Kenneth Mejia (born November 7, 1990) is an American activist, accountant, and politician, serving as the controller of Los Angeles since 2022. 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 ...

and a former

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, Mejia was a three-time candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in California's 34th congressional district, prior to his candidacy and subsequent election as city controller in 2022. Elected to succeed Ron Galperin, Mejia is the first Filipino American elected official in the City of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, the first Asian American elected to a citywide office, and the first person of color to hold the position of City Controller in over a century.

Early life and career

Mejia is

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

and was born and grew up in Los Angeles. Mejia graduated from

Woodbury University Woodbury University is a private university in Burbank, California, with a satellite campus in San Diego. History The school was founded in 1884 as Woodbury's Business College by its namesake, F. C. Woodbury, formerly a partner in Heald's Busi ...

in two and a half years, finishing in 2010 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in accounting. Mejia has held his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation since around 2013, although the status of his CPA license was "expired" or "inactive" from November 2018 until January 2022. He worked at

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

but left in 2014. He then worked for a hedge fund according to his Twitter account, which he left May 6, 2016, to focus on his campaign. In 2016, he co-founded We Can Make a Difference, a community volunteer organization that provided food and hygiene items to low-income and homeless people in Los Angeles. He then worked at EVgo but left in late 2021 to focus on campaigning. Mejia is a member of the LA Tenants' Union.

Early political campaigns

California's 34th congressional district

Mejia was inspired by the 2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders to engage more in politics, leading him to become a candidate to the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention. Mejia was a write-in

candidate in California's 34th congressional district in 2016. Having grown disenchanted with the Democratic Party, Mejia ran as a US Green Party candidate in the same district in 2017 and 2018. His 2017 bid was noted for its reliance on small-dollar donations. Mejia's 2018 bid advanced to the general election and yielded more than 40,000 votes, setting the record for the highest vote percentage cast for any Green candidate against a Democrat for Congress. Mejia continued to work as an accountant while campaigning in 2018.

Los Angeles City Controller (2022—present)

Election

Mejia announced his candidacy for City Controller, a nonpartisan office, in the

2022 Los Angeles elections The 2022 Los Angeles elections were held on June 7, 2022. Voters elected candidates in a nonpartisan primary, with runoff elections scheduled for November 8, 2022. Eight of the fifteen seats in the City Council were up for election while three ...

. It has been historically uncommon for the city controller to have extensive accounting experience; Mejia claims the office has never been held by a CPA. He was the only city candidate in 2022 position to have received ballot access through signatures alone. During his candidacy, Mejia drew attention to LA fire department employees receiving more than half a million dollars a year, the use of about half of the city's funds from the

American Rescue Plan The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to s ...

on the LA police department, and the amount of police funding in the budget proposed in 2022 by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Mejia published interactive online maps of affordable housing, LAPD traffic stops, parking tickets, and where LA municipal employees live. He's also published a database of the Los Angeles City Payroll using numbers from the outgoing City Controller's website. Mejia's past tweets criticizing Joe Biden generated controversy during the race. On June 7, 2022, Mejia took first place in the primary for LA City Controller, with over 230,163 votes. He obtained 42.75% of the vote, while opponents Paul Koretz and Stephanie Clements obtained 23.83% and 16.01%. On November 8, 2022, Mejia won the general election with 62% of the vote, defeating Koretz.

Tenure

Mejia appointed Rick Cole to serve as his Chief Deputy Controller and Sergio Perez to serve as Chief of Accountability and Oversight. Cole is an Urban Studies Professor and was the former mayor of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

and deputy mayor for Los Angeles. Sergio Perez left his position as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Inspector General to serve.

Electoral history

2016 California's 34th congressional district election

2017 California's 34th congressional district special election

2018 California's 34th congressional district election

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Jimmy Gomez Jimmy Gomez (born November 25, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2017. His district includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, and other com ...

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2022 Los Angeles City Controller election

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia, Kenneth 1990s births Living people 21st-century American politicians Politicians from Los Angeles Woodbury University alumni American people of Filipino descent Accountants American housing activists Activists from California Activists from Los Angeles California Democrats California Greens California socialists Democratic Socialists of America politicians from California Year of birth missing (living people)