Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd
mayor of Los Angeles
The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...
from 2013 until 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 ...
, he was first elected in the
2013 election, and reelected in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
. 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 ...
, Garcetti served as
City Council President from 2006 to 2012. He was the city's first elected
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
mayor, and its second consecutive
Mexican American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
mayor. He was elected as the youngest mayor in over 100 years, having been 42 at the time of his inauguration. In July 2021,
Joe Biden nominated Garcetti as the
United States Ambassador to India
The United States Ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. Ambassador's office is situated at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Chiefs of Mission to India
U.S. Ambassadors to the Dominion of ...
, but by May 2022 it was acknowledged Garcetti would not have the required votes in the Senate for confirmation.
Early life and education
Garcetti was born on February 4, 1971, in Los Angeles, and was raised in
Encino in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
.
He is the son of Sukey (née Roth) and
Gil Garcetti
Gilbert Salvador Iberri Garcetti (born August 5, 1941) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. He is the father of the 42nd mayor of the ci ...
, the former
Los Angeles County District Attorney
The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is in charge of the office that prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Los Angeles County, California, United States. The current district attorney (DA) is George Gascón.
Some mi ...
.
Garcetti's paternal grandfather, Salvador, was born in
Parral, Chihuahua
Hidalgo del Parral is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. As of 2015, the city ...
, Mexico. Salvador was brought by his family to the United States as a child after his father, Massimo "Max" Garcetti, was murdered by hanging during the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. Max had
immigrated to Mexico from Italy. He married a Mexican woman and became a judge.
His paternal grandmother, Juanita Iberri, was born in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, one of 19 children born to an immigrant father from
Sonora, Mexico
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
, and an Arizona-born mother whose father and mother were both Mexican.
Garcetti's maternal grandparents were
Russian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
immigrants.
His maternal grandfather, Harry Roth, founded and ran the clothing brand Louis Roth Clothes.
Garcetti's family celebrated
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
and
Chanukah
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
, and he attended a Jewish camp.
Garcetti attended elementary school at
UCLA Lab School
UCLA Lab School is the laboratory school of the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies (Ed&IS). Located on UCLA's main Westwood campus since the 1950s, it currently serves 450 students ranging in ages from 4 to 12.
Founded as a demonstra ...
, formerly University Elementary School; and middle and high school at
Harvard-Westlake School
Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two predec ...
.
While in high school, he was a member of the
Junior State of America
The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, is an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to ...
, a national civic engagement and political debate organization for students.
Garcetti majored in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, and received a Bachelor of Arts from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1992 as a
John Jay Scholar.
During that time, he lived in
Carman Hall
Carman Hall is a dormitory located on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus and currently houses first-year students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
History
The building ...
, served on the student council, was president of the
St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the Calendar of saints, feast day of Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony the Great. The frater ...
fraternity and literary society, founded the Columbia Urban Experience, and co-wrote and performed in three years of the ''
Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Colu ...
,'' a student-written musical. He received a
Masters of International Affairs from the
School of International and Public Affairs
The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, graduating in 1993.
He met his future wife while they were both studying as
Rhodes Scholars
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
at
Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
. While at Oxford, he was a member of the
Oxford University L'Chaim Society
The Oxford University L'Chaim Society was a student society at the University of Oxford from 1989 to 2001. At its peak, it was the second-largest society within the University of Oxford.
Name
''L'Chaim'' (לחיים ''le-KHA-im'') in Hebrew is a ...
founded by Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach
Jacob Shmuel Boteach ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, and television host. Boteach is the author of 31 books, including the best seller ''Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy'', and ''Kosher Jesu ...
, along with future U.S. Senator
Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sena ...
.
He later began studying for a PhD in ethnicity and nationalism at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
but as of 2022 does not appear to have ever completed the degree.
Professional career
Prior to his election to 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 ...
, Garcetti was a visiting instructor of international affairs at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
, and an assistant professor of diplomacy and world affairs at
Occidental College
Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...
.
His academic work focused on
ethnic conflict
An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positi ...
and
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
in Southeast Asia and Northeast Africa. During this time, he published articles and chapters of books on post-conflict societies, Eritrean nationalism, and
non-violent
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
. He has served on the California board of
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
,
and currently serves on the
advisory board
An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...
for
Young Storytellers Young Storytellers, formerly widely known as the Young Storytellers Foundation, is an arts education non-profit operating primarily in Los Angeles.
Young Storytellers currently serves elementary, middle, and high school students in Southern Califor ...
, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. Garcetti is a member of the
Inter-American Dialogue.
Los Angeles City Council (2001–2013)
Elections
City Council District 13 was left vacant after incumbent
Jackie Goldberg
Jacqueline "Jackie" Goldberg (born November 18, 1944) is an American politician and teacher serving as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for the 5th district.
Early life and education
Goldberg was born in th ...
was elected to the
State Assembly in 2000. Garcetti ran for the open seat and was elected in 2001, narrowly defeating former city council member
Michael Woo 52 to 48 percent. He was re-elected again in 2005 (unopposed) and 2009 (with 72% of the vote).
Tenure
Garcetti served as council president from January 1, 2006, to January 12, 2012. He was elected by his colleagues to succeed
Alex Padilla
Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 2015 ...
, who resigned after being elected to the
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...
. He was one of the first elected officials in Los Angeles to hold "office hours" each month, where constituents could meet with him face-to-face. He implemented a "Constituent Bill of Rights" that ensured that constituents' phone calls were returned within a single workday, that constituents are included in all land-use decisions in their neighborhood, and that all constituent concerns are tracked on a computer system that details all actions taken on that particular case. He ensured that the meetings started on time, and all past meetings were made available online. He has also helped more than 1,500 local constituents learn about the governmental process by hosting Government and Planning 101 courses throughout the city.
Environmental issues
In 2004, Garcetti authored Proposition O,
a city stormwater bond which sought to clean the city's waterways. Voters approved the bond with just over 76% of the vote, making it the largest clean water bond in the United States.
In 2005, Garcetti helped found the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust. He authored two of the nation's most far-reaching municipal green building ordinances: the first requires all city buildings to be built to the
LEED-certified standard, and the second mandates that all
commercial buildings
Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income. Commercial property includes office b ...
of more than in Los Angeles be built to a LEED standard. He supported changes in the city's landscape ordinance and plumbing codes to promote water conservation.
In July 2010, Garcetti, then council president, weakened a 2009 lawn watering ordinance, allowing watering three days per week instead of two. The ordinance restricting watering to two days a week had been passed 13 months earlier by 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 ...
. While it helped the city cut its water use and cope with ongoing
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, the measure was unpopular and was accused of causing pressure fluctuations and water main breaks. A ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' editorial said that the city council's changes to the watering ordinance was a "death knell for one of the best collective environmental efforts made by the citizens of Los Angeles".
Urban development
Garcetti worked to have
Historic Filipinotown
Historic Filipinotown (alternately known as HiFi ) is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. It is one of the six Asian Pacific Islander neighborhoods (Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, Little Bangladesh, Koreatown, and Thai Town ...
designated a
Preserve America
Preserve America is a United States government program, established under President George W. Bush, intended to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy the country's cultural and natural heritage.
As of 2017, more than 900 c ...
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
. He has also faced public scrutiny for developments that unexpectedly demolished and built over cultural and historic landmarks. One example is three small buildings at historic
Sunset Junction Sunset Junction is an informal name for a portion of the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, California. It was home to the Sunset Junction Street Fair from 1980 through 2010. It is in the southwestern part of ...
that were demolished to make way for a large condominium development, but which in fact remained vacant land for more than a decade. A spokesperson for Garcetti expressed disappointment that the developer took action without first notifying the city council, which had discussed community concerns.
In his district, Garcetti helped create the Neighborhood Leadership Institute, which trains constituents to be active citizens, as well as the Uniting Neighborhoods to Abolish Graffiti (UNTAG) program, which has reduced graffiti in his district over 78% in its first four years.
During his first term, as chair and member of the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee, he helped create a $100 million
housing trust fund
Housing trust funds are established sources of funding for affordable housing construction and other related purposes created by governments in the United States (U.S.). Housing Trust Funds (HTF) began as a way of funding affordable housing in th ...
. He has also worked to revitalize the
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
area and reform the city business tax.
Mayor of Los Angeles (2013–2022)
Elections
With incumbent 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 ...
ineligible to run again because of
term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
s, Garcetti declared his candidacy on September 8, 2011. The election was held on March 5, 2013. As no candidate received a majority of the primary votes to be elected outright, the top two finishers (Garcetti and
City Controller
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...
Wendy Greuel
Wendy Jane Greuel (born May 23, 1961) is an American politician. She served as Los Angeles City Controller from 2009–13. Greuel was the second woman elected to citywide office in Los Angeles, after her predecessor Laura Chick.
