Los Angeles native Marqueece Harris-Dawson will step in as the president of the Los Angeles City Council Friday. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sep. 19, 2024.
Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian will hand over the position Friday to Council President Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson in a leadership shakeup for the 15-member panel.
First elected to in 2015, the 54-year-old Harris-Dawson represents Council District 8, where he won his first election with 62-percent of the vote in an area that includes Baldwin Hills, Chesterfield Square, Crenshaw, Jefferson Park and other communities.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Harris-Dawson won his bid for the top council post in May and vowed to focus on the city's homeless crisis. The chair of the city's Planning and Land Use Management Committee co-authored Prop HHH, which was a $1.2 million bond measure to provide permanent supportive housing.
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The council voted 14-0 to name Harris-Dawson as Krekorian's successor as president.
As president, Harris-Dawson will preside as chair over council meetings, have the power to assign council committees and handle parliamentary duties such as ruling motions in or out of order. He was elected president pro tempore to replace Curren Price, who stepped down after he was charged in June 2023 with embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest.
Harris-Dawson is expected to serve as president through mid-December. Following November's election and once new council members assume their offices, another election will be held to elect a council president for a new term.
Krekorian received an ovation Thursday at his final meeting as council president. The Council District 2 representative will leave the body in December due to term limits. Councilman Bob Blumenfield unveiled plans to rename two sites in honor of Krekorian -- the Victory Valley Child Care Center at 6451 Saint Clair Ave., and the Valley Plaza Sports Fields at 6980 Whitsett Ave. in North Hollywood.
Krekorian, whose district includes east San Fernando Valley neighborhoods, was first elected to the council in late 2009. He was elected council president in the wake of a leaked audio recording of colleagues, including then-President Nury Martinez, that shook City Hall.
Martinez resigned in 2022 after being heard in a recorded racially charged conversation with two other council members and a county labor official discussing the council's redistricting process. The recorded conversation included racist comments about a colleague's young Black adopted son.
Krekorian stepped into the council presidency during the tumultuous time at City Hall.
"I couldn't do the work for the next 79 days and I couldn't do the work as council president, and I couldn't have done the work as an Assembly member or anything else without the support, guidance and love that I've received from my wife, Tamar, for the last quarter of the century almost," Krekorian said.
He also thanked his staff.
"To all my staff, I hope you noticed that a number of members of this council specifically recognized you and that's because you do extraordinary work -- not only for me, our constituents, but for the entire city of Los Angeles," Krekorian said.
