In one of his final interviews before stepping down as mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti reflects back on his time serving the city.
In a special episode of "LA Stories," Garcetti shares with host Giselle Fernandez that he’s proud of the work he’s done and is hopeful for the future of LA.
“I'm really happy with the work we've done… which is not to say I did everything perfectly, that we didn't have some failures,” he said. “But I was going through the summary of what we've done for nine and a half years, and it blows me away.”
During his tenure as mayor, Garcetti says he’s happy to know that his administration is responsible for projects such as investing in infrastructure, bringing the Olympics to LA, cutting poverty and increasing the rate of job growth. While he acknowledges the issue of homelessness is prominent, he says they were able to cut poverty by 27%.
Despite headlines reporting on all the work that is yet to be done in LA, Garcetti believes that the good he brought the city is significant.
“I've come to accept, if government does what it's supposed to do, it doesn't get a headline,” he said. “And that's how it's supposed to work because government is supposed to work.”
While he says he has loved his time as mayor, Garcetti looks forward to the future and plans on moving forward with his ambassadorship to India.
“I can't wait to represent this country in the next chapter and hopefully bring a little of LA to India, and maybe some of India to LA,” he said.
Garcetti also considers Mayor-elect Karen Bass a dear friend and is excited to see what she brings to the city.
As for his final message to Los Angeles, he says, “I love you. If you want to know one thing about Eric Garcetti, [it's] that I brought love to the city every single day and worked my tail off, longer hours than you probably ever will have known."
"And don't expect any one person to deliver the future on her own," he added. "It's on all of us. And if we all do that, whether it's getting ready for the Olympics or whether it's ending homelessness or building our future out together, we're unstoppable."
Watch "LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez" at 9 p.m. every Monday on Spectrum News 1.