Previously, sh ...
) advanced to a
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
. Bolstered by the
Los Angeles Teachers Union's endorsement,
Garcetti was elected on May 21 with 53.9% of the vote, defeating Greuel.
The next day, he met with Villaraigosa, who worked with him over the rest of his own tenure to better the transition. Garcetti's term began on July 1, 2013.
Garcetti was re-elected with 81.4% of the vote on March 7, 2017. Although he avoided a runoff election this time,
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was relatively low at 20%. Due to a change in the city's election calendar to align mayoral elections with statewide elections, his second term was to be for five years and six months instead of the usual four years.
Tenure
Garcetti's tenure as mayor has been described by some authors as both
progressive and pragmatic.
He cites his method as striking a balance on delivering on
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
goals for the city, while simultaneously taking a more
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
approach to government reform.
Budget policy
In a memo in October 2013, Garcetti instructed department heads to develop a "starting point" budget based on the 5% cut from the previous year. In April 2014, he unveiled a "hold-the-line" budget for the coming fiscal year, which proposed modest increases in a number of city services and zero reduction in the business tax. His financial proposal of $8.1 billion required approval from the city council and closed the $242 million gap "in part by relying on increased tax revenue projections and reductions in vacant positions".
That August, he announced he would begin his annual review of every city general manager as part of his commitment to improve accountability among Los Angeles officials.
The financial plan assumed the city's workforce, which included police officers and firefighters, would not receive raises in the coming year. One of the proposed changes was to merge the city's police and fire dispatch centers to streamline and improve response time to
911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 91 ...
calls for emergencies and fires. Mayoral aides said such a change would take multiple years to complete.
Garcetti said he hoped to increase funding for the
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
, the department making up nearly 44% of the fund already and most of the increase would go towards new technology for officers. The plan was scheduled to go into effect on July 1, adding eight hours per week to the city's branch library operations. The number of code enforcement officers assigned to look for unpermitted construction and other neighborhood issues, would increase from 25 to 38. He also announced other changes, such as creating a $1.4 million innovation fund to transform city services, breaking the command structure at the
Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...
into four geographic regions, and hiring 140 firefighters to cope with attrition.
Economic policy
In 2014, Garcetti pushed California Governor Jerry Brown to expand the current film production tax credit (which awarded $100 million annually). He later reported that Brown had agreed to support expanding the tax credit, though it was unclear how large the expansion would be. He wanted $420 million, equal to
New York's credit.
![-RaisetheWageLA (15003971968)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/-RaisetheWageLA_%2815003971968%29.jpg)
In 2014, Garcetti called for a
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
in Los Angeles that could reach $13.25 after three years. He received support from several members of the city council, who would have to approve of the increase. He released an economic analysis, which was prepared by academics at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, that stated an "L.A. wage of $13.25—$4.25 more than the state minimum of $9—would significantly improve the lot of low-income workers and impose minimal burdens on business." Business leaders warned that boosting pay too quickly could stifle the slowly rebounding local economy (California's minimum wage then was $9, having increased from $8 on July 1). His proposed ordinance would require businesses to increase workers' pay from the state minimum to at least $10.25 in 2015, $11.75 in 2016 and $13.25 in 2017. Beginning in 2018, additional adjustments in Los Angeles would be automatically tied to an inflation index. Later that month, he expressed his support for the city council to vote on a new citywide law requiring large hotels to pay $15.37 an hour, adding that it would not conflict with his drive to raise the city's minimum wage. He aligned himself with the
Fight for 15
The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the Minimum wage in the United States, minimum wage to be raised to United States dollar, USD$15
per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The m ...
movement when he signed legislation in 2015 to gradually raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles to $15 per hour.
Homelessness
In June 2014, while calling the long wait times at the
VA's Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System unacceptable, Garcetti pledged to secure 10,000 jobs for veterans by 2017. He also embraced the
Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
's challenge to end veteran
homelessness
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
in Los Angeles within 17 months, stating that he would not accept that "veterans live in our city without a place of their own."
[
*
*
*
*
*
*]
Results from the initiatives have been mixed. On the one hand, the jobs initiative, which offers tax credits to employers who hire veterans, has been generally successful, even surpassing Garcetti's original goal. But the housing initiative has been more complicated to achieve.
In a 2017 interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Garcetti said that he deserved credit for housing 8,000 veterans, as well as persuading voters to pass Proposition HHH in 2016, which sought to drastically expand the number of apartment units built in the city.
