LA mayor names new economic czar

The mayor appointed Beutner to the newly created position of Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for Economic and Business Policy.

“Austin's appointment is the first step towards a total re-engineering if you will, a refocusing of economic development and job creation in the city," said Villaraigosa.

Beutner, 49, is well-known in financial circles.

He and former U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman co-founded Evercore Partners, a financial services firm that manages money for institutional investors around the world.

In the mid-1990s, he led a U.S. State Department team that helped Russia’s transition to a market economy. Beutner told reporters he wants to foster a similar change at L.A. City Hall.