LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia

27 Oct 2025

NEW 🚨 In January 2023, LAPD killed three people suffering mental health crises. In response, our Office assessed the LAPD’s Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU) & found that LAPD requires a patrol-first, armed response in mental health calls for service. Full report: bit.ly/lapdmeu

📸 SURVEILLING ANGELENOS City Council is voting tomorrow on a pilot contract with AXON for Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR’s). At the center of the debate are questions around data access & audits. 👮‍♂️4,000 LAPD employees have access ❌ No independent audits required

LAPD contends that their own audit division and the LAPD Inspector General will conduct audits. To be clear, these are not external auditors. LAPD’s audit division answers to the Chief of Police, and LAPD’s Inspector General works under the Police Commission.

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The full City Council will vote on the proposed Axon contract at tomorrow’s City Council meeting. Tuesday, Oct 27, 10:00AM LA City Hall, Room 340 200 N Spring St (Item 33) Agenda: d22tgksh1zpp6f.cloudfront.net/OnlineDocs/a...

The stakes of this contract extend beyond 3 months. LAPD says that this contract would become a template for future ALPR contracts. If these ALPRs are approved now, future ALPR contracts could be rubber-stamped under LAPD’s current ALPR standards.

Currently, 4,000 LAPD employees have access to search the ALPR database. There’s no serious process to vet which of these employees actually need access. LAPD requires no external, independent auditing of these ALPR database searches.

The Axon pilot program comes with 30 ALPR cameras installed on light posts to be deployed for 3 months. While this pilot program is free, it’s unknown how much it will cost to implement and maintain these ALPRs beyond the pilot period.

LA28 has been served. LA taxpayers DESERVE to be protected from unlimited financial liability if the LA Olympics goes over budget. My office served LA28 with a subpoena for financial records and information to ensure that the City leaders and public know LA28's finances!

🚨 UPDATE LA28 FAILED to provide us with any of the financial docs we requested and that they are contractually obligated to provide. We requested these to give you TRANSPARENCY on their finances related to the Olympics since LA TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK if it goes over budget.

latimes.comWith L.A. taxpayers on the line for the 2028 Olympics, a call for more transparencyYour morning catch-up: The need for transparency from LA28, storms roil warm Pacific waters and more big stories

This is far from over. 👀 Stay tuned for our next steps! 🔎 www.latimes.com/california/n...

If the Mayor & most of City Council DO NOT want to fight for transparency and accountability on LA28's finances, WE WILL. REMINDER: YOU ALL (LA taxpayers) are financially liable for UNLIMITED amounts if the LA Olympics goes over budget. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Never before in this City’s history has a private organization been financially backstopped by the City of Los Angeles taxpayers to carry out an endeavor of this size and scale. Our data request for financial information from LA28 AGREED to by the City and LA28 is due today.

Thank you to the few Councilmembers who fought for greater oversight and audit powers over LA28's finances (Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Ysabel Jurado, and Heather Hutt). Unfortunately, they didn't have enough votes at the time.

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia reposted

1 Sept

Our bathrooms / water fountains map has been used over 10,000 times this summer! 🚽💦 bathrooms.lacontroller.app 🚿NEW: mobile showers has been added to our map. Share this resource with anyone who needs it!

4 Sept

We received a Fraud, Waste, & Abuse tip: An affordable housing developer was renting out their affordable units to friends and employees from another related entity. Due to legal ambiguity around covenant language, we couldn't substantiate the claim.

4 Sept

Affordable housing is in dire need in Los Angeles, and the City should ensure everyone has a fair shot of getting into these units. We recommended that the Housing Dept. strengthen covenant language on conflicts of interest and conduct site visits.

4 Sept

If you see fraud, waste, and abuse in the City of LA, submit a claim (can do so anonymously) at controller.lacity.gov/fwa

1 Sept

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia reposted

Alissa Walker

@awalkerinla.bsky.social

27 Aug

Controller Kenneth Mejia making good on his promise to at least attempt to get LA28 to open up its books. "Today's data request is part of the Controller's robust financial oversight process to force visibility into the spending, commitments, and assumptions built into the Olympic Games budget"

lacouncilcomment.comPublic Comment Form

🚨TOMORROW City Council may block some Charter reforms that WERE possibly headed for your Nov. ballot: - Council expansion - Ranked choice voting - More LAPD oversight 📣Make your voice heard Fri 1pm at City Hall! ✍️Submit written comment: lacouncilcomment.com CF 26-0489

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia reposted

lacouncilcomment.comPublic Comment Form

Come to City Hall tomorrow 1pm & tell City Council to support: - Council expansion - Ranked choice voting - More LAPD oversight - All 6 Controller recommendations, especially an independent budget ‼️ Submit comment in writing here: lacouncilcomment.com CF 26-0489

charterreform.lacontroller.appTake Action For Charter Reform

More info about our office’s recommendations, how to write to your City Councilmember, and an FAQ on Charter Reform: charterreform.lacontroller.app

My Office sent the Charter Commission 6 recommendations last August. At first, the Commission seemed ready to recommend 5 of 6. By the end, they only recommended 1 (enshrine Fraud, Waste, and Abuse). Tomorrow, the City Council Committee might kill that one too!

A recommendation of ours the City Council Committee actually DOES plan to move forward is a CFO for the City. BUT instead of the elected Controller as CFO, they want to give it to an unelected bureaucrat (the CAO) who works for THEM.

The Charter Reform Commission was created to tackle big issues like district size and elections. But instead of sending it to voters in November, Council might ask for “further study.” 🤨 Studying reforms like these is why the Commission was created in the first place!