However, while the measure was approved overwhelmingly, the funding appropriated by Proposition HHH could potentially fall short of the 10,000 apartment units it was intended to build.
A study released in June 2019 by the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA) found that homelessness compared to the previous year surged by 16 percent to nearly 60,000 homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.
[ Garcetti responded to the report by saying "Skyrocketing rents statewide and federal disinvestment in affordable housing, combined with an epidemic of untreated trauma and mental illness, is pushing people into homelessness faster than they can be lifted out".]
Immigration policy
In July 2014, Garcetti announced the Los Angeles Police Department would stop honoring most federal requests for detaining arrestees so they can be investigated for deportation. He stated that Los Angeles was joining with other jurisdictions to end the practice of detaining people for being in the United States illegally with no judicial review, and said that the detainment policy was expensive to local government and erodes public trust in the police department. "The federal government has the luxury of waiting to act," he said. "Here at the local level, we are carrying out what the federal government should be doing." Later that month, he confirmed Los Angeles would help shelter immigrant children who have been detained after crossing the border and had begun talks with a federal agency about doing so.
Garcetti worked together with Los Angeles County Supervisor
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...
Hilda Solis
Hilda Lucia Solis (; born October 20, 1957) is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district. Solis previously served as the 25th United States Secretary of Labor from 2009 to 2013, as par ...
to create the $10 million L.A. Justice Fund, which provides legal services to illegal immigrants facing deportation. In April 2019, Garcetti opposed President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
on his plan to release immigrant detainees into sanctuary cities calling his strategy "hateful" and a "waste of time".
LAFD relations
In 2013, Garcetti pledged that 5% of the Los Angeles Fire Department
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...
's firefighters would be women by 2020. As of 2018, 3.1% of the department's firefighters were women.
On March 20, 2014, Garcetti responded to criticism of the department's hiring system that eliminated thousands of qualified applicants by announcing he was canceling the process. He said he had "determined that the Fire Department's recruiting process is fatally flawed". The mayor's office announced that the next scheduled Fire Academy class of 70 cadets would not be held, and that no further hiring would be made from the current civil service list (nearly 25% of the 70 recruits eventually hired were related to LAFD firefighters). It later stated that the RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
had been asked to help in reforming the recruiting process. The decision was met with a mixed reception.
Olympic bid
In July 2016, Garcetti was part of a 25-person contingent from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
to promote their city's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...
. That November, he led a presentation with six-time gold medalist sprinter Allyson Felix
Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 me ...
to an array of Olympic leaders and sports officials at a general assembly for the Association of National Olympic Committees
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
in Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, Qatar.
Ultimately, the International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
decided to make Paris the host of the 2024 games, while awarding Los Angeles the 2028 Summer Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...
. In preparation for hosting the games, Garcetti launched the Twenty-eight by '28
The Twenty-eight by '28 initiative is an effort set forth by former Mayor Eric Garcetti that the City of Los Angeles complete 28 transportation infrastructure projects before the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics on and the 2028 Summer Paralympics ...
initiative, which gives accelerated priority to the city's most crucial transit infrastructure projects. He also appointed former ambassador Nina Hachigian
Ambassador Nina Lucine Hachigian (ret) is the first U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy. In this role, she seeks to bring benefits to, and learn from, local leaders in the United States, and connect them to counterparts around ...
as Deputy Mayor for International Affairs to help coordinate the Olympics as well as broadening the city's global relations in general.
Police relations
In July 2014, the Los Angeles Police Protective League
The Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) is the police union representing Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers up to the rank of lieutenant. LAPPL has a membership of 9,900 sworn officers.
The LAPPL serves to protect the inter ...
stated its plans to file an unfair labor practices complaint with the city's Employee Relations Board to block Garcetti and police chief
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
Charlie Beck
Charles Lloyd Beck (born June 27, 1953) is a retired police officer, formerly serving as the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and subsequently as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. A veteran of the department ...
from discussing directly with officers the proposed a one-year contract that had been previously rejected. The proposal provided $70 million in overtime for that year and $50 million to buy back some of the $120 million in banked overtime while containing no cost-of-living increase.
Protective League President Tyler Izen said that while the union understood the mayor's intentions, he believed speaking directly to the officers could violate fair bargaining rules.
