HTLA- Episode 51: City Controller Kenneth Mejia Wants To Be Transparent

Kenneth Mejia  00:00

[music in] I had a dream. Everyone would have housing, adequate housing, accessible housing. I'd love to see homelessness eradicated. That'd be great. In terms of us, in particular, is being able as city controller to let people really cherish the controller position because it's not a popular position, but we've made it popular. So I'm hoping that, you know, the next election comes everyone's like, Oh my God, the controller is the race I'm the most excited about.

Brian De Los Santos  00:29

This is How To LA, the show that aims to better connect you with the city. I'm your host, Brian De Los Santos, and that guy you just heard was Kenneth Mejia. Mejia made history this fall when he was elected as the first Asian American controller in LA, beating a guy who's been in politics here for a long time, Paul Koretz. Mejia is young, only 32. He's been described as a leftist community activist and cites Bernie Sanders as a major influence. He campaigned with his corgis, and he's known to ride scooters around town. For a city controller, which is not exactly a sexy government job, he came off kinda cool. Mejia joins a couple of other political newbies, who rode a progressive wave into office this year. A few of the others ended up on the city council, but LA needs some work. So how will he and some other new folks work with everyone else to get things done and make some change? To get his take, we called him up.

Brian De Los Santos  01:29

Let's kick things off. Why has housing been a [music out] very key point in your trajectory into what you are now, the city controller?

Kenneth Mejia  01:36

I believe that housing is a human right. And we need to ensure that people have housing, right? Safe housing, housing that's accessible, housing you know, that has running water, electricity. You know, in order for people to live and to, and to continue, and so housing has just been a huge issue in LA. I think for me as, as a city's sort of accountant slash auditor is, is providing the transparency on what our housing policies are, how housing gets built. Right now, a lot of the housing that we're seeing, and people are complaining about is that housing takes too long or forever to build, and people are looking for um, solutions, right? Especially to build affordable housing.

Brian De Los Santos  02:21

We're talking about homelessness, and we're talking about housing. And those are major issues that I've spoken to Angelenos about or other experts about LA. And they're huge concerns for folks and voters. What are other things that you hope to deliver on in your term?

Kenneth Mejia  02:36

As the city controller, we are the city's accountant and auditor. So I just want to make sure everyone knows how we're spending our money. Make sure that it is transparent and easily accessible. It's on a website that is mobile friendly. It's in different languages. Essentially, I just want all of our city data to be at the tip of everyone's fingers so that they don't have to beg city council or beg the city to give them information. It's already there, right? And so that's the goal. That's my dream- is to make city information really, really accessible, and easy to understand, and it's just visually pleasing. And that's what we did with our campaign. You know, we hope to hit on a lot of departments, and a lot of issues like homelessness, housing, public safety, animal services, the environment, transportation.

Brian De Los Santos  03:20

So I'm just gonna press you a little bit for specifics on on, let's just say the homelessness crisis here. What are some of the steps that you feel like you need to take in order to take charge in in your office and and what you're doing with the city, a- and then work with other leaders?

Kenneth Mejia  03:35

So what we're doing for the state of emergency- our office is, we want to track homelessness spending. So we have to make sure that we are in the know about how much money we're spending towards the state of emergency. And then the second big thing is, right now we're working on collecting data points on homelessness from other city departments, other county agencies, in order to provide a visual and accurate view of the current state of homelessness in the city of LA.

Brian De Los Santos  04:02

I actually was gonna uh, say that you know, city controller isn't really a sexy job, but it does affect change. And particularly, I want to ask you about the relationship you'll have with the mayor and in affecting change. And you've been vocal about your stance on certain things, police, housing. How are you hoping to work with Karen Bass?

Kenneth Mejia  04:22

Yeah, so we actually uh, meet, actually quite often or speak to each other every week or so. We're actually trying to work together to provide the data on uh, the money we're spending on, regards to the homelessness emergency.

Brian De Los Santos  04:37

Are you supportive of the plans that the the mayor wants to be rolling out and stuff? Do you think that's, that's the way to go?

Kenneth Mejia  04:43

You know, I'm on board. It's just a matter of uh, making sure we have the right data. What does that data look like? How are we getting people off the streets and into temporary housing or permanent housing? I think that data's crucial. She wants to cut red tape and make um, building and construction of affordable housing or permanent supportive housing more efficient and effective. And those are all things that I supported even before being controller.

