The controller’s job is all about reviewing the way the city spends money.
But make no mistake: this is not a routine bookkeeping role. Think of the city controller more as a watchdog.
If you’re concerned about corruption in City Hall, this is a race to which you’ll want to pay close attention.
Our limited-run newsletter Make It Make Sense unpacks the ballot count and results, then checks in regularly on officials voted into office and the measures voters pass.
The incumbent, Kenneth Mejia, made headlines recently when he called out the city for allowing nearly a half-billion dollars earmarked for programs and services for unhoused people to go unspent.
Whoever wins this seat could have a big new responsibility: auditing the LAPD, the city’s largest and most expensive department.
In 2008, an audit by former Controller Laura Chick uncovered more than 7,000 untested DNA rape kits sitting in a Los Angeles Police Department lab freezer, some more than a decade old. The story became national news and mobilized advocacy groups to put intense pressure on the LAPD, mayor and City Council. That ongoing pressure contributed to a push for California to pass a law in 2019 requiring that rape kits be tested within 120 days.
Controllers are expected to audit every department in City Hall, and they have the authority to do so. But how they go about it and what they draw attention to is largely up to the officeholder, so individual candidates’ campaigns and statements might give you a clue as to their approaches and priorities.
The next controller will be managing the city’s accounting during the 2028 Olympics, which had a $7.1 billion projected budget as of earlier this year.
The Olympics are intended to be "no cost" for Los Angeles taxpayers — but the city's financial exposure is unlimited. The city and the state of California are the financial guarantors for the Olympics, meaning if the Games go into the red, L.A. taxpayers will pick up the tab.
For example, city taxpayers are on the hook for the first $270 million in losses, if they occur. The California Legislature has agreed to make statewide taxpayers pick up the next $270 million. After that, any additional financial burden will fall back on Los Angeles taxpayers.
The two candidates in this race face off in the June 2 primary. If a contender gets more than 50% of the votes, he will win outright. If that doesn’t happen (for example, if a write-in campaign attracts significant support), a runoff will be held in the November general election.
Kenneth Mejia
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Courtesy Kenneth Mejia
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Kenneth Mejia is running for a second term after being elected as L.A.’s first Asian American controller in 2022, with more than a half-million votes. He brings personality and social media flair to the game: He’s danced to Kendrick Lamar’s "Not Like Us" in an Instagram video about homelessness audits and featured his corgis on the cover of the city controller’s Fraud Waste and Abuse reports.
Mejia, who was raised in the San Fernando Valley, is a Certified Public Accountant who previously worked as an auditor for Ernst and Young. He has volunteered with several housing-related advocacy groups, including the L.A. Tenants Union and We Can Make A Difference-Los Angeles, a community service group he co-founded that provided supplies to unhoused people and low-income families.
He served on the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council and previously ran as a Green Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 34, making the 2018 runoff but ultimately losing to Rep. Jimmy Gomez.
Mejia has an accounting degree from Woodbury University in Burbank.
In his own words
Mejia told LAist that by leveraging his experience in accounting and auditing, he has transformed the Controller’s Office into an “indispensable resource” for policymakers and the public, including maps and dashboards that make the city’s data and finances more accessible.
Mejia said he wants to expand that transparency work so the public can see the effectiveness of each city department in more granular detail and in real-time.
“Through my efforts to provide radical transparency and accountability at City Hall, I’ve gained valuable insight into bureaucratic dysfunction and the factors contributing to the city’s broken budget,” the campaign told LAist via a candidate survey. “In my second term, I will focus on reforming the budget process and fixing how the city manages its finances so Los Angeles can deliver better results for its residents.”
Mejia said his top priority is changing how the city manages its finances so it can more effectively serve the people of L.A., including a two-year budget process and accountability for overspending. Other top priorities include more investigations and audits focused on infrastructure, transportation, homelessness and police, as well as building a robust financial- and performance-monitoring team to provide real-time metrics on each city department.
Here is where Mejia stands on other key issues heading into the election:
Transparency and public accountability: Mejia said his office prioritizes the needs of working class Angelenos, striving to make the city government more accessible and accountable to the people, not lobbyists, corporations or politicians.
“The people of Los Angeles deserve a controller who will press for accountability on expensive projects and programs and is not afraid to call out misspending,” he said.
City spending and budget process: Mejia said the city’s budget process is fundamentally broken and that Angelenos are bearing the consequences of City Hall’s failure to responsibly manage its finances.
“For too long, key financial decisions have been made behind closed doors, with public meetings often serving to rubber stamp predetermined outcomes,” he said. “The result is an avoidable fiscal crisis with serious consequences for public services and the city workforce.”
