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      Los Angeles councilman faces criminal charges including embezzlement

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      Prosecutors charged a Los Angeles city councilman with 10 counts, including embezzlement and perjury, on Tuesday in the latest criminal case to upend the scandal-plagued governing board of the nation’s second-largest city.Curren Price Jr faces five counts of embezzlement of government funds, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office.Price was charged for having a financial interest in projects that he voted on as a council member, and having the city pay nearly $34,000 in medical benefits for his now wife while he was still married to another woman, the Los Angeles county district attorney, George Gascón, said in a statement.Between 2019 and 2021, Price’s wife allegedly received payments totaling more than $150,000 from developers before Price voted to approve projects, according to Gascón’s statement. He also is accused of failing to list the money his wife received on government disclosure forms.“This alleged conduct undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public’s trust in our elected officials,” Gascón said.Price called the charges “unwarranted”.In a letter to the Los Angeles city council president, Paul Krekorian, Price said he was stepping down from committee assignments and leadership responsibilities “while I navigate through the judicial system to defend my name”.“The last thing I want to do is be a distraction to the people’s business,” he wrote.The council and city government have been shaken by a series of recent scandals.In March, former Democratic city councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas – a one-time legislator, county supervisor and a fixture in local politics for decades – was found guilty in federal court of seven felonies, including conspiracy, bribery and fraud.Last year, a racism scandal that shook public trust in Los Angeles government triggered the resignations in October of then city council president Nury Martinez and a powerful labor leader, Ron Herrera.After an FBI investigation, two other former city council members pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in recent years.Former mayor Eric Garcetti, who left office in December, was shadowed by sexual harassment allegations against one of his former top aides.To residents, the cumulative effect “makes the whole body politic of LA look rotten, look illegal”, said Jaime Regalado, former executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.At a time when the city is struggling with an out-of-control homeless crisis, crime, and soaring housing and rent costs, “it makes everything harder,” Regalado said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionA criminal complaint said a consulting firm operated by Price’s wife received a series of payments from companies incorporated or co-owned by Thomas Safran & Associates, GTM Holdings/Works and GTM Holdings, before the councilman voted to approve funding for the companies’ projects.Emails seeking comment from those entities were not immediately returned on Tuesday evening.Price was first elected to the council in 2013 and currently serves as its president pro tempore. His district includes South Los Angeles and parts of the city’s downtown. His term is set to expire in 2026.Price, who is Black, has successfully navigated changing demographics in his district – which has become increasingly Latino – and is known for being attentive to communities that are diverse.The councilman had attended a city council meeting earlier on Tuesday.Mayor Karen Bass’s office said in a statement that she had not seen the charges but was “saddened by this news”.Price’s attorney, David Willingham, declined to comment, saying he had not seen a copy of the criminal complaint.The charges were first reported on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times. More

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      Half a million kids out of class as LA school workers strike for better pay