Brian De Los Santos  05:07

And I'm sure you've already looked at numbers. And are you a little bit worried about the way that we've been spending money or the way we're headed right now, as you look at the budgets and what we've been doing as a city?

Kenneth Mejia  05:18

You know, I think the tough part is, we don't know what we're spending our money on, specifically, especially when it revolves around homelessness. I don't really know what we're spending our money on, when it comes to homelessness in a, in a detailed accounting way that I'm used to or other people are used to, right? And so that's what I'm trying to find out, right? And that's what I want people to understand. And once we have that information of what we're actually spending our money on, what it actually get us, then we can make the decision on if, if we're being efficient or effective, because right now, you know, it's not working- the current process, right? So that's what I'm hoping to bring specifics on.

Brian De Los Santos  05:51

Do you feel like everyone's gonna be aligned with, to make these changes that are are needed in the city?

Kenneth Mejia  05:57

Yeah, I mean, if everyone agrees that everyone should [music in] be off the streets and into housing and get services? Uh, definitely.

Brian De Los Santos  06:04

For sure. Thanks, Kenneth. I appreciate it. Kenneth Mejia is one of several new people to join city government. Almost half of LA City Council is new. The city attorney's new, the mayor's new. All boast fairly liberal pedigrees, but they exist across that spectrum. Some more left, others more in the middle. So let's get a little bit of analysis of how all of this is gonna work. Here's Frank Stoltze, the Civics and Democracy Correspondent at LAist.

Brian De Los Santos  06:35

Hey, Frank. [Frank Stoltze: Hey, Brian.] So you know, we spoke to Mejia earlier, and I just thought that he was gonna come with a little bit more intensity, given his activist roots and what he has said on his campaign trail when he was running for city controller. What stood out for you in that interview you just heard?

Frank Stoltze  06:54

Well, you know, he is a certified public accountant, and uh, we think of accountants as boring people. I don't think of him as a boring person, but certainly in that interview [we] heard somebody who's gonna take kind of a very workman-like approach to his job. You know, he talked about uh, doing the audits of the various departments, and you know, doing it by the numbers, data, data, data, data, data data. The one thing he talked about, and I think we really saw on his campaign that distinguishes him is the visualization part, that he really understands that the way to communicate [with] people nowadays, is visually. And we saw that with that big billboard he had that laid out how the uh, city spends money on the LAPD. And so I think, you know, he he may conduct many of the very same audits that other city controllers have conducted. But I think that we're gonna see him more, and we're gonna understand them better.

Brian De Los Santos  07:53

Yeah, that that was key. And when he mentioned that he wanted to make it more, I don't want to say 'attractive,' but at least let residents and voters understand what that office particularly does, in detail. So that was an interesting take from him.

Frank Stoltze  08:07

You know, the other thing about Mejia that I found really interesting, because you asked him like, You're focusing on housing and homelessness, and he said, Yeah, you know, h- housing is a human right, which plenty of other people have talked about in the city. But then he went on to say you know, People have a right to running water and electricity. And that made me think about uh, Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, you know, and the Works Project Administration. It really kind of made him sound like a you know, an old school New Dealer as well as like a new school progressive.

Brian De Los Santos  08:38

Yeah. So on that note, Kenneth Mejia's part of a group of folks new to LA politics, who define themselves as progressive. So how do you think this might affect the political mix in the city government?

Frank Stoltze  08:49

You talked a little bit about sort of the kind of scale of politicians that were elected or the various types of politicians, and I kind of think of them in three groups. I think of, I think of the folks who are on the what I call the left, Kenneth Mejia, Eunisses Hernandez, and Hugo Soto-Martinez, the two new council people. In the middle, I'd say there's Tim McOsker, who's uh, former deputy mayor to former Mayor Jim Hahn, and Traci Park, who's a municipal law attorney, and then sort of in the middle is Katy Young Yaroslavsky. But there's definitely this sort of leftward pull of this new group.

Brian De Los Santos  09:27

And I think someone who's central to this conversation is the new mayor, right? Karen Bass. And where do you feel like she lands on the political spectrum these days with a, you know, a group of folks that are on the left and in the middle? Maybe she's more of a centrist?

Frank Stoltze  09:40

Well, some of her roots are are very much in the left. You know, she could out left any of these people in her day back in the 70s when she was, you know uh, traipsing off to to Cuba uh, to help with sugar harvests during the Fidel Castro regime. And she has since said, Look- she she went with open eyes, that she she knew the problems with the regime too, but she believed in the socialist revolution. Um, obviously, yes; she's since uh, moved to the middle.

