Paul Krekorian

He was previously a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 43rd Assembly district.

Krekorian is the first Armenian American to be elected to office in the city of Los Angeles.

Krekorian was born in California's San Fernando Valley, as a third-generation San Fernando Valley resident.

He is the son of JoAnn, a North Hollywood native, and Erwin Krekorian, a Marine Corps WWII veteran.

His father was of Armenian descent and ran a small business on Saticoy Street in Van Nuys.

Krekorian completed his primary education entirely within the Los Angeles Unified School District, graduating from Cleveland High School in Reseda.

As the first member of his family to attend college, Krekorian enrolled in the University of Southern California, where he first became active in political causes.

Paul Krekorian (born March 24, 1960) is an American politician, currently serving as the 26th president of the Los Angeles City Council since October 18, 2022.

He worked with then-Assemblyman Tom Bane, became the campus organizer for Jerry Brown's 1978 gubernatorial campaign and helped lead USC's Democratic student group.

After graduating with a B.A. degree in political science from USC, Krekorian went on to earn a J.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Krekorian became an organizer for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and co-chaired the Saxophone Club, the Democratic National Committee's nationwide young professionals group.

Krekorian practiced law, with a focus on business, entertainment, and intellectual-property litigation, at the firms Skadden Arps, Dewey Ballantine and Leopold, Petrich & Smith, and Fisher & Krekorian, where he was a name partner.

He served on the board of trustees of the LA County Bar Association, the Board of Trustees of the LA County Law Library and the California State Legislature's Task Force on Court Facilities.

In the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Krekorian was counsel to the Webster Commission and was appointed to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.

Krekorian has been praised for his efforts in preserving women's rights for his pro-bono work in the fight against domestic violence, and a program he developed for at-risk youth, called GenerationNext.

Krekorian lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife Tamar and children Hrag, Andrew, and Lori.

Krekorian has served the San Fernando Valley for more than two decades, first as a member of the Burbank School Board and then as a California State Assemblymember.

He currently serves as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing District 2 in the southeast San Fernando Valley.

Council District 2 includes the communities of North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Glen, Valley Village, Toluca Lake, and parts of Sun Valley and Van Nuys.

In 2006, Krekorian was elected to the 43rd district of the California State Assembly.

During his first term in office, Krekorian held one of the best records in the Assembly with the highest number of bills signed into law by any freshman legislator.

He was named Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the State Assembly, the third ranking leadership position in the Assembly, by then-Speaker Karen Bass.

Krekorian's legislative priorities included making government more accessible and responsive, saving and creating jobs, protecting the environment and increasing public safety.

He created the "Government at Your Doorstep" program in response to complaints about speeding, graffiti, and noise pollution in his district.

In his first Assembly term, Krekorian's Weapons and Ammunition Nuisance Abatement Act of 2007 gave apartment owners greater latitude to evict tenants who harbor guns and ammo.

That year, Krekorian also introduced and passed a bill to encourage participation with federal authorities to siphon off the state's stock of weapons.

As the state battled to pass a balanced budget in early 2009, Krekorian authored a historic bill to ensure film and TV production in California stays local.

His bill was the first successful tax incentive aimed at saving California jobs by addressing runaway production.

On December 8, 2009, Krekorian won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, representing Los Angeles City Council District 2.

He is the Chair of the city's powerful Budget and Finance Committee, the Vice Chair of the Housing Committee, and sits on the Energy, Climate Change and Environmental Justice Committee; Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee; Executive Employee Relations Committee; and the Board of Referred Powers.

He also serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Metrolink, and sits on the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments, a coalition of leaders advocating for the Valley's two million residents.

A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented the second district on the Los Angeles City Council since 2010.

On-location feature production increased 9.1 percent in the second quarter of 2012, generating 160 production days in Southern California.

Krekorian also introduced legislation that restricted plastic pollution in ocean run-off, expanded renewable energy generation for California public utilities and reduced carbon emissions.

He worked closely with local police departments to reduce gang violence, along with crime in his district and throughout the state.

In 2012, Krekorian was tapped to lead the Budget and Finance Committee, inheriting the responsibility of overseeing a multi-billion dollar General Fund budget.

Since taking the helm, he has taken a "difficult but responsible approach to solving a $220 million deficit and enhancing the city’s solvency."

Krekorian has advocated for expanding rail and bus transit in the Valley, including electrifying and eventually converting the G Line (Los Angeles Metro) to light rail, completing the East Valley North-South Transit Corridor and Sepulveda Pass projects, linking the Red Line to the Hollywood Burbank Airport and connecting the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys by rail.

He has also led the efforts to connect North Hollywood to Pasadena with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line.

On October 18, 2022, Krekorian was elected the president of the Los Angeles City Council following the resignation of former council president Nury Martinez.