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      Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles unified school district, accompanied by teachers, walked off the job on Tuesday over stalled contract talks for higher pay and better working conditions, shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system.The strike, which is expected to last three days, upended the lives of more than 500,000 students and their families from schools in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, as bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teachers demanded more support at a time when educators in the city and elsewhere are struggling to afford to live where they work.The latest strike comes years after a swirl of educator activism swept across the country, from Oklahoma to Chicago to Los Angeles itself, as teachers take more aggressive labor action to compel districts to improve working conditions during contract negotiations. In 2019, tens of thousands of teachers walked out of Los Angeles schools for six days and demanded higher wages, smaller class sizes, and more support staff.This time, the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 30,000 teachers’ aides, special education assistants, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other support staff, led districtwide demonstrations. Support workers, who earn, on average, $25,000 a year, with many living in poverty and working limited hours, have demanded a 30% pay raise and more staffing.In what Los Angeles schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho called a “historic” offer, the district has proposed a pay increase of more than 20% over multiple years, with a 3% bonus and “massive expansion of healthcare benefits”, he said on Fox 11.Despite last-minute efforts to avert the strike, talks failed. The district’s support workers, who bring students to and from school, clean schools and feed students every day, have been working without a contract since June 2020.The strike started on Tuesday morning from a bus yard, with workers chanting for better wages and increased staffing in a steady rain before dawn. Some held signs that read: “We keep schools safe, Respect Us!”The district has more than 500,000 students from Los Angeles and all or part of 25 other cities and unincorporated county areas. Nearly three-quarters are Latino.Parent Danielle Peters rallied with union members outside Hancock Park elementary school, along with her children, Jack, 10, and Ella, seven. She said it was wrong that school workers earn as little as $15 an hour, a wage Peters remembers earning for babysitting.“They are underappreciated, they are underpaid, and they have the most important job in the world,” she said of support staff. “We care about them, and this is the least we can do.”Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 educators, counselors and other staff, pledged solidarity with the strikers.The union’s 2019 strike resulted in a contract settlement, but teachers continue to negotiate with the district after that contract expired in June 2022. Teachers are asking for a 20% pay increase over two years, more targeted support for Black students, and more housing aid for low-income families, as they frame their demands around meeting the rising cost of living in Los Angeles county and the need for increased support in the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.On Friday, the teachers union informed the district that it was terminating its contract, allowing teachers to strike alongside SEIU workers and adding pressure on ongoing negotiations.“These are the co-workers that are the lowest-paid workers in our schools and we cannot stand idly by as we consistently see them disrespected and mistreated by this district,” the UTLA president, Cecily Myart-Cruz, told a news conference.Myart-Cruz was joined by Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat and Senate candidate, who said the strikers were earning “poverty wages”.“People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty,” Schiff said.On the picket lines, Danielle Murray, a special education assistant, told KABC-TV working conditions had been declining every year.“We’re very understaffed,” Murray said. “The custodial staff is a ghost crew, so the schools are dirty. They’re doing the best they can.”She added: “Some people are saying, ‘If you want more money, get a better job.’ Well, some of us have bachelor’s degrees, but we choose to work with a special population that some people don’t want to work with. We want to make a difference to these students.”Superintendent Alberto M Carvalho accused the union of refusing to negotiate and said that he was prepared to meet at any time day or night. He said on Monday a “golden opportunity” to make progress was lost.“I believe this strike could have been avoided. But it cannot be avoided without individuals actually speaking to one another,” he said.Local 99 said on Monday evening that it was in discussions with state labor regulators over allegations that the district engaged in misconduct that has impeded the rights of workers to engage in legally protected union-related activities.“We want to be clear that we are not in negotiations with LAUSD,” the union said in a statement. “We continue to be engaged in the impasse process with the state.”Those talks would not avoid a walkout, the statement said.During the strike, about 150 of the district’s more than 1,000 schools are expected to remain open with adult supervision but no instruction, to give students somewhere to go. Dozens of libraries and parks, plus some “grab and go” spots for students to get lunches also planned to be open to kids to lessen the strain on parents now scrambling to find care.“Schools are so much more than centers of education – they are a safety net for hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles families,” the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, said in a statement on Monday. “We will make sure to do all we can to provide resources needed by the families of our city.”Workers, meanwhile, said striking was the only option they had left.Instructional aide Marlee Ostrow, who supports the strike, said she was long overdue for a raise. The 67-year-old was hired nearly two decades ago at $11.75 an hour, and today she makes about $16. That isn’t enough to keep pace with inflation and rising housing prices, she said, and meanwhile her duties have expanded from two classrooms to five.Ostrow blames the district’s low wages for job vacancies that have piled up in recent years.“There’s not even anybody applying because you can make more money starting at Burger King,” she said. “A lot of people really want to help kids, and they shouldn’t be penalized for wanting that to be their life’s work.” More

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      Eric Garcetti confirmed as US ambassador to India after contentious 20-month fight

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      Eric Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, was confirmed on Wednesday as the nation’s next ambassador to India, 20 months after he was first nominated by Joe Biden and after weathering doubts about his truthfulness in a sexual harassment scandal involving a top adviser during his time at City Hall.The 52-42 vote in a divided Senate gave the administration a long-sought victory in filling one of the country’s highest-profile diplomatic posts.The president “believes that we have a crucial and consequential partnership with India and that Mayor Garcetti will make a strong and effective ambassador,” said a White House spokesperson, Olivia Dalton, after the vote.The session began with uncertain prospects for Garcetti, a two-term, progressive Democrat first nominated to the prominent diplomatic post by Biden in July 2021.With several Democratic defections, Garcetti’s fate rested with enlisting Republicans in a chamber often divided along partisan lines. He secured seven GOP votes to advance the nomination to a final vote.The Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine said, “I met with him personally. He clearly has an enormous amount of expertise about India. India’s been two years without an ambassador, and that is far too long. And I am going to support him.”The vacancy in the ambassadorship has left a significant diplomatic gap for the administration at a time of rising global tensions, including China’s increasingly assertive presence in the Pacific region and Russia’s war with Ukraine.India, the world’s most populous democracy, is continuing to buy oil from Russia, while western governments move to limit fossil fuel earnings that support Moscow’s budget, its military and its invasion of Ukraine. Russia also provides the majority of India’s military hardware.The nomination has been freighted with questions about what the former mayor knew, and when, about sexual harassment allegations against his friend and once-close adviser, Rick Jacobs. A lawsuit alleges that Jacobs frequently harassed one of the then-mayor’s police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored the abuse or laughed it off.Garcetti, the son of the former Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti, has repeatedly denied the claims. Jacobs has called the allegations against him “pure fiction”. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.At a Senate committee hearing in December 2021, Garcetti said, “I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that’s been alleged … If it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.”Wednesday’s vote tested Democratic loyalty to Biden, and also measured assessments of Garcetti’s judgment and trustworthiness, stemming from the City Hall allegations that shadowed him in the #MeToo era.“I think we can find somebody that will do the job better,” said Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, one of the Democrats who signaled opposition to Garcetti.Garcetti also failed to win over Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona, who said he had “serious concerns”.Garcetti’s confirmation follows a contentious tenure at Los Angeles City Hall framed by the twin crises of homelessness and the pandemic, rising crime rates and sexual harassment and corruption scandals. The Los Angeles area, once known for boundless growth, has seen its population decline.The former mayor, who took office in 2013, has been credited with continuing a transit buildup in a city choked with traffic, and establishing tougher earthquake safety standards for thousands of buildings.An Ivy Leaguer and Rhodes scholar, he spent two decades in city government either as mayor or a city councilman and took a circuitous path toward the diplomatic corps. Ambassadorships are frequently a reward for political supporters.Garcetti considered a 2020 White House run but later became part of Biden’s inner circle, emerging as a widely discussed possibility to join Biden’s cabinet. He took himself out of the running after many of the plum jobs had been filled, saying the coronavirus crisis at the time made it impossible for him to step away from City Hall. More

