LA mayoral candidate Adam Miller says city has a 'delivery problem,' not a money problem

Adam Miller running for Los Angeles Mayor

Tech entrepreneur and nonprofit leader Adam Miller details his plans should he be elected Mayor of Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES - As the June 2 primary approaches, Los Angeles residents are preparing to decide whether to reelect Mayor Karen Bass or transition to new leadership. 

Among the challengers is Adam Miller, an entrepreneur and nonprofit leader who is positioning himself as an outsider with a proven track record of solving complex problems in the private and social sectors.

What we know:

Miller has been a Los Angeles resident for 35 years and has built multiple businesses and nonprofits in the city. He founded Cornerstone OnDemand, a multinational education company that he started in his apartment while in debt, eventually growing it to 3,000 employees.

In the nonprofit sector, Miller served as chairman of Team Rubicon for nearly a decade, an organization that utilizes the skills of military veterans for disaster relief and now boasts over 170,000 volunteers. He also led the merger of three organizations to create FAIR (Food Allergy Research and Education), the largest food allergy nonprofit in the world.

Through his organization Better Angels, Miller has spent the last year and a half researching the Los Angeles homelessness crisis. His work has focused on prevention, service delivery, and interim housing navigation.

"The truth is I started with nothing... I started that company literally in debt. So I know what it's like to eat top ramen every night and struggle to get by... I know what it's like to have to struggle to be successful," he explained. 

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He admits he didn't necessarily want to get involved with politics, but felt he had to due to the state of the city. 

"I don't want to do this. I feel like I have to. Three kids, they're growing up. We want them to come back to LA after they graduate college... That's the LA I fell in love with, and that's the L.A. I know our city deserves, but we're not there today." he said. "One problem we have in this city is not money, it's not resources, it's the effective delivery of services to the people who need them. It's that last mile."

Miller is positioning his campaign as a move away from career politics toward results-oriented leadership. He argues that his experience building consensus in the nonprofit world—specifically merging organizations with no financial incentive to do so—has prepared him to collaborate with the L.A. City Council. Despite currently polling in fifth place, Miller noted his support has grown significantly since officially entering the race, and he is banking on an "omni-channel campaign" to win over the 25% of voters who remain undecided.

By the numbers:

Here are some key things to know about the upcoming mayoral race.

Primary Election Date: June 2.

Homelessness Spending: Over $10 billion spent by the county in the last decade.

Prevention Success: Better Angels kept residents housed with an average of $2,100 in financial assistance, which Miller states is 98% cheaper than the cost of an individual becoming unhoused.

Service Delivery: Miller’s programs have served over 12,000 individuals through "resource days" providing medical, dental, and mental health services.

Polling Data:

A recent Los Angeles Times/Berkeley IGS poll shows:

• Karen Bass: 25%
• Nithya Raman: 17%
• Spencer Pratt: 14%
• Ray Wang: 8%
• Adam Miller: 6%
• Undecided: 25%