With three members effectively gone, the basic task of ensuring the council has a quorum the 10 members needed to hold a meeting has become considerably more difficult. In Eagle Rock, protesters continued their push to oust De Len, chanting slogans near his home and setting up camp for a lengthy stay. Los Angeles City Council members Gil Cedillo, and Kevin De Leon attended Tuesday's council meeting briefly on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at Los Angeles City Hall, Council Chambers. Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Encino woman extradited from Montenegro to serve sentence for COVID loan fraud, LA County reaches $28.85 million settlement with Kobe Bryants family, Mullholland Drive to be closed at least 24 hours, home evacuated due to mud flow in Beverly Crest, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. He believes they all should resign, she said. O'Farrell has spoken with Cedillo and said he is "reconciling his feelings about this transgression and understood the gravity of the moment." Speaking to reporters gathered for Karen Bass's news conference, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa assailed the racist rhetoric of City Council members captured on the recording. Mayoral candidate Karen Bass, appearing alongside a coalition of leaders in downtown Los Angeles, said Tuesday that we cannot and will not tolerate bigotry. Ms. Bass touted the diversity of Los Angeles and said the city must move ahead together and heal. [13], In the course of the discussion on redistricting, she commented, "I see a lot of little short dark people there" in reference to Los Angeles Koreatown. "Seeing my elders having to dig through the recycling bin every week, the blue trash cans, trying to make ends meet. As of Tuesday morning, however, Gov. According to his plea, Mr. Englander accepted gifts and bribes from a businessman and then lied to F.B.I. Fuera! the crowd chanted. Oaxaca is a Mexican state that has a high percentage of indigenous population, mostly of Zapotec origin, and Oaxacans are also represented in immigrant communities in Los Angeles. The final results of the June 7 election released Friday by the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerks Office also confirmed the November runoff battle between Rep. Karen Bass and businessman Rick Caruso in the race for Los Angeles mayor. His statement was issued jointly with his husband, Sean Arian. On October 9, 2022, an audio recording surfaced of a private meeting involving Los Angeles City Council members and a union leader that involved racist and disparaging comments and led to a local political scandal. Sign up here for our free newsletters. Former City Councilman Gil Cedillo defends decision not to step down from LA City Council over participation in a racist conversation from 2021. . Shortly after leaving office, he released a three-page letter entitled "Why I Did Not Resign" in which he acknowledges that the conversation in the leaked recording crossed a line at several points but claims that the councilmembers were only trying to ensure that Latinos were adequately represented in redistricting. An earlier version of this article misstated what Nury Martinez called Oaxacan immigrants living in Koreatown. But the battle for the second spot in that election remained in doubt until Friday with the final tally. George Gascn, saying that he is with the Blacks., Neither Cedillo nor De Len responded to requests for comment Monday. By remaining on the council until his term expired, Cedillo collected his full salary of over $8,000 every two weeks despite not attending a council meeting after Oct. 11. Speaker after speaker in the soaring City Council chambers has called for the resignation of the three council members who participated in the meeting where racist remarks were made. Feldstein Soto now has 19.90%, followed very closely by Torres with 19.87%. Cedillo ran for re-election to the Los Angeles City Council to represent District 1 in California. By Tuesday morning, one of the four Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor had stepped down, and another Nury Martinez, the City Council president had given up her leadership role and said she would take a leave of absence from the council. Mike Bonin, who represents several of Los Angeless Westside neighborhoods, gave an emotional speech calling for some of his colleagues to resign after his son was the target of some of the racist remarks heard in a leaked audio recording from a 2021 meeting. There are 1,334 unreturned vote-by-mail ballots, according to the Chicago . I am prepared to do that job if the members want me to serve in that position, he said. Acting Los Angeles City Council President Mitch O'Farrell discusses the ongoing scandal a week after a leaked recording of racist remarks by council members came to light during a news conference at City Hall in Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. After weeks of silence, Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo has conceded defeat in his bid for re-election, with final election tallies confirming an upset victory for community activist. MyNewsLA.com wont sell your information and you can unsubscribe at any time. The male-dominated L.A. City Council will see an increase in female members when they are joined by Hernandez, who declared victory last weekend. I think given the moment that were in, I believe those are skill sets that are highly valued.. I ask for forgiveness from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much. Atty. Rick Caruso, working for mayor within the citys November election, also known as on Martinez and De Leon to resign from their places of work, along with Cedillo. Ive worked hard to lead this city through its most difficult time. Cedillo said he has had "African American friends and mentors my entire life, from sports and school to politics," citing a previous job under Mayor Tom Bradley and roles as a delegate both for Jesse Jackson when he ran for president in 1988 and for Barack Obama in 2008. Check for a confirmation email, and then you're all set with MyNewsLA.com! I am proud and humbled to have done this work and I am grateful for all those who have worked with me and supported me through the years, Cedillo said. I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Ms. Martinez said Monday she would no longer serve as council president and then took a leave of absence Tuesday before a regularly scheduled council meeting. Later in the day, President Biden joined the calls for them to leave office. Ms. Martinez, who is not up for re-election until 2024, added that Nithya Raman, a council member of South Asian descent, should not represent Koreatown, which is now largely Latino. Kevin de Lon just postponed 'Wakanda Forever' screening after uproar. To move forward as a city, we must move past the politics of divide and conquer, she said in a statement. Mr. Bonin, who represents several of Los Angeless Westside neighborhoods, said he first learned of the remarks, which were made in a meeting in 2021, about his son when speaking to The Los