Q&A: Councilman Paul Koretz, District 5

Before he became the 5th District Councilman in July 2009, Councilman Paul Koretz was a member of the California State Assembly and the West Hollywood City Council (and its mayor). He currently sits on five committees, including Audits & Governmental Efficiency, Personnel, Budget & Finance, Energy & Environment and Transportation. The councilman sat down with Encino Patch recently at his Valley Field Office to discuss Encino restuarants, issues and community members.

Encino Patch: What would say is the most important issue in Encino right now?

Councilman Koretz: Boy, that's hard. I can tell you the issue for a while that we got the most complaints about was coyotes. There are parts of Encino that have had an active coyote problem with some people losing their cats and small dogs and having the coyotes track their comings and goings and becoming far less nervous about their contact with human beings. So we've been doing a lot of work to try to educate the public about best practices to not attract them and working with folks to identify when they are seeing them and whether they need to be trapped, etc. So that's something we've been actively working on. It's a strange issue for a city council office, but we want to make sure that we protect the safety of our residents. So in some ways that's the most pressing.

Encino Patch: What is your favorite sport in Encino?

Koretz: Probably my favorite restaurants are Rosti's and John O'Groats. I just like their food.

Encino Patch: Do you actually live in Encino?

Koretz: I do not. I've represented Encino in the state legislature for a while and now as the councilmember, but I have never lived in Encino.

Encino Patch: What is your passion?

Koretz: As an elected official, my favorite thing is actually helping people on their neighborhood problems, and I've been doing that in various capacities for over 25 years. And I think that's a lot of the fun of this job. Getting to take a problem that seems intractable in a neighborhood and trying to find a solution.

I love what I'm doing. This is my hobby. So I never thought I'd wind up doing this as a profession. As an outside hobby, I enjoy reading and writing science fiction.  I'm a huge baseball and basketball fan—Dodgers and Lakers--and still get out and play softball every once in a while.

Encino Patch: What is your favorite aspect of Encino?

Koretz: Probably the people. I like the people I've met and worked with in Encino.  Community leaders and regular folks. It's been a lot of fun to represent the area. This group they all seem to be very constructive and reasonable. Virtually everyone. And very active at the same time.

Encino Patch: If you could change one aspect of Encino, what would it be?

Koretz: I would probably get rid of Mermaids, which I've been trying to help get rid of since I've been on the council.