City Controller Wendy Greuel

City controller Wendy Greuel entered politics via the office of Mayor Tom Bradley and went on to work in the Clinton administration, at DreamWorks in government and community affairs, and in the L.A. city council as a member and later president. Before participating in Zócalo’s live mayoral debate, she confessed in the Zócalo green room that she usually relies on a liquid breakfast, that as a kid she didn’t make her bed every day—and that she doesn’t have much of a strategy for protecting L.A. from a zombie apocalypse.

Q:

What do you eat for breakfast?


A:

Coffee. I usually drink coffee, that’s my breakfast of choice. I make sure my son has oatmeal every morning, though.


Q:

How did you get into trouble as a kid?


A:

Maybe not cleaning my room every day—that would be it. Not making my bed.


Q:

What weapon would you choose if a zombie apocalypse came to L.A.?


A:

I have no idea! [An aide says she doesn’t have to answer the question.] I think if a zombie apocalypse came to L.A., I’d probably run. That’d be my weapon. I’m not sure there’d be anything I could do to defend myself.


Q:

What were the two most surprising things you learned as city controller?


A:

A lot of my audits I tried to get the city council to implement, and they didn’t, even though it would save money. And that my incredible staff of only 13 was able to still put out over 89 audits.


Q:

If you had one more hour in the day, what would you do with it?


A:

Spend it with my son.


Q:

What’s the ugliest piece of furniture you own?


A:

I like all my furniture.


Q:

What’s hanging on your living room walls?


A:

A picture from my son’s preschool of all the kids that we bought in an auction—an artistic design.


Q:

When did you last laugh?


A:

Just now. When you asked about the apocalypse.


Q:

Can you assess Mayor Villaraigosa’s tenure in 140 characters or less?


A:

He’s done a great job on advocating for transportation, on public education, and making sure our police force is at 10,000.


Q:

If you become mayor, what could you do for Zócalo?


A:

I would definitely go on Zócalo as many times as you want, and be accessible to all of you to talk about issues in the city.