Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti picks longtime advisor to run transition
Los Angeles Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti announced Friday that he has chosen one of his longtime advisors to serve as director of his transition team, helping him identify the hundreds of people who will work in his office and serve as political appointees.
Transition director Rich Llewellyn, 57, has spent the past dozen years as a high-level manager at City Hall, serving in key positions for Garcetti, former City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and Councilman Paul Koretz. He also worked in the 1990s as special counsel to Garcetti’s father, then-Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.
In his new role, Llewellyn will spend much of the summer helping the next mayor assemble the members of his administration, including the scores of volunteers who will sit on city boards and commissions, as well as regional agencies such as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Water District.
“Rich understands my priorities and has the experience and expertise to help me assemble an administration that is ready for action,” Garcetti said in a statement.
Garcetti also announced the launch of his mayoral transition website, which allows residents to apply online for positions on city boards and commissions and for jobs working for Garcetti.
Garcetti was elected to the City Council in 2001, a year after his father’s defeat to former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. Llewellyn, who lives in Los Feliz, soon became Garcetti’s chief of staff, working in his office for four years.
After a stint with Delgadillo, Llewellyn became chief of staff in 2009 to Koretz, who represents part of the Westside. In that post, he earns more than $164,000 annually, according to city officials. Llewellyn spent the past several months volunteering for the campaign, staffing Garcetti at campaign events in South Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere.
On his transition website, Garcetti asks Angelenos for their ideas in improving the city.
“We’re running a focused transition to ensure we hit the ground running on day one with an agenda to create jobs and solve problems for L.A. residents,” Garcetti said. “I will get City Hall back to basics so that all of our neighborhoods are places where families thrive and businesses succeed.”
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Twitter: @davidzahniser
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