developers and their representatives.
In particular, Weiss accepted 78 political contributions from subcontractors for developer
Alan Casden
Alan I. Casden (born 1945) is an American real estate developer, investor and philanthropist. His real estate companies have developed over 90,000 multi-family apartments since the 1980s. He also owns 3,100 luxury apartments in Los Angeles.
Ear ...
. Additionally, a vice president of Casden Properties made contributions to the Weiss campaign that were later deemed to violate city campaign finance law. Weiss not accused of any wrongdoing by the either the city or state. The
California Fair Political Practices Commission
The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) of California is a five-member independent nonpartisan commission that has primary responsibility for the impartial and effective administration of the Political Reform Act of 1974. The Commission's o ...
ruled that there was no evidence that the Weiss was aware of the source or illegal nature of the donations.
Campaign for Los Angeles City Attorney
![Jack Weiss April 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Jack_Weiss_April_2009.jpg)
In 2007, Weiss announced that he would run for
Los Angeles City Attorney
The Los Angeles City Attorney is an elected official who serves as the city of Los Angeles' government's lawyer and as a criminal prosecutor for misdemeanor violations. The Los Angeles County District Attorney prosecutes felonies. The city attorn ...
seat in 2009, when incumbent
Rocky Delgadillo
Rockard John Delgadillo (born July 15, 1960), known as Rocky Delgadillo, is an American lawyer and politician. He is the former City Attorney of Los Angeles (2001–09).
Career
*Teacher/Coach, Los Angeles Unified School District, Franklin
*Att ...
would be forced from office by term limits. That May, a group of residents in his district launched a campaign to try to force a recall election of Weiss, accusing him of being too supportive of large development projects.
Weiss said the developments were permitted under the city’s zoning laws and would bring needed jobs, housing, property taxes and other infrastructure improvements to the area. The group never turned in its petitions to the city, but claimed to have gathered 20,000 signatures.
Weiss finished first with 36 percent of the vote in the primary election for City Attorney, but was forced into a runoff against
Carmen Trutanich, an attorney in private practice. Several members of the Council threw their support behind Trutanich and Weiss was frequently criticized for his close relationship with Villaraigosa, whose popularity had fallen and who had won reelection in March by a much lower margin than expected. Weiss was also criticized for accepting money from Benjamin Reznik, a lobbyist with a long history of suing the city.
Community involvement
He has served as a member of the UCLA School of Law Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
He serves as a fellow for the Truman National Security Project.
While serving as a council member, Weiss was notified that he was a bone marrow match for a leukemia patient he did not know. Weiss donated bone marrow to the patient and later received the Legislative Award from the National Marrow Donor Program for expanding city medical leave for bone marrow donors. Weiss serves as a member of the board of the Younes and Saraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA, and is also a contributing editor to the
Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by TRIBE Media Corp. ''The Journal'' wa ...
.
Awards
During his career as a public servant, Weiss received numerous awards including:
*100 New Democrats to Watch by Democratic Leadership Council
*Humanitarian Award from the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women
*Environmentalist of the Year Award from the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters
*Distinguished Community Leader Award by UCLA Center for Community Partnerships
*Civic Leadership Award by Santa Monica Baykeeper
*Civic Leadership Award, Peace Over Violence
Personal life
Weiss resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Leslie Kautz, a former
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be simpl ...
policy analyst who is a co-founder of an investment advisory firm. The couple have two children, Jacob Wolf and Mollie.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Jack
1964 births
Living people
California Democrats
Los Angeles City Council members
Jewish American people in California politics
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni
UCLA School of Law alumni
21st-century American Jews