Garcetti found a way around the legal threats by posting a video on YouTube on July 24, noting that under the proposed contract, salaries for officers hired during the recession would be increased and overtime would no longer be given as time off, instead paid in cash. "The sacrifices you made on overtime were emergency measures—never intended to be permanent. And I understand the toll these emergency measures have taken. Not just on your pocketbook but on the LAPD as a whole", Garcetti said.
Other major changes made to the department during Garcetti's tenure include purchasing 7,000 body-worn cameras for the city's patrol officers as well as adding more than 200 officers to the LAPD Metropolitan Division
Metropolitan Division, also known as METRO, is an elite division with in the Los Angeles Police Department under Special Operations Bureau which is responsible for managing the department's specialized units, including the Line Platoons(B Team, ...
to control the crime rate, which had increased in 2014.
In June 2020, following a campaign by a coalition of community groups including Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
, Garcetti announced Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
budget cuts of $150 million (LAPD was set to receive a large increase in its annual budget from $1.189 billion in 2019 to $1.86 billion in 2020, with most of it going for new police bonuses). Garcetti announced the funds would be redirected to community initiatives.
Public utilities
Garcetti nominated four new appointees to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners: Jill Banks Barad, Michael F. Fleming, William W. Funderburk Jr., and former congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Mel Levine
Meldon Edises Levine (born June 7, 1943) is an American attorney and former Democratic Congressman from California. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1993.
Early life
On June 7, 1943, Levine was born in Los Ang ...
. The four commissioners were confirmed by the city council on September 11, 2013, joining Villaraigosa appointee Christina E. Noonan on the panel.
In August 2013, Garcetti said he would sign off on a proposed four-year contract with Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...
workers. Officials estimated the contract would save $6.1 billion over 30 years. In large part, the deal was expected to save money by cutting the pension benefits of new hires and workers going without raises in pay for three years. The deal was largely worked out before Garcetti took office the previous month; he initially balked at the contract before coming around when negotiators tweaked the proposal to allow for further talks on the issue.
Garcetti accepted the agreement due to provisions, which included a labor-management council to review work rules that add to LADWP workers' salaries, a modified health care system and an added pension tier for new workers and a broadened effort to reduce the disparity in pay with other city workers. In January 2014, he nominated Marcie Edwards to head the Department of Water and Power, who was confirmed on February 21.
Race relations
In July 2013, Garcetti called for "calm in the streets" after the acquittal of George Zimmerman
George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' Florid ...
three days earlier. While acknowledging the similarities between the Zimmerman case and the 1992 Rodney King riots
The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in So ...
, he insisted the city had come a long way.
In April 2014, the mayor was joined by current and former NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
players to praise the disciplinary actions taken by the league against L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) fro ...
for his publicized racist remarks, saying that the remarks "do not represent Los Angeles". He stated during an interview that the Sterling controversy was "a defining issue" for the city and required a strong response from elected leaders. He stated that he expected Sterling to put up a "long, protracted fight" and that his continued ownership could prove harmful to the franchise.
In May 2014, LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
officer Shaun Hillmann received a 65-day suspension after recorded remarks of him referring to an African-American man as a "monkey" were aired on television. The next day, Garcetti said Hillmann's statements were "reprehensible" and that the officer should have received a "stiffer" punishment.
In May 2020, Mayor Garcetti joined Rep. Ted Lieu
Ted W. Lieu (; born March 29, 1969) is an American politician and Air Force Reserve Command colonel who has represented California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. The district includes much of weste ...
, CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
host Van Jones
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
, and other leaders in civil rights and public service to speak out against racism — including Anti-Asian hate — during the COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic at an Asia Society forum.
In June 2021, Garcetti formed Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE), a coalition of 11 U.S. mayors dedicated to starting pilot reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from G ...
programs in their cities.["11 U.S. Mayors Commit To Developing Pilot Projects For Reparations,"]
''Associated Pres'' (June 18, 2021) In conjunction with the formation of MORE, Garcetti formed an advisory commission to develop a pilot reparations program for Black Angelenos.
Sustainability
On his first full day as mayor, Garcetti proclaimed that Los Angeles was beginning to leave behind its culture of car ownership
Car ownership is the ownership of a car. Car ownership typically requires far fewer permits than driving that car on public roads (i.e. driver's license, car insurance, etc.).
History
Levels of ownership have risen significantly since automobile ...
and to focus on "walkability and transit". He encouraged developing plans to make several dozen boulevards more hospitable to pedestrians, cyclists and small businesses.
