Your guide to the L.A. city controller election: Paul Koretz vs. Kenneth Mejia
It’s a two-way contest between two candidates for City Controller, but this year, one is a fiscal conservative, the other is a progressive.
Here’s a rundown of the key differences in their records, the candidates’ approaches to government and what we know about who they are.
Campaign strategy
Koretz: A fiscal conservative who wants to cut red tape and reduce the workload of city workers.
Koretz got elected in 2012 to represent his south L.A. district, where he had worked as a civil engineer. He was the top vote-getter that year in L.A. County and was named the top vote-getter in Los Angeles County in his third attempt.
In his first campaign, he trailed the other candidate, Ravi Bhalla, in the primary, but won with 71 percent of the vote. In his second run, Koretz was the top vote-getter with 60 percent of the vote.
In this year’s election, he’s the top vote-getter with 50 percent of the vote, but behind Bhalla, who got 36 percent.
Koretz has vowed to fight for a single-source funding structure that will allow L.A. to build its own clean energy plants. He supports raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, reducing income taxes and pensions, and expanding public transportation and services.
He has called for a moratorium on evictions, rent control, and rent stabilization. He is the top vote-getter in L.A. County in his second try being the top vote-getter in L.A. County in his first try.
Koretz has pledged to keep the city’s budget in balance. He’s the top vote-getter in L.A. County in his second try being the top vote-getter in