Will anyone pay attention to the new guy in the Controller's office?*

That would be attorney Ron Galperin, who easily defeated City Hall insider Dennis Zine for a job that reminds me a little of a newspaper ombudsman: Broad discretion in critiquing how the place is run, but little or no authority to force the real honchos to make changes. Since Galperin is an outsider, he might have an even tougher time getting noticed beyond pro-forma press releases. That's especially true in his dealings with the City Council, which has shown only limited interest in following up on audits prepared by the Controller's office. Frankly, I'm not sure how much help the job turned out to be for Wendy Greuel, who seemed preoccupied with lower-level government miscues that were merely symptomatic of larger operational issues. Galperin might want to spend some quality time with former Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, another outsider who recognized the breathtaking inefficiencies of L.A. government (if only Mayor-elect Garcetti could convince Beutner to come back). Making friends on the inside wouldn't hurt either - cranking out audits that end up collecting dust won't do any good, no matter how well-meaning you happen to be. Here's what the LAT had to say in endorsing Galperin for the job.

*I've been reminded that Galperin was a real estate reporter at the Los Angeles Business Journal in the late 1980s. First time a Business Journal reporter has moved on to elected office, Howard Fine tells me.