🤝HELP MAKE CITY HALL MORE ACCOUNTABLE! (In less than 10 mins!) ᯓ➤ The Controller’s Office should have an independent budget (NOT decided by Mayor & Council). An independent budget would protect us from political retaliation. YOU can help! Email your Councilmember:

charterreform.lacontroller.appTake Action For Charter Reform

In the email: - Ask your Councilmember to support a Charter proposal that gives the Controller an independent budget of no less than 0.42% of the General Fund - Say why it’s important to you (i.e., more accountability in City Hall) More info at charterreform.lacontroller.app

charterreform.lacontroller.appTake Action For Charter Reform

THANK YOU ALL for sending emails! It takes just a few minutes but makes a BIG difference. Your email could lead to the City Charter giving the Controller an independent budget. It could lead to more accountability in City Hall for decades. charterreform.lacontroller.app

neighborhoodinfo.lacity.govneighborhoodinfo.lacity.gov

STEP 1: Find out who your Councilmember is by entering your address into neighborhoodinfo.lacity.gov STEP 2: Get your Councilmember’s email address at charterreform.lacontroller.app (scroll down a little)

STEP 3: Write & send your email: The subject line can be anything with the words “Charter” and “Controller”. Examples - - Support an independent budget for the Controller in the Charter - Charter Reform: Give the Controller an independent budget

🏢We ranked the TOP 100 PROBLEM RENTAL PROPERTIES in the City of LA Top 3 addresses with the most housing violation cases: 🥇636½ N Hill 🥈11700 W Wilshire 🥉6650 W Forest Lawn Look up violations for any residential address, Dec 2013 - Nov 2025: prp.lacontroller.app

There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address. Our dashboard centralizes over 10 years’ worth of housing complaint & violation data into a single database.

prp.lacontroller.appTop 100 Problem Rental Properties

We hope our new dashboard helps renters & organizers document patterns of harm & helps put pressure on both landlords and the City to act. Everyone deserves safe, stable & dignified housing. prp.lacontroller.app

Top 100 Problem Rental Properties is a dashboard that includes: - Top 100 addresses with the most housing violation cases - Search tool for all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases - Interactive map - Numbers & types of violations cited - Property ownership

Top types of housing violation cases: - Illegal Eviction: 55,018 cases cited - Illegal Rent Increase: 37,876 cases cited - Reduction of Services: 32,015 cases cited - Harassment: 24,179 cases cited

5 May

WANT us to audit & do fraud, waste, and abuse investigations WITHOUT getting our budget cut in retaliation? ✂️ Want us to be able to audit any City program no matter how expensive & regardless of where that program is housed? 🔎 YOU can help us! 💪🏼 Charterreform.lacontroller.app

5 May

In case you missed it, the City is undergoing Charter Reform. In other words, it’s a once-in-a-generation rewrite of the City Charter. NOW is the time to give YOUR input on real changes that can be made to the City’s Constitution.

charterreform.lacontroller.appTake Action For Charter Reform

5 May

📧 Contact your Council Member to support our Office's Charter Reform recommendations to strengthen and protect the City Controller's Office! VISIT charterreform.lacontroller.app for easy to use instructions on our action items!

MAYOR'S $14.8 BILLION PROPOSED CITY OF LA BUDGET JUST DROPPED‼️ FEW HIGHLIGHTS 🧵 🚔 LAPD: $223 Million INCREASE to $3.6 Billion Includes increases in salaries, overtime, pensions, benefits, liability claims, & more. Includes hiring 510 officers to maintain a force of 8,555.

liabilityclaims.lacontroller.appCity of LA Liability Claims Dashboard - Interactive Data AnalysisInteractive dashboard analyzing City of Los Angeles liability claims and payouts from FY2020 to FY2025. View comprehensive data, trends, and statistics.

⚖️ Liability Claims: $23 Million INCREASE to $210 Million This is in-line w/ our Office constantly sounding the alarm on liability claims being underbudgeted ($87 million annually) when we spend $200+ million annually. Our liability claims dashboard: liabilityclaims.lacontroller.app

🫂 Unarmed Model of Crisis Response: $5 Million INCREASE to $18.8 Million Expanded coverage to ensure more residents have access to appropriate, non-law enforcement interventions for non-violent, non-emergency calls such as mental health crises, welfare checks, & disturbances.

🏡 Homelessness: $165 Million DECREASE to $788 Million This is more in-line with our recent analysis which found that previous homelessness budgets were too high compared to actual spending (e.g. HHAP $). Decreases also include Prop HHH winding down & less State/Federal grants.

🔨 Street Services: $55 Million INCREASE to $478 Million Includes increases in hiring more employees, salaries, contractual services, liability claims, & more. Increases for sidewalk repair, pavement preservation, access/curb ramps, clean corridors program, & more.

Imagine finding $80 MILLION sitting IDLE around your house that you could have been using! That’s what our office found when we looked at the City’s Special Funds for any funds that hadn’t been used for 2+ years! Read our Idle Funds Report: bit.ly/idlefunds

Right now, the City is facing another tough budget year. We need to make sure to use the money we already have before we dip even further into our reserves or make deeper cuts into City services.

The impact this $80 million could have if it were being used means streets could get paved, parks could get improvements, and more fire hydrants could be installed. And these services wouldn’t strain the City’s budget – it’s money the City already has. Check out the report: bit.ly/idlefunds

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Special Funds are different than the General Fund: Special Funds can only be used for specific purposes. (The General Fund can be used for anything.) Special Funds sitting idle means that there are specific purposes that the City could have been spending on but wasn’t.