Garcetti Can Raise $250,000 in Donations for Mayoral Transition

The Los Angeles City Council today approved setting up an account to take donations to cover Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti's transition costs until Sept 30.

Garcetti can solicit up to $250,000 in gifts, and each donor can give a maximum of $10,000. Any money that goes unspent will be absorbed into the city's general fund, which pays for city services and operation costs.

Money in the fund can be used to pay for staffing and equipment related to the transition and inauguration expenses.

Donors to the transition fund -- which will be handled by the office of City Controller Wendy Greuel until June 30 -- will be made public. Ron Galperin will be city controller starting July 1.

The controller must release money to Garcetti's transition team within 24 hours of the requests being made.

To lead his transition team, Garcetti named his longtime adviser and City Hall staffer Rich Llewellyn, who will be unpaid.

Llewellyn will be the only "official team member," with the transition staffed mostly by volunteers, according to Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb.

"Most transitions rely on a committee of insiders and celebrities. We have a streamlined office that is reaching out to issue experts and volunteers to accomplish specific tasks, while Mayor-elect Garcetti is going into the community to get ideas from neighborhood residents," Robb said.

This story has been updated with more information since it was originally published.