Abundant Housing LA Endorses Kenneth Mejia for Los Angeles City Controller

Abundant Housing LA is pleased to endorse Kenneth Mejia for Los Angeles City Controller. We are impressed by his innovative efforts to make the city’s finances more transparent and accessible to everyone, and in particular by his calling attention to how little Los Angeles spends on housing and services for the unhoused compared to policing.

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Kenneth Mejia’s fresh ideas and energetic grassroots campaign stand in stark contrast to those of his opponent, Paul Koretz. Paul Koretz represents the worst kind of NIMBY politics that AHLA opposes. Koretz represents one of the wealthiest parts of Los Angeles yet has repeatedly opposed attempts to build more housing in his district. He vetoed the Uplift Melrose, a plan to increase the safety and walkability of Melrose Avenue that had the strong support of the surrounding community. He has led the City Council’s opposition to every critical state bill to create more housing, from SB50 to SB9 and 10. Just last week, he voted against a critical plan to build 140 affordable and supportive homes in Venice. In short, Paul Koretz represents the era where Los Angeles only said “no” to more housing without ever offering alternative solutions.

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If we want a City Controller who will be an effective steward of city housing funds, the Controller should not be someone who has staked his career on constantly opposing housing. Looking at the results from the primary election, the voters of Los Angeles are also clearly sick of politics as usual.

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