February 11, 2009 | 1:13 pm

Podcast: L.A. City Council candidate Paul Koretz reaches out to local Iranians

Posted by Karmel Melamed

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Last night Paul Koretz, the Los Angeles City Council candidate for the Fifth district spoke at a fundraiser in Westwood, a local stronghold for various Iranian groups in the city. Last week our podcast program chatted with Koretz about his outreaching to Iranian voters. Koretz, who is also Jewish and a former member of the California Assembly, has been embraced by local Iranian Jews, Iranian Muslims and other Iranians in the area. He is one of the few candidates in the race who has focused on winning support among various Iranian American groups in the district. Interestingly, L.A.‘s Fifth district is home to the largest number of Iranians in the city and Koretz has been heavily campaigning among them.

Listen to our podcast interview with Koretz about his interactions with local Iranians during this race here

Koretz campaign officials said he not only plans on speaking to several Iranian synagogues in the area but will also be speaking at a West L.A. mosque in order to reach other Iranian voters in the district. In addition, Koretz has been quick to welcome and outreach to Iranians in the Fifth district whereas the out-going Fifth District Council member, Jack Weiss, neglected local Iranians in the city according to many Iranians in the city. Other local Iranian Jewish leaders are lending political support to Koretz based on his prior City Council support of improvement projects to Temple Beth El, the synagogue of the Iranian American Jewish Federation in West Hollywood.

My recent article about Koretz and the other local Iranian Jewish candidates for Beverly Hills City Council can be found here.

Koretz during a June 2008 event held by the “30 Years After” organization where he was asking for votes and support for his L.A. City Council race

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