Mejia said Los Angeles must change how it does business and that meaningful reform requires a more inclusive process that addresses the real concerns of residents.
Homelessness and housing: Mejia said, as one of the few renters in elected office, he has focused relentlessly on improving access to affordable housing and has fought for the most vulnerable Angelenos facing homelessness and housing instability. “To improve street-level conditions, we must ensure that homelessness funds are spent efficiently and urgently to maximize the number of people that can come indoors.”
Mejia said his office also began tracking the city’s homelessness spending for the first time, has fought for stronger oversight of homeless services providers and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and has been pushing to audit Mayor Karen Bass’ signature homelessness program, Inside Safe.
Olympics and other major events in L.A.: Mejia said major events in Los Angeles should benefit residents and that the preparation or execution of these events should not come at any cost to L.A. taxpayers. Mejia noted that he was strongly opposed to the city’s contract with LA28 that exposes the city to unlimited financial risk in the event of overruns.
“Leading up to the Olympics, I’ve asked all departments to report all Olympics-related spending so that the people of Los Angeles know exactly how much their tax dollars are spent on this event,” Mejia said. “Also, the city must protect L.A. residents from dangers presented by major events, including predatory practices from corporations seeking to profit (e.g., Airbnb), increased federal immigration enforcement, expanded surveillance, gentrification and displacement.”
More voter resources:
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Zach Sokoloff
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Courtesy Zach Sokoloff
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Zach Sokoloff is the senior vice president of asset management at Hackman Capital Partners, a real estate investment and development company based in Los Angeles. Specifically, he’s an asset manager for the firm’s Television City in the Fairfax District and Radford Studio Center in Studio City.
Before joining Hackman in 2018, Sokoloff was an associate at Tishman Speyer in New York, a worldwide real estate development and investment management firm.
He also was a teacher at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School in Boyle Heights and Jordan High School in Watts through Teach for America.
Sokoloff, who grew up in L.A., has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University, a master’s in education policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University and a JD/MBA from Harvard University.
In his own words
Sokoloff told LAist he’s running to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent building a Los Angeles that is safe, prosperous, affordable and inclusive for all.
Sokoloff said he has managed multi-billion-dollar economic development projects and navigated city bureaucracy over the past several years, but he can no longer sit on the sidelines.
“Basic city services are deteriorating and Angelenos are losing trust in the government’s ability to solve our biggest problems,” the campaign told LAist via a candidate survey. “At the heart of these shortcomings is the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars and an absence of common-sense financial leadership. So I am running for city controller to make government work for the people of L.A.”
Sokoloff said his top three priorities are:
Transparency and public accountability: Sokoloff said transparency is Step 1 of the controller’s job, and it’s only meaningful if it drives change. He said Angelenos are tired of reports; they want results.
“My office will publish clear audit findings with measurable baselines, track implementation of every recommendation we make and hold ourselves to the same standard of accountability we demand of others.”
City spending and budget process: Sokoloff said L.A. faces a structural budget deficit but that it would be impossible and imprudent to close the gap by cutting costs alone. He said the city must look to ways to increase revenue, including supporting essential industries like film and television production.
“Thousands of Angelenos depend on a robust entertainment industry — from the below-the-line, unionized crew members to the small businesses that service our studio lots — and these folks have been abandoned as elected leaders have allowed production to flee the state. Many have been out of work for several years, and we must take swift and aggressive action to protect and support these vital elements of our local economy.”
Homelessness and housing: Sokoloff said homelessness is a humanitarian crisis, as well as a budget crisis, and the city must find new, creative and cheaper ways to house people experiencing homelessness.
“This will require rethinking our current approach — one that addresses the root causes of homelessness by providing recovery housing to ensure folks are on a true path to long-term recovery. … We need a controller with the financial judgment to challenge a broken system and the leadership skills to build coalitions that solve problems and deliver results for all Angelenos.”
Olympics and other major events in L.A.: Sokoloff said the 2028 Olympics are an extraordinary opportunity for Los Angeles that carries significant financial risk because the city has “written a blank check.”
“Managing a successful Olympic games is going to be a major priority of the next controller, and my office will actively insert itself into this process to provide leadership and protect Angelenos from this potentially massive financial burden,” he said.
More voter resources:
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To see the full list of donors to each campaign, visit the L.A. Ethics Commission’s Public Data Portal and input the name of any candidate under “Committee(s)” and get a full list of contributors to campaigns and independent expenditure committees.
LAist's Brianna Lee contributed to this report.
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