The Armenian National Committee of America –San Fernando Valley East announced today its endorsement of Paul Krekorian for re-election to the 2nd District Seat of the Los Angeles City Council.

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Krekorian has a long and distinguished career in public service, having first been elected to the Burbank School Board in 2003, the California State Assembly in 2006 and the Los Angeles City Council in 2009, where he has served for several consecutive terms as the 2nd Council District representative. The 2nd Council District includes the Studio City, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Valley Village, Van Nuys and Valley Glen neighborhoods of the eastern San Fernando Valley, which is home to an estimated 100,000 Armenian Americans.

ANCA-SFVE Boardmember Raffy Ardhaldjian praised Krekorian’s endorsement. “Paul Krekorian has a long and distinguished record of public service and a demonstrable commitment to promoting and advancing issues of concern to his constituents. Paul also has a keen understanding of and appreciation for the challenges facing the many immigrant communities that comprise his culturally diverse Council district. Given his experience and skill, coupled with his unabashed pride in his Armenian heritage, Paul Krekorian is clearly the right choice to represent the 2nd Council District, home to a large and vibrant Armenian American community,” noted Ardhaldjian. “The ANCA-SFVE looks forward to closely working with Paul Krekorian and his staff in exploring new avenues and creative initiatives to meet the needs of the growing Armenian American community,” she concluded.

“Paul Krekorian’s long record of working with the Armenian National Committee of America goes back decades, to the 1990’s when Paul, working hand in hand with the ANCA, played an active role in devising and implementing the very first ‘Get Out To Vote’ initiative in the Armenian American community of Southern California,” stated ANCA-SFVE Chairman Vicken Sonentz Papazian. “Having personally worked with Paul on that grassroots initiative designed to educate and activate our community, and having worked with Paul on many community initiatives that followed, I can confidently say that Paul Krekorian has played an integral role in laying the foundation for the many Armenian Americans that have successfully entered public service and have ascended to elected office over the past 25 years. Just as it has done in years past, the ANCA-SFVE enthusiastically endorses Paul Krekorian for re-election to the Los Angeles City Council, with the expectation that his impressive record of service to our community continues to grow and that his life’s work continues to inspire young Armenian Americans to choose the path of public service,” concluded Sonentz Papazian.

The Los Angeles City Council elections are scheduled to take place on March 3, 2020.

Paul Krekorian is the only Armenian-American elected official who has ever been elected to the City Council of Los Angeles. Among his many accomplishments on issues of concern to the Armenian-American community, Councilmember Krekorian was instrumental in facilitating and providing substantial City resources for the historic March for Justice on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. He has also spearheaded the Los Angeles/Yerevan Sister City project as well as the Los Angeles/Shushi Friendship City joint effort, traveling numerous times in his capacity as an LA City Councilmember both to Armenia and Artsakh to find ways to expand and cultivate these relationships.

This weekend, Councilmember Krekorian will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Los Angeles City Hall, along with Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Los Angeles County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis. He has always worked closely with the ANCA-Western Region and all Armenian community organizations as well as the Consulate General of Armenia to ensure that the Armenian-American community’s voice is heard in the public sphere and that the Armenian Cause in all its aspects is protected and pursued. In response to attempts by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan to prevent the Prime Minister from speaking on public grounds, Councilmember Krekorian issued a strong rebuke of such efforts to thwart free speech and to censor any remarks that the Prime Minister may make in support of Armenia and Artsakh.

The ANCA-SFVE is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the East San Fernando Valley. Working in coordination with a network of offices and supporters throughout the region, the ANCA-SFVE advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

http://asbarez.com/185723/anca-sfve-endorses-paul-krekorian-for-reelection/