Angeles Times on Saturday. The leaked audio recording of racist remarks made by the Los Angeles City Council president has stunned the sprawling city, eliciting a fury that extended to its increasingly tight race for mayor between Rick Caruso, a white billionaire developer on the police commission, and Representative Karen Bass, who is Black and has represented the city in the Legislature and Congress for many years. Hernandez ran a grassroots campaign that knocked on 64,000 doors and was outspent by her opponent and attacked by special interest groups like the union representing LAPD officers. It was unclear who leaked the recording, which was of an October 2021 meeting between Ms. Martinez; Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Len, council members representing parts of the citys East Side; and Ron Herrera, who was the head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor before he resigned Monday night. Prominent leaders call for the people involved to resign their posts. [38], Two days after the audio's release, on Tuesday, October 11, a crowd of protestors disrupted the scheduled city council meeting, demanding Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Len leave the room. The citys Black community, with a vibrant middle class and powerful community leaders like Tom Bradley, a former mayor, and Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers star, has long wielded clout. The four people heard on an audio recording that rocked Los Angeles politics over the weekend have long been significant Democratic power brokers, not just in the city but in California as a whole. It was unclear who leaked the recording, which was of an October 2021 meeting between Ms. Martinez; Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Len, council members representing parts of the citys East Side; and Ron Herrera, who was the head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor before he resigned Monday night. She continued, "I was like, I don't know what village they came from, how they got here, but whatever." [14][15], The audio also revealed council members' remarks about Jews and Armenians, with Martinez saying "The judios cut their deal with South LA. Nury Martinez, who stepped down as president of the Los Angeles City Council on Monday, said on Tuesday morning that she was taking a leave of absence from the council, citing emotional exhaustion, as calls for her to resign continued. But this year, for the first time, the mayoral election will be held in an even-numbered year, at the same time as Congressional and state races. Martinez also insulted fellow councilmember Mike Bonin's black adopted child. De Len has expressed regrets about his actions, saying he appeared to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family.. And he stopped short of committing to keeping Krekorian beyond January, after those new members have been sworn in. I am so sorry to the residents of Council District 6, my colleagues, and the City of Los Angeles. I take a lot of hits, he says, adding, But my son?. Gilbert Cedillo (also known as Gil) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council in California, representing District 1. Price, who is Black, represents the council district with the largest population of Latinos in the city and has shown he can build coalitions, Rodriguez said. At the meeting, Ron Herrera, who was the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor before resigning over the recording, called the group "a little Latino caucus of our own" as they discussed how to undo maps drawn up by a commission to benefit themselves and shore up power. Both candidates condemned the profanity-laced conversation among the council president, Nury Martinez; two other council members, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Len; and Ron Herrera, the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, who are heard making disparaging comments about Black and Indigenous people. Bates said she will stay put until De Len has resigned. A vote on his confirmation was held up by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa , a Republican, because of allegations that Mr. Garcetti was aware of sexual misconduct by a close aide but did nothing about it. "[8], De Len offered a statement of apology but did not offer to step down from his position. LOS ANGELES President Biden joined a growing chorus on Tuesday calling for the resignation of three Democratic politicians in the nations second-largest city, after a leaked audio recording revealed racist and disparaging remarks made by the City Council president in a meeting last year. She previously worked at Eastern Group Publications, covering the cities of Montebello, Monterey Park, City of Commerce, and Vernon. The two councilmembers were pulled from committees dealing with real estate development, housing, homelessness and other issues. I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words: to my colleagues, their families, especially to Mike, Sean and your son. Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. The two changes are expected to sharply increase voter participation in the mayoral race, and both candidates have been aggressively courting Latino voters. We choose public life, but our families and should always be off limits and never part of the political discourse. Soto-Martnez called for O'Farrell to step down as acting council president while elections for the position were proceeding. Jessica Pons for The New York Times, Sarah Morris/Getty Images, Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. a recorded conversation laced with racist remarks. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022. Required fields are marked *. This is not Hernandezs first electoral victory. When you talk about traffic enforcement, that's a big driver of criminalizing folks, burdening people with fines and fees. As a mother, I know better and I am sorry. Per the City Charter, the council can now appoint someone to fill her seat or call a particular election. Man, that makes my soul bleed., Mr. OFarrell, the council member leading the meeting, condemned the comments and the political maneuvering of his colleagues. From left: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images, Desiree Stone/Getty Images, Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press. I was like, 'This kid needs a beatdown. A citizen advisory committee conducts Los Angeless redistricting process and recommends maps, but unlike Californias statewide line-drawing by an independent commission the final boundaries are determined by the City Council. At the time, Latinos held four of the 15 seats on the council but made up half the population of Los Angeles. The context of this conversation was concern over the redistricting process and concern about the potential negative impact it might have on communities of color. Both candidates have been aggressively courting Latino voters seat or call a election. Gilbert Cedillo ( also known as Gil ) was a member of the moment. am to... 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