The Los Angeles Council inaugurated two new councilors, Ysabel Jurado in district 14 and Adrian Nazarin for district 2. Jurado was replaced by Kevin de León and Nazarin by Paul Krekorian.
Krekorian received a consolation prize at the end of his term as councilor. Mayor Karen Bass named him executive director of the Office of Major Events, a position we’re not sure already existed.
Whatever the case, the mayor appointed Krekorian, president emeritus of the Los Angeles Council, to be in charge of coordinating the 2028 Olympic Games and the Soccer World Cup in 2026.
The question is whether that position really needed to be created or reactivated for the Olympics and the World Cup when there are thousands of vacant positions frozen in the City of Los Angeles due to the budget deficit.
Krekorian’s appointment shows that the mayor is generous with her allies.
who would say
It surprised everyone that Councilwoman Jurado, who promoted herself in her campaign as a lawyer for the defense of tenants, has hired as her office manager a lobbyist at City Hall with a history of advocating for exactly the opposite, the interests of tenants. builders.
This is Lauren Hodgins who, until May, worked as a lobbyist for the Santa Maria Group, which defends the interests of educational institutions, hotel projects and real estate developers supposedly focused on building and renovating affordable housing.
The appointment raised all kinds of comments because it is not very common to see a lobbyist going to work with an elected politician.
We will have to be vigilant about the work of the new councilor Jurado who sold herself as a socialist and the opposite is not going to turn out. For now, some residents of Lincoln Heights have expressed their concern because they fear that by hiring the former lobbyist, private interests will mix with the government, and that instead of elected officials being a brake on the abuses of private interests , cooperate with them.
Ambassadors coming in, ambassadors coming out
President-elect Donald Trump appointed his daughter-in-law, the lawyer and former San Francisco prosecutor, Kimberly Guilfoyle of Puerto Rican origin, as ambassador to Greece. Kimberly is engaged to Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
As life takes turns, Kimberly was the wife of Governor Gavin Newsom.
The person who must already be preparing a move to return to Los Angeles is none other than former mayor Eric Garcetti, who since the spring of 2023 has been the United States ambassador to India. It is to be hoped that he has only a few months of diplomatic life left; as well as the ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, who will be replaced by Ronald Johnson, a former CIA officer.
The concern that is on the minds of many is whether Garcetti will join the list of candidates for governor of California, although with the rumor that Kamala Harris could enter the race, they may think twice.
Closing of story
The final chapter of the José Huizar case closed this week when his older brother Salvador Huizar was sentenced to 100 days of community service and a $4,250 fine after admitting his guilt for lying to FBI agents when they were investigating his brother. .
Basically, the former councilor gave him envelopes of cash and Salvador returned it to him in checks from his bank account. When the brother asked the former councilor where that money came from, Huizar, responded that it was better that he didn’t know.