The new Jews of L.A.: Meet L.A.'s mayor, 'a proud Jew who stands up for Israel'
Part Latino, part Italian and part Native American, Eric Garcetti also embodies the new Los Angeles Jew. Allison Kaplan Sommer meets the first elected Jewish mayor in the city of angels.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has been compared to a kosher burrito, a pastrami taco, and a well-blended “L.A. smoothie” - it seems no gastronomic metaphor has been neglected to illustrate the fact that the first elected Jewish mayor of Los Angeles is an ethnic mixed bag. His mother’s parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants who built a successful clothing business and were active in Jewish organizational life. His father's heritage is Mexican-American, along with a mixture of Spanish, Native American and, as his last name indicates, Italian ancestry.
The fourth-generation Angeleno bills himself as a "back to basics" mayor, whose agenda is focused on job creation and unglamorous everyday issues that city leaders before him have neglected, like balancing the city budget and improving transportation. He is also ever present on social media, primarily on Twitter.
The 43-year-old mayor has spent much of his life in the public eye - his father Gil Garcetti had a high political profile as L.A.’s district attorney for eight years. The mayor has served on the city council since 2001 and as its president from 2006 to 2012. Garcetti has degrees from Columbia University and was a Rhodes Scholar, as was his wife Amy Wakeland, with whom he has a daughter, Maya.
While Garcetti never hid his Jewish identity, he also did nothing to draw attention to it during his political career. Before and during the mayoral campaign, most Angelenos were unaware of his strong affiliation.
more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/1.577567