Los Angeles City Council President Emeritus Paul Krekorian sat down for an interview with Asbarez Executive Editor Ara Khachatourian on Tuesday at the Horizon Television studios in Little Armenia.
During the interview, Khachatourian said that the first time he interviewed Krekorian was 25 year earlier when the official was running for the California State Assembly. Since then, Krekorian was elected to the State Assembly, and, after a brief tenure on the Burbank Board of Education, he became the first Armenian-American to be elected to the L.A. City Council, assuming the seat in 2010. In 2022, Krekorian was elected as Council President, a role he completed last week, when he stepped down to ensure a smooth transition of power, as his term concludes later this year.
Krekorian became L.A. City Council President at a tumultuous time. His predecessor, Nury Martinez, was forced to resign from her seat in the Council following a leak of a recording of her and other city officials making racist and disparaging remarks about their colleagues on the council and other ethnic communities, including Armenian-Americans.
In the interview, Krekorian reflected on the multi-pronged approach he took to not only bring order to the City Council, but more importantly, to win the confidence of the constituents and L.A. residents, whose trust in the establishment was marred by not only the tape scandal, but also seeing three city council members being indicted on corruption charges.
In praising Krekorian’s leadership, last week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called him “one of the most consequential leaders and public servants that the City of Los Angeles has seen.”
During the interview with Khachatourian, Krekorian also reflected back on some of the key milestones that not only addressed issues related to the Armenian Cause, but rather engaged and spurred fellow officials in the City of Los Angeles and State of California to take action on Armenian Genocide recognition and the protection of the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh.
Krekorian’s shepherding and eventual passage of a measure recognizing Artsakh’s Independence by the Los Angeles City Council paved the way for the State of California to take similar action, becoming one of the first states to recognize Artsakh’s right to self-determination. This was followed by establishing “Friendship City” ties between Los Angeles and Shushi, leading to the inauguration of the Friendship Square in Shushi. While Azerbaijan continued its blockade of Artsakh last year, Krekorian spearheaded the effort to create and inaugurate the Republic of Artsakh Square at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue in Brentwood, in front of the building that houses the Consulate General of Azerbaijan to Los Angeles.
A focal point of Krekorian’s service in the city council became the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the historic March for Justice—the six and a half mile march through the streets of Los Angeles by an unprecedented 160,000 people—to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In the interview, Krekorian reflected on the need to engage all facets of city government to ensure the smooth flow of the march. More important, however, was the effort to mobilize his colleagues in City Council and other key stakeholders in the city, county and the state to become active advocates for justice and advance the international recognition efforts for the Armenian Genocide.
