Who is Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti?
LOS Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has led the city for just under a decade. Garcetti is President Bidens nominee to become ambassador to India, the White House announced. Eric Michael Garcetti is an American politician serving as the 42nd and current mayor of Los Angeles since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 election and reelected in 2017. Garcetti was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley  the son of public servants and the grandson and great-grandson of immigrants from Mexico and Eastern Europe. Garcetti received his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University, and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and later at the London School of Economics. He is also a jazz pianist and photographer. 3 Eric Garcetti will become ambassador to India, as appointed by Joe Biden Credit: Alamy  Beyond his time at City Hall, Mayor Garcetti has served his country as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve and taught at the University of Southern California and Occidental College. He and his wife, First Lady Amy Elaine Wakeland, have one daughter, Maya, and have been foster parents for more than a decade. If confirmed by the Senate, Garcetti would be the first L.A. mayor in more than a century to voluntarily leave office before the end of his term. He had been scheduled to step down from his role in December 2022. In making the announcement, the White House emphasized Garcettis "sweeping responsibilities and Los Angeles global role, highlighting the mayors oversight of the busiest container-ship port in the Western Hemisphere and one of the worlds busiest airports," the LA Times wrote. Garcetti has also networked with counterparts around the globe, including in India, to push for stronger policies to battle climate change. 3 Garcetti has been Mayor of Los Angeles since 2013 Credit: AP  I have committed my life to service  as an activist, as a teacher, as a naval officer, as a public servant and, if confirmed, next as an ambassador, Garcetti said. A botched detonation of illegal fireworks carried out by a bomb squad left multiple people injured in a South Los Angeles neighborhood. The explosion was captured on video, rocking a south Los Angeles neighborhood at 7.30pm on June 30, 2021. At least 17 people were injured in the blast, including nine police officers. A member of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives and a firefighter were injured. A total of 16 people - 11 men and six women aged between 42 and 85 - were taken to hospital, according to reports. One was treated at the scene but reportedly refused to go to hospital. None of the injuries were life threatening, according to NBC Los Angeles. The suspect was identified as Arturo Cejas III and has been charged with suspicion of possessing fireworks and destructive devices, as well as suspicion of child endangerment  because two children were found at the home, police said, according to KABC-TV. Garcetti said he directed the LAPD to conduct a full investigation into the incident. He said in a statement: "Illegal fireworks pose a great danger and can cost lives. "We will prosecute those who use or possess them to the fullest extent of the law."