Paul Koretz (born April 3, 1955) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 5th district from 2009 until he was term-limited in 2022.

[2] While still a student at UCLA in the 1970s, he ran and was defeated for a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

After his marriage, he and his wife, Gail, moved less than a mile away from his parents' home to an area where his father lived upon immigrating to Los Angeles in 1939 after escaping Nazi Germany.

[17] Koretz cited the often horrible, inhumane conditions in which animals are bred which lead to disease, and long-term behavior problems in cats and dogs.

[21][22] Koretz advocated for Billy, an aging elephant housed at the Los Angeles Zoo to be retired to a sanctuary 3 times over the course of a decade.

First in 2009, second in 2018,[23] with then Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, and again in 2022 saying that “The zoo has successfully, up to this point, waited me out.”[24] In addition to support from elephant advocates, Cher and Lily Tomlin,[25] Koretz stated in his motion that Billy was "alone in a small enclosure where he was kept on hard surfaces not considered beneficial for his feet and joints, and allegedly received a lack of sufficient exercise and stimulation [and Billy has] long has been exhibiting abnormal (stereotypic) behavioral patterns many elephant experts characterize as indicating detrimental mental health impacts from that environment.”[26] In response to poor conditions in the Los Angeles Animal Shelter system in 2022, Koretz held a series of City Council Committee hearings with extensive public comment which led to the creation of a 48-page report detailing both whistleblower concerns and recommendations on how to improve shelter conditions.

He noted, however, that neither the Personnel, Audits and Animal Welfare committee, nor he, as an individual Councilmember without full Council approval, has “an ability to order the Department of Animal Services to do anything.” These actions were taken in response to Los Angeles Times articles which found that dogs were often confined for weeks at a time[28] and several volunteers who were reportedly fired after whistleblowing on the shelter's staff shortages and inhumane conditions.

For over 10 years, Koretz remained the only constant member of the City Council's Energy, Climate Change, Environment Justice and River Committee.

“The demolition of the smokestacks at NGS is a solemn event,” said Nicole Horseherder, executive director of the Navajo environmental grassroots group Tó Nizhóní Ání.

“It’s a reminder of decades of exploitation subsidized by cheap coal and water from the Navajo and Hopi.”[32] Climate Emergency Mobilization Office Koretz and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion to create a Climate Emergency Mobilization Office working with the LEAP L.A Coalition at the beginning of 2018, following massive winter wildfires.

This motion positioned Los Angeles as the first city in the world to signal action must be taken to mitigate drastic climate change.

The motion said that "many well-meaning policies to combat climate change and pollution have left low-income communities with higher energy bills and worse air quality due to a disparity in excess to energy efficiency programs" and called for safeguards to prevent the burden of decarbonization costs being passed onto tenants, noting that current laws allow landlords to pass building improvement costs onto tenants.

The legislative action will help to “drawdown,” or pull greenhouse gases from the atmosphere through a holistic, comprehensive effort by using the city's annual estimated 280,000 tons of food waste to build healthy soils on parklands and open space.

[51] For safety purposes, Koretz proposed moving the bike lane one block to the west to less-trafficked Gayley Avenue.

[55] A long-time supporter of the labor movement, in 2014, Koretz with Councilmember Cedillo introduced a wage-theft motion, approved by Council, to criminalize wage theft and increase penalties and fines on employers who unfairly cheat their employees out of pay.

[56] Koretz argued that this ordinance would give Angelenos another tool to battle wage theft, ensuring that workers get the money they deserve and leveling the playing field for businesses that follow the rules.

The motion is designed to also help shape future legislative policy regarding worker protections, essential services in neglected communities and strategies to address "food deserts.

[60][61][62] In April 2022, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition filed a lawsuit over Paul Koretz's failure to respond to a public records request regarding his communications with the Simon Wiesenthal Center about this security program.

[citation needed] Following ongoing disruptions and protests of council meetings which began after the George Floyd murder in May 2020, Koretz ended his final speech as a member of the City Council with explicit language directed at activists by appropriating a quote heard hundreds of times from them during city meetings held by video.

[63][64] He received applause and a standing ovation by fellow Councilmembers, staffers, and members of the attending public, though he was criticized for his language by some commentators and constituents on social media.

Koretz's wife, Gail, served as local government liaison for the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.