Adam Miller, a businessman who built a software company from a small apartment into a multinational enterprise, says he now wants to change the city of Los Angeles.
Miller, who is running for Los Angeles mayor in the November election, said he believes a centrist outsider can fix what he described as a city broken by career politicians.
“The politicians in charge have completely failed Los Angeles,” Miller said in an interview with The Korea Daily on April 30. “As a moderate outsider, I believe I can bring real change.”
During the interview, Miller sharply criticized the current state of the Los Angeles city government. He singled out Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, and Councilmember Nithya Raman, another candidate in the race, saying both have failed to deliver results.
“Even in the middle of a housing crisis, housing supply has declined, homelessness has gotten worse, trash is overflowing on the streets, and residents no longer feel safe,” Miller said, directly criticizing Bass’ record as mayor.
Miller founded Cornerstone OnDemand, a cloud-based talent management software company, in 1999. The company, valued at about $5.2 billion, provides training platforms to more than 3,500 companies around the world. Samsung is among its major clients.
Through that business connection, Miller said he has visited South Korea several times and is familiar with Korean culture. He has also been involved in various public service efforts, including Team Rubicon, an international disaster response nonprofit organization.
“I have started a business and hired thousands of people,” Miller said. “With that experience, I want to solve LA’s economic problems. And with my background in disaster response and recovery, I want to make sure residents never again feel the kind of anger they felt after last year’s wildfires.”
If elected mayor, Miller said he would implement what he calls a “7×7 Plan,” a policy framework built around seven core goals, each supported by seven specific strategies.
The plan includes reducing street homelessness by 60%, lowering average rents by 10%, doubling Los Angeles Police Department patrols, and repaving 1,500 miles of city roads.
Miller said homelessness would be his top priority.
“We need to invest more resources in prevention and self-sufficiency, while also clearing illegal homeless encampments,” he said.
He criticized the city’s existing homelessness policies as “expensive and inefficient.”
Miller also emphasized public safety while arguing that his approach would differ from the current administration.
“Right now, the LAPD is so understaffed that it is focused mostly on responding after incidents happen,” he said. “We need to increase the police force to about 10,000 officers, strengthen patrols, and build a faster response system.”
He added that he would use technological innovation to modernize policing, firefighting, and disaster response across the city.
Miller also said the Korean American community is an important part of Los Angeles but remains underrepresented in city government.
“The Korean community is a vital part of LA, but it does not have enough representation in city decision-making,” he said. “I want to strengthen cooperation between city government and the Korean community and create an administration where more Korean American voices are heard.”
As part of his Koreatown-focused policy proposal, Miller said he would encourage the conversion of commercial buildings into residential housing to increase housing supply and help lower rents.
