Breaking Through

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez was elected on July 1, 2017, becoming the first woman elected to serve the Seventh District. As Chair of the City’s Public Safety Committee, Monica serves as a leading voice and expert on deployment of fire and police resources, emergency management, and Citywide public safety protocols.

Monica spent her decades-long career fighting for families and helping people in every role she had -- serving as an infrastructure expert, champion for small businesses, and staunch advocate for affordable housing.  In 2013, she was appointed Vice President of the City’s Board of Public Works by Mayor Eric Garcetti and spearheaded efforts to cut through red tape to make it easier for small, minority, and women-owned businesses to thrive in Los Angeles through the creation of the acclaimed Small Business Academy. Her work has earned her a reputation as a bold, passionate, no-nonsense leader who gets things done. 

Since taking office, she has introduced legislation to protect communities from wildfires, developed innovative initiatives to address the homelessness crisis with urgency and compassion, spearheaded efforts to establish a Citywide youth development task force, and ushered in pro-business policies to support small businesses. Monica is a graduate of San Fernando High School and Occidental College. She and her husband Raul have been married for 27 years. They reside in Mission Hills and have two children, Adrian and Elly, and a dog named Hercules.