Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was inaugurated Sunday, emphasizing two priorities during his inaugural speech: making the city more business-friendly to bolster the economy and finding solutions to the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
Garcetti was sworn in at an inaugural ceremony held Sunday evening on the steps of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles.
Calling himself both the Salesman-In-Chief and the Back-To-Basics Mayor, Garcetti told those gathered that the city needs to hang a neon sign that says, “Los Angeles is Open for Business,” according to a speech provided by his staff.
Garcetti said he will cut red tape hampering small businesses and help attract more technology-based companies to Los Angeles.
Referring to the cluster of technology-based businesses including Google that have offices stretching along Los Angeles’ beach areas from Santa Monica to El Segundo, he said he wants to make “Silicon Beach” more than a pipe dream.
“We can make it a pipeline to the future, with enough start-ups and teeming tech companies to give our neighbors to the north a run for their bitcoin,” he said.
Garcetti also said he would prioritize filling the potholes, paving the streets, fixing the sidewalks, and trimming the trees.
“We will work to make government leaner, and more efficient – restoring depleted services in a way that costs you less and serves you more,” he said.
