Garcetti Is Sworn In as Councilman by His Father

Vowing to improve the quality of life in his multicultural council district, Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti was sworn in Thursday by his father, former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

The younger Garcetti--who narrowly beat former Councilman Mike Woo in the 13th Council District race this month--will represent Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake and Atwater Village. The area has been without council representation since Jackie Goldberg was elected to the state Assembly last year.

Garcetti, 30, told several hundred people--including Mayor-elect James K. Hahn, half a dozen council members and county Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina--that he would give a voice to the “voiceless.” But, he added, his plans for the next few months are “ambitiously modest.”

“I will be focused on building the most responsive, responsible and representative council office that I can,” Garcetti told the crowd. “I will focus on the bread and butter of this job, because that is how we build great things--one project at a time, one block at a time.”

He added: “I’ll work closely with neighborhood activists and with neighborhoods to improve the quality of life where we all live and work, and I will restore representation to a district that has languished for too long unrepresented.”

Because he is filling a vacant seat, the City Council voted Tuesday to allow Garcetti to take the job immediately. Four other newly elected council members will take office early next month.

Smiling broadly, Gil Garcetti--who lost his reelection bid to Steve Cooley last year--told the crowd that he warned his son about running for office.

“I said, ‘Didn’t you learn anything? Didn’t you learn from what I went through?’ ” the elder Garcetti said. “He said, ‘Yes I did. I learned from your mistakes.’ ”