Los Angeles City Council Honors Cole as He Retires as LA’s Chief Deputy Controller

The Los Angeles City Council honored Pasadena City Councilmember Rick Cole this week with a resolution saluting his upcoming retirement as Chief Deputy Controller for Los Angeles.

Cole had previously announced his planned departure, saying “I knew it would be difficult to hold down a more-than-full-time role in LA and a more-than-part-time role in Pasadena.” He intends to focus on his Pasadena Council role and expand his current part-time teaching duties at Occidental College and Pepperdine University.

Twelve of the fourteen Councilmembers present on Wednesday rose to pay tribute to Cole’s three stints working for the City of LA. He first served as Senior Deputy to longtime LA Councilmember Richard Alatorre, later as Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation under Mayor Eric Garcetti, before being recruited for the number two role by elected City Controller Kenneth Mejia in 2022.

Cole has four decades of local government experience, including twelve years as a Pasadena Councilmember and Mayor and twenty years as City Manager in the cities of Azusa, Ventura, and Santa Monica.

Councilmember Tim McOsker spearheaded the Council recognition, introducing Cole as “Someone who has left an indelible mark on local government and public service, not only here in the City of Los Angeles but throughout all of Southern California. Rick is the textbook example of what it means to be a public servant, a servant leader, someone who is critically and deeply involved into the workings of government.  You’ve modernized budgeting and planning tools, you’ve put people back into the center of civic life.”

Controller Mejia saluted Cole as “someone who deeply cares about mentoring the next generation of leaders. What matters to Rick is not establishing a legacy for himself, but building a better future for everyone else.”

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who worked closely with Cole when he chaired the Council Finance Committee and Cole was Deputy Mayor, said, “You have been a consistent transformer and a change maker. I wanted to express my gratitude for all that you’ve done and that you continue to do because this is not a goodbye to public service, this is just a shift in where your focus is going to be.”

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who partnered with Cole on reforming procurement in Los Angeles, rose to say, “I wanted to thank you because so often what is celebrated as leadership is performative. You have been the example of actually saying the hard truths about what real leadership looks like – it’s about the diligence of actually pursuing and seeing the material change, so I want to thank you for being one of those who helped to lead material change not just here at City Hall, but in all the variety of roles you’ve had.”

Councilmember Curren Price called Cole a “hero” and “a friend to justice and equality.” Councilmember Adrin Nazarian recalled Cole’s generosity in mentoring him when he was a graduate fellow thirty years ago. “You taught me a very valuable lesson to always spend time talking to folks who may just be getting as start, that nothing to offer but their energy and sense of wanting to make a difference,” Nazarian said.

Councilmember Nithya Raman described how Cole brought “a new and unique way of thinking about Los Angeles and how this city which is fragmented, clunky, often unnecessarily bureaucratic, how we could use someone with your approach and intellect who could think about how we could reorganize the city to function more effectively in service of the residents.”

Councilmember Katie Yaroslavsky paid tribute to Cole’s, “Compassion, clarity, intelligence and incisive understanding of what ails us. You are a true public servant. I just want to thank you for a long career of giving a damn consistently over and over again. It’s inspiring to me.”

City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson summed concluded the recognition, saying, “You have a special talent and commitment for how to make government work even when it’s intentionally set up to not work.”

Cole used the recognition to deliver what Councilmember Blumenfield called “a call to action.” He cited the appeal by Mayor Karen Bass in her recent State of the City message for “a complete overhaul of City government.”

Saying “beneath the broken sidewalks is a broken system,” Cole told the Council that “bold systemic reform” is needed to meet the current crises in Los Angeles, including homelessness, fiscal stress, fire recovery and crumbling infrastructure.

“Los Angeles is the economic engine and the cultural soul of Southern California,” Cole told the Council. “A world-class city deserves a world-class government. It’s time to redesign Los Angeles to work.” He advocated for “overdue” reforms to governance, management and budgeting. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary leadership,” he concluded. “So I implore you: Carpe Diem! Seize the day!”