About Eric

Eric Garcetti's mayoral agenda combines practical experience with bold new ideas to move L.A. forward and get our economy back on track. Garcetti is currently serving as the Councilmember representing the 13th Council District. He was Los Angeles City Council President from 2006 until the new year.

A fourth-generation Angeleno, Garcetti was born at Good Samaritan Hospital and was raised in the San Fernando Valley. Both sides of his family first settled in Los Angeles' Boyle Heights neighborhood, on one side after escaping the violence of the Mexican revolution, on the other amidst the persecution of Jews within the Russian empire.

Garcetti studied urban planning and political science at Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations. He also studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics and was a Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Fellow. He taught public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California before being elected to the City Council.

Garcetti has been widely recognized for his groundbreaking policy initiatives. His environmental work was honored with the Green Cross Millennium Award from former President Mikhail Gorbachev, he won a Tiger Award from the Valley Industry and Commerce Association for his work on business tax reform, and Caroline Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy, on behalf of the Kennedy family and Kennedy Library, presented Garcetti with the prestigious New Frontier Award, which is given annually to an elected official under 40 years of age who best embodies John F. Kennedy's vision of leadership and idealism.

Garcetti is an avid photographer, jazz pianist and composer and is an officer in the U.S. Navy reserve. He lives in Silver Lake with his wife, Amy.