The President of the Los Angeles City Council is the presiding officer of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tem ...

. The president presides over meetings of the council and assignments to City Council committees and handles parliamentary duties like ruling motions in or out of order. The president automatically becomes an acting mayor when the mayor is out of state. Since 2020, the president has been elected at the first scheduled council meeting in January of even-numbered years. The current president is Democrat

Paul Krekorian 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. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented the second district on the Los ...

, who was elected on October 18, 2022.

History

Early history

The office of the President was created with the introduction of the

Los Angeles Common Council The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...

in 1850, with one of the members of the Council serving as the President. During the time, the council governed the city and had the responsibility of governing the school system as several members were appointed to serve on a committee for the governance of schools. The first president of the Common Council was pioneer

David W. Alexander David W. Alexander (June 22, 1812 – April 29, 1886) was an early California politician and pioneer in Los Angeles County, California. He was on the Board of Supervisors in 1853 and 1854, and in 1855 he was elected the third sheriff for the count ...

, who was elected in 1850 before resigning a year later.Clare Wallace, Los Angeles Public Library Reference File, April 26, 1939, with sources as listed there
/ref> In 1889, the

was created under the first city charter, though the office stayed relatively the same.

New city charter

In 1965, the job of President Pro Tempore was created to preside during the absence of the President, with the first officer being councilman Thomas D. Shepard. Shepard presided when

L. E. Timberlake Leonard E. "Lee" Timberlake (1896–1973) was a British-born American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1945 to 1969. Before entering politics, Timberlake was a railroad employee and travel bureau owner. Biog ...

became acting mayor due to mayor

Sam Yorty Samuel William Yorty (October 1, 1909 – June 5, 1998) was an American radio host, attorney, and politician from Los Angeles, California. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, ...

traveling outside the country. The assistant pro tempore was created in 1977 with councilman

Ernani Bernardi Ernani Bernardi — also known as Noni Bernardi and Nani Bernardi — (October 29, 1911 – January 4, 2006) was a big band musician and politician. Bernardi served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1961 to 1993, representing 7th district an ...

as the officer, who presided over meeting if both the President and the President Pro Tempore are out. Councilman

John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14, 1924 – April 17, 2001) was an American politician and businessman who was a Democratic member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1966 until his death in 2001, the longest tenure of any member in the city's history. Befo ...

is the longest serving president, serving for 20 years in two terms. The first woman to be elected as the City Council president was

Pat Russell Pat Russell (December 31, 1923 – February 11, 2021) was an American community activist and member of the Los Angeles City Council. She was the fourth woman to serve on that city council (1969–87) and the first woman to be City Council presi ...

, who held the title until 1987 when she was defeated in the City Council elections. The first Latino elected was

Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from ...

in 2001 after defeating incumbent Ruth Galanter; he served as acting mayor days after the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

as mayor

James Hahn James Kenneth Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Hahn was elected the 40th mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. He served until 2005, at which time he was defeated in his bid for re-election. Prior to his term ...

traveled out of the city. The first African-American president was Herb Wesson, who was elected in 2012 and served until 2020. The first Latina president was

Nury Martinez Nury Martinez (born July 9, 1973) is a Mexican-American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 6th district from 2013 until her resignation in 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Martinez became president o ...

, who was elected in 2020 and served until 2022.

Responsibilities

*presiding over meetings of the council. *giving assignments to City Council committees. *handling parliamentary duties like ruling motions in or out of order. *serving as an acting mayor for the

Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all ju ...

if the office is vacant.

List of presidents (1919–present)

References

{{Los Angeles Speakers of city councils