Eric Garcetti

Environment, homelessness, infrastructure and immigration - I'm very focused on all four, which are critical to the success of Los Angeles.

Campaigns are these moments of suspended animation where people usually learn how to be friends afterward.

I'd hate to see new housing building accelerating while taking down buildings where there's 50 people living in rent-stabilized apartments.

My main job and my overwhelming job starts with my family, my street, my neighborhood, and my city.

You see as mayors and local officials our jobs are designed so we have more in common with our constituents than Washington politicians can ever have.

I kind of believe that, whenever possible, you should finish the job that you set out to do.

You don't have to be Latino to speak powerfully about how important it is to have a police department that cares for our immigrant communities.

The White House is not where power comes from in this country. The cities and the local communities of this nation are prepared to save Washington - and not vice versa.

Latinos are not monochromatic. You know, they trace their ancestry back to South America, to Central America, to Mexico, like in my family, and the Caribbean. And it's - we're a very diverse group. And we care about a lot more than just immigration, though we're passionate about having sensible immigration policies that don't go after our families.

I think poverty is the biggest challenge for Los Angeles and for many of our cities that have come back from the recession.

I have an incredible compass. You can put me back in a country I haven't been in 20 years and say, 'Get me from point A to point B,' and I'll take you there.

The travel that I've spent around the country, I always come back with ideas for L.A. and vice versa: My experiences in L.A. give me an immediacy to issues that sometimes people in Washington think about but aren't experiencing every day.