Los Angeles is about to elect its next mayor, either City Controller Wendy Greuel or Councilman Eric Garcetti, following current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's two up-and-down terms. The city needs a lot of work and some serious economic development. Looking back at a few of the city's most influential mayors highlights what the next mayor of Los Angeles needs to do to leave a lasting legacy.

Los Angeles City Hall (Wikimedia/Creative Commons)

Two of these mayors significantly changed the city for the better with new technology, city development, subway construction and significant attempts to bridge coalitions between races after the Watts riots.

 James R. Toberman: served from 1872-1874 and 1878-1882. Before becoming mayor of Los Angeles, President Lincoln appointed him to the position of United States Revenue Assessor, which is why Toberman came to Los Angeles. Toberman was on the forefront as mayor because of his use of new technology, which propeled Los Angeles forward. Under his leadership, Los Angeles started using electric streetlights, the routes for the original street-cars were developed and the city’s water and sewer lines were designed. Toberman also expertly managed the city’s finances. He slashed property taxes and left a surplus in the city coffers.

Thomas “Tom” J. Bradley: served from 1973-1993. Bradley was the first African American Mayor of Los Angeles and remains the city’s only African American mayor. In addition, his twenty years in office is the longest run by a Los Angeles mayor – an incredible feat considering term limits were passed in 1990 via Proposition 140.

Bradley presided over a time of great growth in Los Angeles and spearheaded opportunities for minorities and women to serve on city commissions. He also created coalitions between white and black liberals and eased racial tensions during a time when Los Angeles was diversifying at a rapid rate.

In his five terms as Mayor, Los Angeles International Airport was built, the Port of Los Angeles grew to be the  biggest and busiest in the country, the city's financial and business district was revitalized and construction of a subway was begun, said the New York Times in his obituary.

During his time in office, Los Angeles saw Bunker Hill develop, the 1984 summer Olympic Games and reforms to the Los Angeles Police Department. There were also more opportunities within the city structure and he was able to win re-election despite financial scandals. Bunker Hill was not the only section of the city to be developed while Bradley was in office. Office buildings popped up and Watts became home to a new shopping center and other small businesses after the devastating riots.

The Bradley family has also endorsed Greuel, who worked in Bradley's office for 10 years, mostly as his spokesperson to the City Council.

Angelenos greatly admired the late mayor despite being blamed for traffic and pollution problems that came with the city's rapid development under his leadership.

What L.A. Needs From Its New Mayor

These two mayors left a large legacy and their chairs have been hard to fill, with most previous mayors fallin short, but both Eric Garcetti or Wendy Greuel say they will attempt the challenge. The legacy of the next mayor will most likely involve dealing with the unsustainable city pension system, getting Los Angeles out of near bankruptcy, increasing city services, business growth in Los Angeles and/or his or her time on the Metro Board of Directors.

The next mayor will have to change the pension system to make it affordable because at the current pace, it's far from it. Pension reform is the first step to avoid bankruptcy because if the system is amended, it will change the dynamic of budgeting. If the next mayor – together with the City Council – can do this successfully, it will put a big star on their record.

City services has been a large topic of discussion in the recent years because of the continuous, years-long wait to have side walks fixed, pot holes filled, tress trimmed and other crucial city services in desperate need of reform. If pension reform can be established, there will be more money for these city services. More money means – ideally – the elimination of a backlog. This will also increase morale of residents and could possibly bring more people into the city.

For Greuel and Garcetti, creating jobs is a key issue. The next mayor needs to continue to lower the city's nine percent unenployment rate, the lowest it has been since 2008, and bring new businesses to Los Angeles. The unemployment rate, however, will have a net drop for the next mayor to claim that he or she truly had an impact.

The mayor has a seat on the Metro Board of Directors and also gets to appoint two people to the board, thereby extending his or her influence.

Metro currently has a lot of pending projects, including the 405 expansion project, the Purple Line Extension and whether or not to put a Crenshaw Line stop at Leimert Park, among others. In many cases, people on either side of the issue will have their own opinions of Metro and the mayor depending on whether Metro goes forward with these projects, but someone with an objective eye may judge the mayor and the Metro Board if these projects are completed on or under budget and in time, if not early.

If the next mayor and the Metro Board of Directors can do that, as well as spur job growth, city development and revamp the city's lack of funding for city services, then Los Angeles may have another "most influential mayor" to add to its roster, but only time will tell.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the Mayoral Election here.

Reach Staff Reporter Max Schwartz here; follow him on Twitter here.