In April 2014, Garcetti signed into law a new waste franchise agreement, which was planned to expanded recycling to businesses and apartments. He stated his goal was to have 90% of all trash recycled by 2025. That same year, Garcetti co-founded Mayors National Climate Action Agenda
Mayors National Climate Action Agenda, or Climate Mayors, is an association of United States mayors with the stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Founded by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, former Houston mayor Annise Parker, and for ...
, along with Houston mayor
The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...
and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter
Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
. The association is composed of 379 United States mayors with the stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
. It is committed to upholding the emissions goals of the Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...
on climate change, and opposes the Trump Administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
's decision to withdraw from the pact.
In April 2015, Garcetti released a long-range plan for making the city more economically and environmentally sustainable.
Urban development and transit
In January 2014, Garcetti announced a new plan to tackle earthquake safety, marking the 20th anniversary of the destructive Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately ...
.
In June 2014, Garcetti picked Seleta Reynolds to run the Los Angeles Department of Transportation
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city or ...
(LADOT). Later that year, the mayor's office and LADOT released a strategic plan with a Vision Zero goal to eliminate all traffic deaths by the year 2025. Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
project that aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic.
Garcetti publicly encouraged the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation's collaboration with architect Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions.
His works are considered ...
on the River LA River LA is a nonprofit working on the revitalization of the Los Angeles River. The organization, formerly known as the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, was founded in 2009 by the City of LA to coordinate river policy as part of the Lo ...
project. River LA is a nonprofit organization working to revitalize the Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
.
In 2016, Garcetti championed Measure M
Measure R was a ballot measure during the November 2008 elections in Los Angeles County, California, that proposed a half-cent sales taxes increase on each dollar of taxable sales (originating in or made from Los Angeles County) for thirty years i ...
, a half-cent sales tax measure to fund the expansion of the region's Metro rail network. Measure M passed with 70.15% of the vote, clearing the two-thirds majority required.
Garcetti opposed Measure S
Measure S, originally known as the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, was considered by voters in the city of Los Angeles in the March 7, 2017, election. It would have imposed a two-year moratorium (law), moratorium on land development, developme ...
(originally known as the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative), a NIMBY referendum to block housing development. The referendum would have imposed a two-year moratorium on development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
*Photographi ...
projects seeking variances from some aspects of the city's zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
code, made changes to the environmental impact statement requirements in the code, and required the city to update its comprehensive plan
Comprehensive planning is an ordered process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The end product is called a comprehensive plan, also known as a general plan, or master plan. This resulting document e ...
during the moratorium. On March 7, 2017, the measure failed with over two-thirds of voters rejecting it.
In 2022, Garcetti opposed California state legislation that would eliminate parking requirements for housing developments near public transit stations.
Controversies
On January 14, 2014, Garcetti was in the passenger seat of an LAPD vehicle when the vehicle struck a pedestrian. The mayor's office said that the mayor had been on his phone and not seen the crash, and had been interviewed by investigators. Battalion Chief Stephen J. Ruda of the LAFD reported the female pedestrian "was stable and alert, responding to our paramedics" before she was rushed to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, or by the abbreviation LAC+USC (and sometimes still referred to by its former name Los Angeles County General), is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located at 2051 Marengo Street in ...
. Hospital spokesperson Rosa Saca said the woman was stable and had been admitted overnight. Garcetti visited the woman in the hospital the next day and stated "We had a nice conversation and I am very pleased that she is in good spirits. I wish her a speedy recovery."
On June 16, 2014, while speaking at the championship celebration for the Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
hockey team, Garcetti cautioned: "There are two rules in politics – never be pictured with a drink in your hand, and never swear." He then held up an empty beer bottle and said, "But this is a big fucking day", prompting a standing ovation from the Kings players and the crowd. The incident attracted some controversy. When he appeared on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' later that evening, Garcetti told the late night TV host, "It was hockey; it wasn't a match of lawn bowls." The following day, speaking at a luncheon at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza (alternately BHCP) is a shopping mall located in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. This was one of the first regional shopping centers in the United States built specifically for the automo ...
, he apologized to those who found what he said offensive and suggested they lighten up. He argued that it was "something that plenty of people have heard in their lives for sure".
On November 5, 2015, Garcetti's office issued a statement endorsing Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the 2016 presidential election. The situation was quickly acknowledged as an improper use of government resources to distribute a campaign-related proclamation.
