created the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Investigative Unit in the City Controller's office and banned political fundraising among City Commissioners. Greuel launched a district-wide anti-graffiti campaign and pushed to increase the number of neighborhood watch organizations in her district. She also implemented a safety valet program designed to ensure that all elementary school students were supervised entering and exiting schools. In 2004, Greuel was an instrumental part of a major controversy in a neighborhood in her district when she chose to close a pedestrian bridge. There was a dispute between homeowners on the north side of the Los Angeles River and renters on the south side. Parking was an issue for the renters; they would use the north side neighborhood as overflow parking and cross the pedestrian bridge to their homes. Without any warning, the bridge was closed in 2005. The renters called for a town hall meeting, after which the bridge remained closed. The LAPD then became involved, saying they would close the bridge for 90 days to see if crime rates (the reason the homeowners cited to close the bridge) were affected. Near the end of the trial period, another town hall meeting was called and the officer in charge said that there was no significant change in the crime rates on the north side of the bridge. In the days before the final recommendation from the LAPD was to be released, this officer was discharged from the case and another officer was put in charge. This second officer recommended the bridge be closed for unknown reasons. This remains a point of contention in the renters' neighborhood, as parking is sparse and residents often have to walk blocks to get home while the bridge remains closed. Greuel stayed adamant that the decision to close the bridge was about crime, not parking: "We've received a variety of complaints from people on the bridge side of graffiti, vandalism, drug sales." The police study during those 90 days, however, refuted those claims. City Controller of Los Angeles (2009–2013) Greuel defeated Nick Patsaouras and Kathleen Suzy Evans on March 3, 2009 to become the City Controller of Los Angeles. She took office on July 1, 2009. Audit record By the end of her four-year term, Greuel's office claimed that she had identified over $160 million in waste, fraud and abuse. This assertion emerged as an issue during her 2013 mayoral campaign when