Kenneth Mejia makes history as first Asian American elected to citywide office in LA
Kenneth Mejia has made history as the first Filipino American Los Angeles city controller and the first Asian American to assume citywide office.
Mejia, a 32-year-old accountant and leftist community activist, declared victory over three-term councilmember Paul Koretz at the midterm elections on Nov. 8.
Mejia held a 21-point lead over Koretz and captured 60.92 percent of the votes. His win also marks the first certified public accountant and the first person of color to hold the city controller’s office in more than a century.
“It was always an uphill battle,” Mejia said in a victory speech. “Always thought we were too young, too idealistic… We proved everyone wrong.”
Mejia ran on a progressive platform and used social media such as Twitter and TikTok to inform voters of the city controller’s responsibilities. Replacing current controller Ron Galperin, Mejia will be operating as the chief accounting officer of Los Angeles overseeing monetary auditing services and financial operations for the city.
His campaign platform focused on addressing the housing crisis, auditing the cost of homeless encampment sweeps and helping people experiencing homelessness connect with social services. As a former organizer for the L.A. Tenants Union, Meija worked on holding city departments accountable and decriminalizing homelessness.
He also vowed to expand alternatives to police response and increase transparency in climate action. Meija wishes to evaluate the progress of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Green New Deal and has proposed an analysis on how much the city spends on oil and gas companies for power.
Mejia believes that the role of the controller can be described as “the city’s accountant and paymaster,” which he said is well-suited to his background as an organizer and a certified public accountant.
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