The City Charter establishes the Controller as an elected official and gives the Controller the responsibility for serving as the auditor and chief accounting officer of the City. The Controller is required to exercise general supervision over the accounts of all officers and departments of the City, including the independent departments of Airports, Water and Power and Harbor. Under the Charter all City payments must be approved by the City Controller. The Controller also prepares the official financial reports for the City and is responsible for financial and performance audits of all City Departments and programs.
The current City Controller is Kenneth Mejia, more information is available at https://controller.lacity.gov.