Race for controller heats up with latest entry

Zach Sokoloff, a real estate investment firm executive, hopes to unseat Kenneth Mejia.

- BY DAVID ZAHNISER

Los Angeles City Hall is not known for making things simple for real estate developers — especially those seeking approval of large, complicated projects.

Yet this year Westwood resident Zach Sokoloff navigated the city’s bureaucratic obstacle course, winning City Council approval of a $1-billion plan to redevelop Television City, the historic studio property on Beverly Boulevard.

Now, Sokoloff is hoping to make what some might view as a baffling career change, jumping from Hackman Capital Partners, where he is senior vice president for asset management, to a job as L.A.’s next elected city controller.

For that to happen, Sokoloff would need to defeat City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who is running for another four-year term in June. That's a tall order, given Mejia’s social media savvy, his status as an incumbent and his deft use of graphics highlighting the minutiae of city government — sometimes featuring hat-wearing corgis.

In 2022, Mejia secured more votes than any other candidate in city history, as he and his team like to point out. Former state Sen. Isadore Hall, who also is running against Mejia, has his own track record of winning elections.

Sokoloff, by contrast, never has run for public office. He’s spent the last seven years at Hackman, which proposed the 25-acre Television City project and owns other studio properties.