Wendy Greuel
Los Angeles City Controller

Wendy Greuel was sworn in as City Controller of Los Angeles on July 1, 2009, the second woman to be elected to a citywide office in the City’s history.

Wendy brings to the Controller’s Office a unique combination of government, business and community leadership experience. Wendy is a lifelong Angeleno, who was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley and attended UCLA. Upon graduation, Wendy learned how to make things work for people at City Hall in the office of Mayor Bradley, where she was the mayor’s liaison to the City Council, City Departments and the community on public policy issues including child care, the homeless, the elderly, and health issues.

In 1993, Wendy served with Cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros as the Field Operations Officer for Southern California for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she championed projects offering opportunities for homeownership, job creation, economic development, and social services for the less fortunate. She oversaw HUD’s emergency response and recovery programs after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

In 1997, Wendy joined the Corporate Affairs Department of DreamWorks SKG where she worked on the company’s government and community affairs. She coordinated DreamWorks’ legislative and governmental activities at the local, state and national levels.

In 2002, Wendy was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and represented the Second District in the Northeast San Fernando Valley for seven years. As Councilwoman, Wendy worked tirelessly to be an independent voice fighting for the Valley’s fair share of city resources. She focused on reducing traffic in Los Angeles as Chair of the City’s Transportation Committee, by banning road construction during rush hour, creating anti-gridlock zones and lobbying Sacramento to ensure construction and completion of a Northbound 405 carpool lane. As Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee, Wendy worked tirelessly to make Los Angeles more business friendly by cutting the City’s business tax by 15%, which returned nearly $100 million to local businesses. Her reforms eliminated the business tax for over 60% of the city’s small businesses and made the tax system more equitable with neighboring jurisdictions. As a member of the Audits and Government Efficiency Committee, Wendy saved taxpayers millions of dollars by consolidating departments, cutting wasteful government spending and identifying fraud and corruption in city government. She has also sought to reduce the influence of money on our political process by banning City Commissioners from fundraising.

As City Controller, Wendy ensures City Hall spends taxpayer dollars wisely and responsibly by identifying and eliminating wasteful spending, exposing fraud and abuse in city government and works to ensure an economic recovery and economic growth. Wendy believes in doing what is practical, not political, to get the job done and is focused on reforms that make the city more efficient and accountable.

She currently lives in Studio City and is married to Dean Schramm. They have an eight-year old son, Thomas.