Relations Committee; and the Board of Referred Powers. He also serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Metrolink (Southern California), and sits on the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments, a coalition of leaders advocating for the Valley's two million residents. His campaign officially began on July 10, 2009, when Krekorian officially announced his candidacy to fill the vacant District 2 seat in a special election. The primary was held on September 22, in which Krekorian placed first with 34% of the vote. A runoff was scheduled for December 8 and, aided by support from a number of public safety, environmental, and Democratic groups, including Los Angeles Daily News, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, Krekorian soundly defeated Christine Essel with more than 56% of the vote, despite being outspent 2–1 in overall campaign dollars and 13–1 in third-party political committee donations. Since taking office in January 2010, Krekorian has worked to improve the city's finances, ensure government transparency, preserve open space, and restore confidence in local government. He was overwhelmingly elected to his first full term in 2011 and again in March 2015 and June 2020. In their editorial endorsing his March 2015 campaign, the Los Angeles Times called Krekorian "smart, knowledgeable" and a "voice for fiscal responsibility and responsive government." In 2012, Krekorian was tapped to lead the Budget and Finance Committee, inheriting the responsibility of overseeing a multi-billion dollar General Fund budget. Since taking the helm, he has taken a "difficult but responsible approach to solving a $220 million deficit and enhancing the city’s solvency." Krekorian has advocated for expanding rail and bus transit in the Valley, including electrifying and eventually converting the Orange Line (Los Angeles Metro) to light rail, completing the East Valley North-South Transit Corridor and Sepulveda Pass projects, linking the Red Line to the Hollywood Burbank Airport and connecting the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys by rail. He has also led the efforts to connect North Hollywood to Pasadena with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. On October 18, 2022, Krekorian was elected the president of the Los Angeles City Council following the resignation of former council president Nury Martinez. Political positions Armenia and Artsakh In response to the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Krekorian introduced a resolution