Protesters walk away after disrupting a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council demanding the resignation of council members, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, in Los Angeles, Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
Chris Weber / AP
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Chris Weber / AP
Protesters walk away after disrupting a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council demanding the resignation of council members, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, in Los Angeles, Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
Chris Weber / AP
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Council formally reprimanded two members and their former president Wednesday for their involvement in a racism scandal that has led to days of protests, police and investigations state investigation and shaken public confidence in City Hall.
The 12-0 vote to criticize former councilor Nury Martinez and Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León represents the strongest step the council can take to publicly reprimand them for their involvement. participated in a secretly taped meeting in 2021 with crude, obstinate comments in which the Latino Democrats planned to defend their political influence in redrawing assembly areas. at the expense of blacks and renters.
The board cannot expel members – it can only suspend a member when criminal charges are pending. Although a criticism was largely symbolic, it added new weight to pressure from across the political spectrum that led to the resignations of Cedillo and de León.
Councilman Paul Koretz said he was still shocked to hear offensive remarks that he said had seriously damaged trust in the government. Like it or not, he lamented that the recording was reflected in the entire council.
“It will take us years to rebuild this trust,” Koretz said ahead of the vote.
Councilman Curren Price called the critical examination “an important step in the long road to a cure” and the harshest measure the panel could take, lacking the ability to expel members.
Martinez resigned shortly after the release of the tape earlier this month, along with a powerful labor leader, Ron Herrera, who also attended the meeting.
However, Cedillo and de León have resisted widespread calls to resign, including from President Joe Biden, and have become political advocates among their peers.
Anyone who attended the meeting, Koretz said, “was not part of the elected bodies”.
Earlier, the council meeting was called at recess to allow the police to clear the chanting protesters. A small but noisy group jostled together in the main aisle of an almost empty room, banging water bottles on the podium, shouting and shouting in what appeared to be an attempt to close the meeting. They opened a large sign calling the council “illegal.”
“Justice now!” they roared. “Turn off!”
That led to a stalemate, in which about 20 protesters continued to scream as police officers watched the group. Finally, the room was cleaned.
Council President Paul Krekorian warned protesters they would not stop council business. “We will continue to do the work of the people of Los Angeles,” he said.
It is unknown who made the tape, or why. It was released on the Reddit website just weeks before the midterm elections in November.
During the hour-long meeting, they also made offensive remarks about immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Jews, Armenians and other groups.
Two investigations are underway stemming from the release of the tape.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating whether the recording was made illegally – under California law, all parties must consent to the recording of a private conversation or phone call.
Separately, the state is investigating how the council districts were drawn and whether the process was rigged. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said his investigation could lead to civil liability or criminal charges, depending on what is found.
Bonta said Wednesday that his office has notified the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Labor Union, where the meeting took place, to preserve evidence, a routine step in the investigation.
Bonta will not speculate on whether the union building was extensively wiretapped, or the recording was an isolated event made by an individual. He said he would largely delay it for the police to investigate whether the recording broke the law.
The council appears to be in the midst of a protracted period of turmoil.
Cedillo and de León have not attended recent meetings.
Cedillo, whose term ends in December, has not been of public interest. De León has two years left on his term and has appeared in a series of media interviews to apologize and say he wants to continue his work on the council.
In an interview Tuesday with KBLA talk show host Tavis Smiley, de León reiterated that he is not resigning. “I’m not the person everyone painted me to be,” said de León, who previously apologized.
Krekorian, the president and other council members have said Cedillo and de León must step down.
“There is no realistic possibility that you could effectively continue to serve,” Krekorian recently told de León in a letter. “Every day you still interfere with the council’s ability to function, delaying the city’s healing process, hurting your members, and reducing your chances of redemption.”
