Paul Krekorian

When City Council District 2 held a special election in 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Councilwoman Wendy Greuel (who left to take the job of city controller), this page endorsed former Paramount Pictures executive Christine Essel for the post. Voters disagreed. The man they chose, Paul Krekorian ? who, we had said, would "do a credible job as a councilman" ? has turned out to be quite credible indeed, and deserves more time in office. Krekorian served three years in the Assembly before his election to the City Council, and also held posts on the city Ethics Commission and the Burbank school board.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian wants the city to explore the feasibility of banning the possession of ammunition for high-capacity gun magazines, the first step toward instituting stricter city gun and ammunition laws. Although the California penal code now prohibits the manufacture and sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, Krekorian said in a council motion Tuesday that a ban on the possession of the magazines within city limits could further improve public safety.

A jury Friday ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay $5.7 million to a man who was shot and paralyzed by police, an award that exceeds by $1.2 million a proposed settlement that the City Council rejected earlier this year. "If the city has to pay some more to show that we stood up and supported our police officers when they did nothing wrong then so be it," said City Council member Paul Krekorian, a vocal opponent to settling the case out of court. "It's money well spent. " The payout could increase even more if the judge orders the city to pay attorneys' fee for the man. The jury's decision compensates 26-year-old Robert Contreras for injuries he suffered one night in September 2005, when several officers on patrol in South Los Angeles responded to a report of a nearby shooting.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to draft new regulations for digital billboards, despite protests from critics who accused lawmakers of trying to circumvent a pending court decision that could eliminate dozens of those signs. On an 11-3 vote, council members instructed the city's planning and policy advisors to come back within 30 days with a proposed ordinance that would give the city a share of digital billboard revenue and avert "potential legal disputes" surrounding the brightly lit signs.

In Burbank, Glendale and parts of Los Angeles, four candidates want the state Assembly seat vacated after Paul Krekorian was elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Three Democrats and one Republican are on the April 13 special election ballot for the unexpired term that will last only a few months. Candidates hoping to also win a full two-year term in November must run in two elections at once. Democratic candidates are Mike Gatto, a lawyer and part-time night school teacher who once worked for an area congressman; Chahe Keuroghelian, a small-business owner and former spokesman for the Glendale Police Department; and Nayiri Nahabedian, a board member of the Glendale Unified School District.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian wants the city to explore the feasibility of banning the possession of ammunition for high-capacity gun magazines, the first step toward instituting stricter city gun and ammunition laws. Although the California penal code now prohibits the manufacture and sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, Krekorian said in a council motion Tuesday that a ban on the possession of the magazines within city limits could further improve public safety.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to draft new regulations for digital billboards, despite protests from critics who accused lawmakers of trying to circumvent a pending court decision that could eliminate dozens of those signs. On an 11-3 vote, council members instructed the city's planning and policy advisors to come back within 30 days with a proposed ordinance that would give the city a share of digital billboard revenue and avert "potential legal disputes" surrounding the brightly lit signs.

In approaching next month's city elections, we have considered our endorsements with certain concerns in mind: Los Angeles is in bad shape, facing budget shortfalls of historic proportions. Some of those troubles are the result of a weak economy, but others are the result of poor decisions by city leaders ? to reject needed revenue, to dole out excessive raises and pension benefits, and to seek to avoid accountability for those actions. As a consequence, we're in search of change. That said, not all leaders are equally culpable, and we don't want to reject all incumbents out of frustration.

City elections tend not to attract a large voter turnout, but just because Tuesday's municipal contests don't involve big bucks or big names doesn't mean they're not significant. At stake are several seats on the Los Angeles City Council and some key taxation measures, including a test of Angelenos' tolerance for medical marijuana. FOR THE RECORD: Ballot measures: The summaries of The Times' endorsements in the March 8 elections listed Measures G through Q as ballot initiatives.

A controversial plan to carve the city of Los Angeles into 11 new and exclusive commercial trash hauling franchise areas was approved unanimously by two City Council committees Wednesday. The matter now goes to the full council for a vote despite objections from some business interests and apartment owners, as well as the city's top budget guru, Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana. The plan is backed by a powerful coalition of labor and environmental groups, who say it will boost recycling, reduce truck traffic, and improve working conditions in a hazardous industry.

