Marqueece Harris-Dawson, a Los Angeles city councilmember representing parts of South L.A., was unanimously elected by his colleagues on Tuesday, May 28, to serve as the next City Council president starting Sept. 20, taking over for outgoing President Paul Krekorian.
As president, Harris-Dawson will decide which councilmembers to assign to council committees and will decide which issues to bring before the council for a vote. He’ll also be instrumental in shaping the council’s relationship with Mayor Karen Bass and her office.
“You’ll hear more from us later. Until September, expect to see me with my head down, studying as hard as we can, so we can be as prepared as possible when we take leadership of this council,” Harris-Dawson said immediately after he was named the next council president.
The council voted 14-0 to elect Harris-Dawson. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was absent.
Harris-Dawson, 54, was first elected to the council in 2015. He won his third council term in March to represent Council District 8, which spans from Baldwin Hills to the border of Watts.
Before joining the council, Harris-Dawson was president and CEO of Community Coalition, a nonprofit founded by Bass, long before she became mayor, to improve the conditions of residents in South L.A.
After Tuesday’s council vote, Bass congratulated Harris-Dawson.
“Councilman Harris-Dawson has a long history in City Hall and beyond of bringing people of all backgrounds and across all sectors together,” the mayor said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to lock arms with council leadership to bring more unhoused Angelenos inside and make Los Angeles safer for all.”
Harris-Dawson currently chairs the Planning and Land Use Management committee and is vice chair of the budget committee, another powerful committee.
In an interview after Tuesday’s council meeting, Harris-Dawson said he plans to spend a lot of time over the next few months with the city’s chief legislative analyst,…
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