Wendy Greuel - City Council

City Council

In 2002, Greuel won a runoff election against Assemblyman Tony Cardenas to fill the remainder of the term of second district Los Angeles Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected to a full term in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. She served until July 2009 when she was elected to the office of City Controller.

At the time of her departure from the City Council, she was chair of the Transportation Committee and the Ad-Hoc Committee on Business Tax Reform, vice chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, and member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee and the Energy and Environment Committee.

She implemented a business tax reform proposal. The 2003 proposal reduced business taxes by 15% overall and eliminated all business taxes for companies with gross receipts under $100,000 annually.

In 2004, Greuel helped establish the Office of Public Safety, which consolidated all city-operated security forces (other than the LAPD) and created the Police Fund, a program through which any elected official could address inefficiencies and allocate the money saved to the hiring of new police officers. She also developed the Stolen Vehicle Recovery Program, which enabled Department of Transportation officers (rather than police officers) to tow stolen vehicles. Greuel launched a district-wide anti-graffiti campaign and pushed to increase the number of neighborhood watch organizations in her district. She implemented a safety valet program designed to ensure that all elementary school students were supervised entering and exiting schools.

Also in 2004, Greuel was an instrumental part of a major controversy in a neighborhood in her district (district 2). There was a dispute between home owners on the north side of the L.A River and renters on the south side. Parking was an issue for the renters and the would use the north side neighborhood as overflow parking and cross a pedestrian bridge to their homes. Without any warning, the bridge was closed in 2005. The renters called for a town hall meeting and while there was one, Greuel did not listen to the concerns of the renters and insisted the bridge remain closed. The LAPD then became involved and they said they would close the bridge for 90 days to see if crime rates (the reason the home owners cited to close the bridge) were affected. Near the end of the trial period, another town hall meeting was called and the office in charge said that there was no significant change in the crime rates on the north side of the bridge. In the days before the final recommendation from the LAPD was to be released, this officer was discharged from the case and another officer was put in charge - this officer recommended the bridge be closed for unknown reasons. This remains a point of contention in the renters' neighborhood as parking is sparse and residents often have to walk blocks to get home and the bridge remains closed.

Greuel also implemented the 50/50 sidewalk program, expediting sidewalk repairs when neighbors contributed 50% of the cost. She also added 450 left-turn signals to city streets and led a program to synchronize city traffic lights.

Greuel created the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Investigative Unit in the city controller's office and banned political fundraising among City Commissioners.