Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered what amounted to a farewell speech to his city Thursday at a time when it’s not clear when, or where, he’s going.
The two-term Democrat delivered his final State of the City address as his nomination by President Joe Biden to become U.S. ambassador to India appears imperiled in the Senate. A vote has been delayed by an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against a former Garcetti top adviser.
The nomination has languished since July and it’s not known when a vote will take place, if at all. If Garcetti remains at City Hall, his term runs through the end of the year.
The speech — at turns optimistic, nostalgic, defensive and emotional — marked a capstone of sorts for Garcetti’s two decades at City Hall, nearly half as mayor.
He approaches the end of his term with the city struggling with an unchecked homeless crisis that has spread into virtually every neighborhood, rising crime and housing prices that are out of reach for many working-class families.
He appeared to choke up when thanking his family for being with him “every step of the way” and expressing gratitude to colleagues for their support through the “toughest of times.”
At another point, he warned that without more affordable housing and shelter for the homeless “the California dream will be an old chapter in a distant history book.”
Last month, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said in a statement he has received “numerous credible allegations” that Garcetti was aware of sexual harassment of city employees committed by his former adviser and close friend Rick Jacobs, but did nothing to stop the misconduct. His office is investigating.
Garcetti has denied witnessing or being told of any inappropriate behavior by Jacobs. A lawsuit against the city charges that Jacobs frequently sexually harassed one of the mayor’s police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored it or laughed it off.
Jacobs has called the allegations against him “pure fiction.”
