Former Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, who is exploring a run for Mayor in two years, will address the graduating class of West Los Angeles College class at commencement on Wednesday at 5 o’clock on the campus athletic field.
After a brief tenure, Mr. Beutner recently resigned to concentrate on his prospects. Mayor Villaraigosa is ineligible to run for a third term.
Mr. Beutner already has been endorsed by former Mayor Richard Riordan.
He serves as Chairman of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Downtown Events Center, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for CalArts, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Broad Stage, Chairman of the Governor’s Council on Sports and Physical Fitness, Co-Chairman of the CalArts Community Arts Partnership and Chairman of the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation.
Mr. Beutner co-founded Evercore, a powerhouse investment and advisory firm with offices across the country and in London and Mexico.
At 29, he was the youngest person to become a partner at the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s leading advisory firms. He also served in the U.S. State Dept., in Russia, during the Clinton Administration. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he led a team that helped the new Russia transition to a market economy.
Saying he was committed to building a stronger Los Angeles, Mr. Beutner accepted a full-time position as the First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Business Policy for a salary of $1. During his tenure, he sought to bring an innovative “doing-more-with-less” approach to solving some of the city’s most complex economic problems.
For more information on West L.A. College, see www.wlac.edu.