In February 2016, local CBS affiliate KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent outl ...
reported that in the month before Garcetti's State of the City address
The State of the City Address - or State of the City Speech - is a speech customarily given once each year by the mayors or city managers of many cities in the United States and Canada, and commonly called as State of the City Address (SOCA) or St ...
, where he praised landscaping company Turf Terminators, the company's employees, friends, and relatives had donated $45,000 to his re-election campaign and to his nonprofit Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles. Garcetti told KCBS-TV that the donations were legal and the sequence of events was a coincidence.
A 2019 Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
report on missteps in the government's handling of the 2018 Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties of the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018, and burned of land. The fire destroyed 1,643 structures, killed three people, and prompted th ...
response cited the unavailability of firefighting units during critical times of the fire, which was the most destructive in county history. During this time, Garcetti personally made a request to fire officials to check the status of a private residence in Bell Canyon. The report states: "a significant number of requests by political figures to check on specific addresses of homes to ensure their protection distracted from Department leadership to accomplish priority objectives."
On October 19, 2020, journalist Yashar Ali
Yashar Ali (born Yashar Ali Hedayat; fa, یاشار علی هدایت ; November 23, 1979) is an American journalist who has contributed to ''HuffPost'', NBC News, and ''New York'' magazine. In 2019, Ali was included in Time Magazine’s list o ...
reported allegations that Garcetti had been aware of sexual misconduct committed by his senior advisor, Rick Jacobs, and did not take proper action.
On January 30, 2022, Garcetti sparked controversy when he posed for a photo with Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
at the 2022 NFC Championship Game while not wearing a mask, in defiance of the city, county and stadium mask mandates. Garcetti justified the photo by saying that he only removed his mask during the photo, and that he held his breath during the photo op. His statement generated widespread ridicule.
Meeting with Mohammed bin Salman
In April 2018, Garcetti met with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
. The meeting was said to focus on continuing efforts to advance women's rights in Saudi Arabia
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major rights reforms since 2017, after facing religious fundamentalist dominance dating from 1979. According to Human Rig ...
, and Garcetti says he raised concerns about human rights in Saudi Arabia
Human rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy. The Saudi government, which mandates both Muslim and non-Muslim observance of Islamic law under the absolute rule of the House of Saud, has been accused of and denounced by var ...
and the ongoing humanitarian crisis
A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or extern ...
in Yemen. Despite praise by figures like Garcetti on the liberalization of Saudi Arabia, international commentators and human rights group A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awareness ...
s have been openly critical of bin Salman's leadership and the shortfalls of his reform program, citing a rising number of detentions and alleged torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
of human rights activists, his bombing of Yemen in which war-induced famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
could cause 13 million civilians to starve, the escalation of the Qatar diplomatic crisis
The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic incident in the Middle East that began on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered planes and ships ...
, the start of the Lebanon–Saudi Arabia dispute, the start of a diplomatic spat with Canada, the arrest of members of the Saudi royal family in November 2017, a crackdown on feminists, and the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
. He has been described by observers as an Autocracy, autocratic leader, with no tolerance for dissent against him or the Saudi royal family.
National and international politics
Garcetti endorsed Barack Obama in early spring 2007 and was the southern California chairman and one of six state co-chairs for the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign, Obama campaign. He traveled to Iowa, Nevada, and six other states, and was a frequent surrogate (in English and Spanish) for the campaign. He served as a superdelegate during the 2008 Democratic National Convention and was elected to serve as the Chair of Democratic Municipal Officials, an organization affiliated with the Democratic National Committee that represents all local elected Democrats in the United States.
Garcetti is a vocal opponent of the Yes California secessionist movement, saying, "I love this country too much to even consider an exit. I want to be a part of an America that continues to stand up for all of us, not bail on all our friends across the country."
As early as 2017, speculation had swirled around Garcetti's potential 2020 United States presidential election, presidential run in 2020. In 2018, rumors continued about his political ambitions as he made visits to early primary states. In April, he spent two days attending political events across Iowa. In May, he delivered the commencement address at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire. Garcetti came under wide scrutiny from Los Angeles residents, including the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, for supposedly focusing on his presidential ambitions over his mayoral duties. However, on January 29, 2019, Garcetti announced he would not run for president in 2020, opting to finish his term as mayor.