The Los Angeles City Council last month seized more than $56,000 set aside for motorists who had successfully challenged their parking tickets, using the small sum to help patch a big budget hole. Now some at City Hall are questioning whether those motorists, who were owed sums as large as $350, had enough of a chance to claim the money before it was rolled into city coffers. Officials ran newspaper advertisements earlier this year stating the council planned to pocket the money from nearly 1,100 refund checks, which were mailed in 2007 and 2008 but never cashed.

A jury Friday ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay $5.7 million to a man who was shot and paralyzed by police, an award that exceeds by $1.2 million a proposed settlement that the City Council rejected earlier this year. "If the city has to pay some more to show that we stood up and supported our police officers when they did nothing wrong then so be it," said City Council member Paul Krekorian, a vocal opponent to settling the case out of court. "It's money well spent. " The payout could increase even more if the judge orders the city to pay attorneys' fee for the man. The jury's decision compensates 26-year-old Robert Contreras for injuries he suffered one night in September 2005, when several officers on patrol in South Los Angeles responded to a report of a nearby shooting.

A controversial plan to carve the city of Los Angeles into 11 new and exclusive commercial trash hauling franchise areas was approved unanimously by two City Council committees Wednesday. The matter now goes to the full council for a vote despite objections from some business interests and apartment owners, as well as the city's top budget guru, Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana. The plan is backed by a powerful coalition of labor and environmental groups, who say it will boost recycling, reduce truck traffic, and improve working conditions in a hazardous industry.

Los Angeles City Hall proved irresistible to yet another Sacramento politician, with Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield becoming the fourth state lawmaker to launch a bid for next year's City Council race. Blumenfield, a Democrat from Woodland Hills, moved to create a campaign committee last week to run for the west San Fernando Valley seat held by Councilman Dennis Zine, who is running for city controller. Already raising money for other council campaigns are Assemblyman Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles)

City Councilman Bernard C. Parks likes to describe Los Angeles' budget woes as the consequence of an untreated addiction - the city's habit of adding workers in good times and then being unwilling to let them go in bad times. The result is ever-increasing personnel costs and ballooning pension and healthcare obligations for retired city workers. In recent years, Parks, a former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, has become increasingly strident in his insistence that the city must mend its ways, and his message has made him plenty of enemies.

It was a traffic jam; we know them all too well. But the doozy in Sherman Oaks last Monday, on the first day of school after a three-week holiday break, was particularly annoying to Alexandra Pettus. She was trying to get her son to Millikan Middle School, but every alternate route she tried was totally jammed. "I kept saying to my son, 'You're going to have to get out and walk, 'cause you'll get there quicker.' " Eventually her son did just that, and when Pettus got home, she called the school to ask what was up. Some kind of street project, she was told, but the details were sketchy.

Los Angeles City Hall proved irresistible to yet another Sacramento politician, with Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield becoming the fourth state lawmaker to launch a bid for next year's City Council race. Blumenfield, a Democrat from Woodland Hills, moved to create a campaign committee last week to run for the west San Fernando Valley seat held by Councilman Dennis Zine, who is running for city controller. Already raising money for other council campaigns are Assemblyman Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles)

With term limits opening several Assembly seats in the San Fernando Valley to all-comers, Keith Stuart Richman was leading Tuesday in early returns in the 38th District Republican primary, while attorney Paul Krekorian of Burbank moved ahead of two rivals in the Democratic primary for the 43rd Assembly District seat.

A Los Angeles city councilman is calling on federal authorities to investigate why a judge in Puerto Rico granted bail to a Los Angeles homicide suspect who is now on the run. Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes theNorth Hollywood parking lot where 19-year-old Mike Yepremyan was gunned down, said Judge Gloria Maynard's decision to release the teenager's suspected killer is "so disgusting, so absolutely bizarre and inexplicable that...

Los Angeles City Council members have two interrelated but separate jobs: They are supposed to take care of their districts, improving their constituents' quality of life by marshaling city services, attracting jobs and business, and keeping everyone in the loop; and they are supposed to look out for the entire city by making the policy and budget decisions to keep Los Angeles working. On Tuesday, voters elected at least five incumbents and a virtual incumbent ? Mitch Englander was departing Councilman Greig Smith's chief of staff ?