Your guide to the L.A. city controller election: Paul Koretz vs. Kenneth Mejia

Koretz received his begin in politics at UCLA, the place he co-founded the Bruin Democratic Membership in 1973. He labored for then-Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky and the California League of Conservation Voters. He additionally received a seat on the West Hollywood Metropolis Council in 1988. A dozen years later, he joined the state Meeting. And in 2009, he was elected to the L.A. Metropolis Council, representing components of the Westside and San Fernando Valley.

In his first bid for citywide workplace, Koretz has touted his give attention to renters’ rights, his advocacy for animal anti-cruelty legal guidelines and his environmental insurance policies.

All through his profession, Koretz has been a vocal advocate for organized labor, significantly unions that symbolize public workers. However unions haven’t been closely concerned within the controller’s race. Among the many few to step in is Laborers’ Worldwide Union of North America Native 300, which supplied funding for the Committee for a Sane L.A., a bunch against Mejia’s marketing campaign.

Mejia, for his half, has held jobs over the previous decade with Ernst & Younger, Canyon Capital Advisors, Activision and different firms. He’s a three-time political candidate, having run for a congressional seat in L.A. in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

In his first bid for metropolis workplace, Mejia has used his marketing campaign to supply charts and graphics that illustrate metropolis spending choices and illuminate the working of metropolis authorities. These graphics, on social media and old-school billboards, have proven the amount of cash supplied to the LAPD, the price of metropolis authorized payouts, the places of park services and different data.

For L.A.’s political left, a Mejia victory can be an enormous coup, presumably setting him up for a run for mayor in 2026.

An activist with the Los Angeles Tenants Union, Mejia protested last year outdoors the San Fernando Valley house of Councilmember Paul Krekorian, demanding that the town buy a Chinatown condominium constructing the place tenants are dealing with large lease hikes. He repeatedly attended demonstrations outdoors the house of Mayor Eric Garcetti, the place Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles denounced the concept of Garcetti securing a submit within the Biden administration.