Brian De Los Santos  10:09

Let's take something like policing. You know, Mejia is not for adding more budget to that. And Bass is, you know, not gonna take away anything from the police and maybe even add some more patrols in that funding. So how do we expect people to work together in this like new era of this administration?

Frank Stoltze  10:26

Well, you hit on obviously a very hot topic. And it'll be interesting to see how much of a topic it becomes certainly in the, in the next year or two, because Karen Bass wants to focus on on housing and homelessness. And that's what's on people's minds right now. There is this uptick in crime, but we're seeing it across the country. It's not unique to LA- in conservative cities as well as liberal cities. So cities that focus on police and those that focus less on police. I think the more interesting fight might be the one over where to place new housing for homeless folks here, whether it's shelters or affordable housing. You know, typically these council people have you know, been very careful, because they know, there's a certain amount of NIMBYism in every district.

Brian De Los Santos  11:12

So Frank, we know that the mayor can't really do much without the approval of the city council, but what about the controller? How do they work with other officials typically?

Frank Stoltze  11:21

Well, the controller doesn't have any real authority over the City Council or the mayor. But the controller does have the bully pulpit. And that's why, you know, how he gets his message across, how he presents his audits is so important. Because if he's able to get the public stirred up about an issue or about how, how money's being spent, that could be pretty powerful.

Brian De Los Santos  11:45

Yeah, I do have to make it a point to ask this question specifically, since we've seen Kevin De León come out in recent city council meeting and he even voted and got his vote in, but he still won't resign, even though a lot of people are calling for it. Y- [mumbles] W- what's the impact on all of that, you know, with this administration?

Frank Stoltze  12:03

I would not count Kevin De León out. I was at a council meeting here recently. And there were not a small number of his supporters who showed up, who shouted almost as loud as the people who are demanding his resignation. And not just that. There were members of the carpenters' union, who showed up and sat in the front rows. This is probably about maybe 20 members of the carpenters' union with their shirts on identifying themselves. And when De León arrived in chambers, they all stood up, moved out of those front rows, and the De León supporters moved into those rows. There is definitely a concerted effort to support De León right now, and I think that people are underestimating the importance of that vote that he took when he voted in favor of the emergency declaration by the mayor.

Brian De Los Santos  13:00

Well, it's- it's a little early but what are your impressions right now, as you see people starting to work together and having these new folks come in? How are they working together as you, as you're seeing?

Frank Stoltze  13:12

So far, so good. I don't think it'll last, you know, forever. The question is, you know, will they be able to get along on some level? Of course they will, because that's usually how it works with city council. Uh but, the key will be how do you get to eight votes? That's the number of votes it takes to get stuff passed. So if you've got, say, five progressive members of the council, they're going to have to work well with at least three others in order to get their agenda passed. I think what I'm really also watching is the Special Election in the 6th Council District to replace Nury Martinez. That's the Eastern San Fernando Valley. It's a really interesting place. It's a place where Latino politics in particular play out in different ways. Uh, not so much like the east side, because you know, after all, that's the home of United States Senator Alex Padilla, uh one of the most powerful guys in the state now. He was born and raised in Pacoima. And I think, you know, we'll see to what extent he plays an influence in that election. You know, he was influential [music in] in getting Nury Martinez elected. Uh, now will he be seeking a replacement and uh, finding somebody to, to replace her?

Brian De Los Santos  14:25

Alrighty, Frank. Thank you so much for joining me in the studio today.

Frank Stoltze  14:29

Thanks for having me.

Brian De Los Santos  14:31

That's Frank Stoltze. He's the Civics and Democracy Correspondent at LAist. Alright, y'all. It's a wrap on 2022. This is our last episode for a few weeks. We're gonna be taking a break to enjoy the Holidays and then take a little bit more extra time to get ahead on some new stuff for 2023. But one last thing- Don't forget to go to LAist.com/HowToLA and subscribe to this podcast and our newsletter. It helps us out so much. All right, y'all. We're gonna see you in January. We're gonna miss you but Happy New Year. How To LA is produced by Evan Jacoby, Megan Botel, and Victoria Alejandro. Aaricka Washington writes our newsletter. Chris Farias is our social media producer. Our intern is Olive Bieni. Our engineer is Hasmik Poghosyan. Megan Larson is our executive producer. And I'm your host, Brian De Los Santos. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. [music out]