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Newly declared mayoral hopeful Austin Beutner has put out his first release. It gives us an idea of how he will portray himself — his campaign is "grassroots," of course, and he loves the city and has a "proven track record." It also gives us an idea who his campaign handlers will be. One of the names on the release is Sean Clegg, the former Villaraigosa deputy and speech writer. Could Ace Smith be far behind the scenes?
Entire thing is after the jump.
Beutner plans campaign focused on creating jobs and putting Angelenos back
to work
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles First Deputy Mayor and Chairman for Economic and Business Policy Austin Beutner today launched an exploratory campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles by filing papers with the City Ethics Commission. Beutner’s exploratory campaign will concentrate on building citywide support behind a long-term jobs strategy for LA.
“I love Los Angeles and I’m passionate about what’s possible for this city,” Beutner said. “We need to create jobs, put our people back to work and retool our economy for the future.”
“I have a proven track record in both the private and public sectors. I bring to the table a working knowledge of City government and how jobs are created in the private sector. Getting government to support and work together with the private sector will create good-paying jobs here in Los Angeles,” Beutner said.
“This is going to be a grassroots effort to reconnect City Hall to the City we serve. I am going to begin by reaching out in every community and every neighborhood of LA, and I intend to do more listening than talking,” Beutner said.
As Jobs Czar, Beutner was credited with changing the culture of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Business Policy, requiring City staffers to make “cold calls” to local businesses, cutting in half the amount of time it takes to permit a new restaurant and spearheading the Business Tax Holiday, which relieves new employers from the City’s gross receipts business tax for three years. Beutner has helped attract major US headquarters to LA, including Gensler, a leading global architecture firm, BYD, a leading
Chinese clean technology firm, and Lucky Brand, one of the nation’s foremost denim apparel companies. Beutner also worked to bring the Microsoft Partners Conference to the City for the first time.
About Austin
Over the course of his career in the private and public sectors, Austin Beutner has been committed to seeking out and implementing strategies that drive economic growth and create jobs.
In January 2010, inspired by his desire to help build a stronger Los Angeles, Austin took a full-time position as the City’s First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of Economic and Business Policy. Working for a salary of $1.00 per year, he dedicated himself to bringing an innovative, “doing more with less” approach to solving some of the City’s largest economic problems.
At a time when many LA residents and businesses were suffering from the impact of the nationwide recession, Austin sought to make changes to City government that would reinvigorate the local job market.
Together with a team of experienced private sector professionals, Austin built a culture of service and coordination, in which his office proactively offered support to LA’s employers. He then implemented important policy changes to attract dynamic, job-creating companies to the City. Additionally, he refocused the City’s efforts to small and local businesses, offering support to help them thrive even in a difficult economy.
Shortly after assuming the position of First Deputy Mayor, Austin was asked also to serve as Interim General Manager of the LADWP, where he cut $263 million from that agency’s budget in order to protect Angelenos from a rate increase.
Austin’s commitment to tackling difficult challenges dates back to his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
One of three children of Roger Beutner, an immigrant manufacturing engineer, and Marcia Beutner, a retired public school teacher, Austin worked hard from an early age. Whether washing dishes at a local restaurant, driving a delivery truck, or starting his own lawn-mowing business, Austin developed a knack for rolling up his sleeves. After attending public schools his entire life, Austin attended Dartmouth College where he graduated with an Economics degree in 1982.
Austin spent his early career working in the financial industry. At age 29, Austin became the youngest person to ever become a partner at Blackstone, one of the world’s leading advisory firms. He went on to co-found the investment banking firm, Evercore Partners, with former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman. As President and Co‐Chief Executive Officer, he helped build Evercore into a global powerhouse, with offices around the country and around the world.
Austin is an ardent student of practical economics and has always been interested in helping great ideas become effective, real-world policies. That passion led him to accept a position with the U.S. State Department serving the Clinton Administration in Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he led a team that helped the new Russia transition to a market economy.
Currently, Austin serves as Chairman of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Downtown Events Center, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Co-Chairman of the CalArts Community Arts Partnership, Chairman of the Board for The Broad Stage, Chairman of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and as Chairman of the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation, which he founded.
Austin moved to Los Angeles because he loves the City and the diverse, creative-minded culture that makes it unlike anywhere else in the world. He and his wife have four children, who consider themselves proud, native Angelenos.