On September 22, 2019, Garcetti attended the rally of Armenia's prime minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Grand Park. He stated, "With this prime minister, a new day of sunshine has come to Armenia, a day of democracy, a day of openness, a day of no more corruption, a day where we can say in Los Angeles, it is time for us to pick up to visit, invest, to support, to help the new Armenia rise, and rise, and rise under the leadership of this prime minister." In October 2020, Garcetti expressed support for Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying: "I urge our leaders in Washington to conduct the sustained and rigorous diplomacy necessary to bring peace to the Nagorno-Karabakh, Artsakh region. Turkey must disengage."
Biden administration
On January 9, 2020, Garcetti publicly endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. At the end of April 2020, Garcetti was named a member of the vetting committee for the 2020 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, selection of Presidential nominee#Presumptive nominee, presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate. In November, Garcetti was named a candidate for Secretary of Transportation in the Biden Administration, but faced widespread protests in Los Angeles against the nomination. Garcetti would claim to have turned down a position offered by President-elect Biden, though he refused to be specific on any details.
Failed Ambassador to India nomination
In May 2021, it was reported that President Biden was considering Garcetti as the United States Ambassador to India, Ambassador to India. On July 9, 2021, Biden officially announced his nomination of Garcetti to the post, with his nomination being sent to the Senate a couple of days later on July 13, 2021. Hearings on his nominations were held before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 14, 2021. His nomination was approved by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 12, 2022.
On March 10, 2022, Senator Chuck Grassley placed a hold on Garcetti's nomination, citing allegations that Garcetti knew about the sexual misconduct committed by his top advisor, Rick Jacobs, and did not take proper action. On March 23, 2022, Senator Joni Ernst announced she would also place a hold on Garcetti's nomination while investigations were conducted as some depositions suggest Garcetti knew of Jacobs' egregious conduct.
On May 22, 2022, CBS News cited reports from U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer acknowledging he did not have enough votes to get Garcetti's nomination passed by the Senate.
Personal life
Garcetti is a photographer, jazz pianist, and composer. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve Information Dominance Corps from 2005 to 2013. On January 4, 2009, he married his longtime girlfriend Amy Elaine Wakeland. A Rhodes Scholar herself, the couple first met while studying at Oxford. They have one daughter, Maya Juanita, who was adopted. Her godfather is actor Evan Arnold, who has been a friend of Garcetti's since junior high school. Garcetti and his wife have also foster care, fostered seven children. Before being elected mayor, he and his family lived in Echo Park, Los Angeles, Echo Park.[
He attends services at IKAR (Jewish congregation), IKAR, a Post-Denominational Judaism, post-denominational Jewish congregation founded by Rabbi Sharon Brous and studies Talmud with her twice a week. He has a daily call with her for religious guidance. Garcetti has said, "My parents aren't practicing (Judaism), either of them... we celebrated ]Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
and Chanukah
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
. I went to Jewish camp. I think I have become more of a practicing Jew or observant later in life. I came to my faith in college." His sister, Dana Garcetti-Boldt, is a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney; she later became an acupuncturist. She currently works as an advisor to Los Angeles County Supervisor
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...
Janice Hahn.
Garcetti has been the recipient of the Green Cross International, Green Cross Millennium Award for Local Environmental Leadership in 2003, the New Frontier Award presented by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in 2006, the NAACP "Person of the Year" in 2014, and the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College in 2015.
From 2010 to 2012, then City Councilman Garcetti appeared as "Ramon Quintero", the mayor of Los Angeles, on the fictional TNT (U.S. TV network), TNT television show ''The Closer'' and its spin-off ''Major Crimes (TV series), Major Crimes''. His first appearance after becoming mayor was a 2016 episode of ''Major Crimes''. His father, Gil Garcetti
Gilbert Salvador Iberri Garcetti (born August 5, 1941) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. He is the father of the 42nd mayor of the ci ...
, is a consulting producer on both series. Eric Garcetti also made a cameo appearance as a desk security guard working in the mayor's office, in the pilot episode of the TBS (U.S. TV channel), TBS series ''Angie Tribeca''.
In 2016, Garcetti briefly appeared in a segment on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' called "Take a Break", where host James Corden pretended to take over his position for a few hours. At the end of the segment, Garcetti takes back control from Corden having him escorted away by some security officers.
See also
* List of Jewish American politicians
* List of mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States
* List of Mexican Americans#Political figures
References
External links
Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti
official mayoral website
Eric Garcetti for Mayor
official campaign website
*
*
Eric Garcetti
at ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
*
Eric Garcetti
at On the Issues
*
America’s 11 Most Interesting Mayors
from ''Politico'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcetti, Eric
Eric Garcetti, *
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