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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sheriff Lee Baca, Speaker Karen Bass, City Council President Eric Garcetti, Assemblyman Mike Feuer and former Controller Laura Chick spoke Sunday at a swearing-in ceremony for new City Council member Paul Krekorian in the Van Nuys City Hall. The crowd was there to celebrate Krekorian becoming the first Armenian American elected city official in L.A., but he and the mayor both sounded somber notes on the economy and the city budget. Villaraigosa called Krekorian a true progressive who will be a leader on the City Council, and recalled that the new councilman cast the key vote at the only Democratic club to endorse Villaraigosa when he ran for the Assembly in 1994.
Krekorian, in his address, said the people feel kept out of power by the "disproportionate influence" of the glass towers downtown. Also there Sunday were a good chunk of the City Council, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Sen. Gloria Romero, Assemblymen Felipe Fuentes and Herctor de la Torre, and other electeds.