The President of the Los Angeles City Council is the presiding officer of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the 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 council and the president pro temp ...

. The president presides over meetings of the council and assignments to City Council committees and handles parliamentary duties like ruling motions in or out of order. The president automatically becomes an acting mayor when the mayor is out of state. Since 2020, the president has been elected at the first scheduled council meeting in January of even-numbered years. The current president is Democrat Paul Krekorian, who was elected on October 18, 2022.

History

Early history

The office of the President was created with the introduction of the Los Angeles Common Council in 1850, with one of the members of the Council serving as the President. During the time, the council governed the city and had the responsibility of governing the school system as several members were appointed to serve on a committee for the governance of schools. The first president of the Common Council was pioneer

David W. Alexander David W. Alexander (June 22, 1812 – April 29, 1886) was an early California politician and pioneer in Los Angeles County, California. He was on the Board of Supervisors in 1853 and 1854, and in 1855 he was elected the third sheriff for the count ...

, who was elected in 1850 before resigning a year later.Clare Wallace, Los Angeles Public Library Reference File, April 26, 1939, with sources as listed there
/ref> In 1889, the

was created under the first city charter, though the office stayed relatively the same.

New city charter

In 1965, the job of President Pro Tempore was created to preside during the absence of the President, with the first officer being councilman Thomas D. Shepard. Shepard presided when L. E. Timberlake became acting mayor due to mayor Sam Yorty traveling outside the country. The assistant pro tempore was created in 1977 with councilman

Ernani Bernardi Ernani Bernardi — also known as Noni Bernardi and Nani Bernardi — (October 29, 1911 – January 4, 2006) was a big band musician and politician. Bernardi served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1961 to 1993, representing 7th district an ...

as the officer, who presided over meeting if both the President and the President Pro Tempore are out. Councilman John Ferraro is the longest serving president, serving for 20 years in two terms. The first woman to be elected as the City Council president was

Pat Russell Pat Russell (December 31, 1923 – February 11, 2021) was an American community activist and member of the Los Angeles City Council. She was the fourth woman to serve on that city council (1969–87) and the first woman to be City Council pres ...

, who held the title until 1987 when she was defeated in the City Council elections. The first Latino elected was

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 ...

in 2001 after defeating incumbent Ruth Galanter; he served as acting mayor days after the 9/11 attacks as mayor James Hahn traveled out of the city. The first African-American president was Herb Wesson, who was elected in 2012 and served until 2020. The first Latina president was Nury Martinez, who was elected in 2020 and served until 2022.

Responsibilities

*presiding over meetings of the council. *giving assignments to City Council committees. *handling parliamentary duties like ruling motions in or out of order. *serving as an acting mayor for the Mayor of Los Angeles if the office is vacant.

List of presidents (1919–present)

References

{{Los Angeles Speakers of city councils