President of the Los Angeles City Council
President of the Los Angeles City Council | |
---|---|
Member of | Los Angeles City Council |
Appointer | Elected by members of the City Council |
Inaugural holder | Boyle Workman |
Formation | 1919 |
Deputy | Mitch O'Farrell (as President Pro Tempore) |
Website | City Council |
The president of the Los Angeles City Council is the presiding officer of the Los Angeles City Council. 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 the state. The president is elected at the first meeting of the new council term, beginning on July 1 of every odd-numbered year until 2020. Normally this meeting is called to order by the City Clerk for the election of the president, after which a president pro tempore is chosen.
The current president is Democrat Nury Martinez from the 6th district. She was unanimously elected by the city councilmembers on January 5, 2020. She is the first Latina and the third woman to serve as council president.
History
Early history
The office of the President was created with the introduction of the Los Angeles Common Council 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, who was elected in 1850 before resigning a year later. In 1889, the Los Angeles City Council 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 became acting mayor due to mayor Sam Yorty traveling outside the country. The assistant pro tempore was created in 1977 with councilman Ernani Bernardi as the officer, who presided over meeting if both the President and the President Pro Tempore are out.
Councilman John Ferraro 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, who held the title until 1987 when she was defeated in the City Council elections. The first Latino elected was Alex Padilla in 2001 after defeating incumbent Ruth Galanter; he served as acting mayor days after the 9/11 attacks as mayor James Hahn traveled out of the city. The first African-American president was Herb Wesson, who was elected in 2012 and served until 2020. Nury Martinez is the current president and the first Latina president.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the President of the Los Angeles City Council include:
- 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 if the office is vacant.
List of presidents (1919–present)
No. | Portrait | Officeholder | Tenure start | Tenure end | Pro Tem. | Assistant Pro Tem. | Mayor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Boyle Workman | July 7, 1919 | July 5, 1921 | Office did not exist | Office did not exist | Meredith P. Snyder | |
2 | Ralph Luther Criswell | July 5, 1921 | July 1, 1923 | George E. Cryer | |||
3 | Boyle Workman | July 1, 1923 | June 30, 1925 | ||||
July 1, 1925 | June 30, 1927 | ||||||
4 | William G. Bonelli | July 1, 1927 | June 30, 1929 | ||||
5 | Winfred J. Sanborn | July 1, 1929 | June 30, 1931 | John Clinton Porter | |||
6 | Charles Hiram Randall | July 1, 1931 | June 30, 1933 | ||||
7 | Howard W. Davis | July 1, 1933 | June 30, 1935 | Frank L. Shaw | |||
8 | Robert L. Burns | July 1, 1935 | June 30, 1937 | ||||
July 1, 1937 | June 30, 1939 | ||||||
July 1, 1939 | June 30, 1941 | Fletcher Bowron | |||||
9 | G. Vernon Bennett | July 1, 1941 | June 30, 1943 | ||||
10 | Robert L. Burns | July 1, 1943 | June 30, 1945 | ||||
11 | George H. Moore | July 1, 1945 | June 30, 1947 | ||||
12 | Harold A. Henry | July 1, 1947 | June 30, 1949 | ||||
July 1, 1949 | June 30, 1951 | ||||||
July 1, 1951 | June 30, 1953 | ||||||
13 | John S. Gibson Jr. | July 1, 1953 | June 30, 1955 | Norris Poulson | |||
July 1, 1955 | June 30, 1957 | ||||||
July 1, 1957 | June 30, 1959 | ||||||
July 1, 1959 | June 30, 1961 | ||||||
14 | Harold A. Henry | July 1, 1961 | June 30, 1963 | Sam Yorty | |||
15 | L. E. Timberlake | July 1, 1963 | June 30, 1965 | ||||
July 1, 1965 | June 30, 1967 | Thomas D. Shepard | |||||
July 1, 1967 | June 30, 1969 | John S. Gibson Jr. | |||||
16 | John S. Gibson Jr. | July 1, 1969 | June 30, 1971 | Billy G. Mills | |||
July 1, 1971 | June 30, 1973 | ||||||
July 1, 1973 | June 30, 1975 | Robert Stevenson | Tom Bradley | ||||
July 1, 1975 | June 30, 1977 | John Ferraro | |||||
17 | John Ferraro | July 1, 1977 | June 30, 1979 | Joel Wachs | Ernani Bernardi | ||
July 1, 1979 | June 30, 1981 | ||||||
18 | Joel Wachs | July 1, 1981 | June 30, 1983 | Peggy Stevenson | |||
19 | Pat Russell | July 1, 1983 | June 30, 1985 | ||||
July 1, 1985 | June 30, 1987 | Joan Milke Flores | |||||
20 | John Ferraro | July 1, 1987 | June 30, 1989 | Marvin Braude | |||
July 1, 1989 | June 30, 1991 | Joan Milke Flores | |||||
July 1, 1991 | June 30, 1993 | ||||||
July 1, 1993 | June 30, 1995 | Richard Alatorre | Richard J. Riordan | ||||
July 1, 1995 | June 30, 1997 | Joel Wachs | Mike Hernandez | ||||
July 1, 1997 | June 30, 1999 | Ruth Galanter | |||||
July 1, 1999 | April 17, 2001 | Ruth Galanter | Rudy Svorinich | ||||
21 | Ruth Galanter | April 17, 2001 | July 1, 2001 | Mark Ridley-Thomas | |||
22 | Alex Padilla | July 1, 2001 | June 30, 2003 | Cindy Miscikowski | James Hahn | ||
July 1, 2003 | June 30, 2005 | Cindy Miscikowski | Eric Garcetti | ||||
July 1, 2005 | December 1, 2006 | Wendy Greuel | Antonio Villaraigosa | ||||
23 | Eric Garcetti | January 1, 2006 | June 30, 2007 | Jan Perry | |||
July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2009 | ||||||
July 1, 2009 | December 22, 2011 | Jan Perry | Dennis Zine | ||||
24 | Herb Wesson | January 2, 2012 | June 30, 2012 | Ed Reyes | Tom LaBonge | ||
July 1, 2013 | June 30, 2015 | Mitchell Englander | Jose Huizar | Eric Garcetti | |||
July 1, 2015 | June 30, 2017 | ||||||
July 1, 2017 | January 5, 2020 | Nury Martinez | Joe Buscaino | ||||
25 | Nury Martinez | January 5, 2020 | December 15, 2020 | Joe Buscaino | David Ryu | ||
January 5, 2021 | Incumbent | Mitch O'Farrell | Vacant |