Beutner Withdraws From Mayor's Race

Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner, a former investment banker and high-ranking official in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office, said Tuesday he is withdrawing from the race.

Beutner said he entered the race to meet the city's needs, but now must focus on the needs of his own family.

"My candidacy reinforced my view of how much our city needs leadership to solve problems," Beutner told City News Service. "I intend to keep working, to roll up my sleeves to get things done. I don't think we can settle for the same old promises."

Despite serving as Villaraigosa's "economic czar" for nearly a year before entering the race, Beutner tried to stake out a position as the outsider candidate, calling City Hall a "barnyard" during an economic policy speech in January.     

Asked if he would consider serving as a deputy mayor for economic development under the next mayor, Beutner said, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it ... I hope whoever the next mayor is will bring new blood and new ideas in to City Hall to start to get things."

Beutner made headlines recently when he wrote about Los Angeles Fire Department response times in The Huffington Post-Los Angeles, claiming that recent budget cuts have sent response time for the department soaring. The story led to Los Angeles fire officials admitted to releasing misleading and outright false data for years that made it appear LAFD responders were arriving at the scene of emergencies faster than they actually were. Buetner even blogged about the issue here on Patch: 

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