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      Boy meets Congress: Ben Savage, star of 90s sitcom, to run for California seat

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      Boy meets Congress: Ben Savage, star of 90s sitcom, to run for California seatActor is vying for Los Angeles district represented by Adam Schiff, who is competing for Dianne Feinstein’s US Senate postBen Savage, the star of the 1990s teen sitcom Boy Meets World, plans to run for the congressional seat in California currently held by Adam Schiff, who has joined the race to replace Dianne Feinstein.‘It is exhausting’: California town digs its way out after record-setting snowRead moreThe actor is running in the Los Angeles-area district represented by Schiff, a top Democrat and former House intelligence chair. Schiff announced in January that he would seek Feinstein’s Senate seat, joining a crowded field of candidates that includes congresswomen Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.Savage announced this week he would run for Congress in district 30, where he said he is a “longtime resident”.“I’m running for Congress because it’s time to restore faith in government by offering reasonable, innovative and compassionate solutions to our country’s most pressing issues,” Savage said in an Instagram post announcing his campaign.“And it’s time for new and passionate leaders who can help move the country forward,” he said. “Leaders who want to see the government operating at maximum capacity, unhindered by political divisions and special interests.”The 42-year-old actor has a political science degree from Stanford, and interned for US senator Arlen Specter in 2003 as part of his studies, Deadline reported. Last year, Savage ran unsuccessfully for the West Hollywood city council, receiving under 7% of the votes.The 30th district, which includes northern parts of Los Angeles, is solidly Democratic. Schiff won with 71% of the vote against a fellow Democrat in November’s midterm elections, due to California’s open primary system in which the top two candidates regardless of party affiliation advance to the general election.On his campaign website, Savage emphasizes his long history of union membership and said he believes in “ensuring equality and expanding opportunities for all”. If elected, his priorities would include improving public safety, affordable housing, addressing homelessness and protecting organized labor.TopicsCaliforniaLos AngelesDianne FeinsteinUS politicsHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressUS SenatenewsReuse this content More

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      Los Angeles official involved in racism scandal caught fighting activist on video

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      Los Angeles official involved in racism scandal caught fighting activist on videoKevin de León, who has resisted resigning after the debacle, was involved in an altercation in which he appears to push an organizer00:52Kevin de León, the embattled Los Angeles city council member involved in a racism scandal that threw city hall into upheaval, is facing criticism again after video footage captured him in a physical fight with an activist.De León, who has resisted calls to resign, made his first in-person appearance at a council meeting in nearly two months on Friday. Hours later he was involved in an altercation at a holiday toy giveaway in which video appeared to show him shoving a local organizer.Biden calls for resignation of LA city council members over racist remarksRead moreIn a short clip, organizer Jason Reedy and other activists can be seen following the official, demanding his resignation, and crowding around him when De León appears to push Reedy into a table, the councilman’s Santa hat falling off amid the chaos. De León claims the activist headbutted him and that he was acting in self-defense while Reedy’s attorney told media his client was assaulted.The incident comes as the councilman tries to rehabilitate his reputation after widespread outrage and protest over a leaked recording that revealed De León and other Latino Democrats making racist comments as they plotted to expand their political power at the expense of Black voters during a realignment of district boundaries.De León, a former state legislator, is the only council member still resisting calls from top Democrats, including Joe Biden, to step down. Meanwhile, he has continued to collect his annual salary of nearly $229,000.Gil Cedillo, another councilman involved in the scandal over the leaked recording of racist insults, had refused to resign, but vanished from public view within days of its disclosure in October. His term expired Monday at 12.01am, after he lost a re-election bid earlier this year.De León, who has been stripped of his ability to participate in council meetings and faced widespread pressure to resign, has been maneuvering in private to emerge from political purgatory despite being reviled by colleagues who say they cannot work with him.In a statement issued after the Friday night altercation, Paul Krekorian, the council president who has called on De León to step down, said the councilman, one of his staff members and a volunteer were attacked, calling the incident intolerable. The Los Angeles Times reported that activists said De León was the aggressor.“This city has endured horrendous division and toxicity in recent months,“ Krekorian said. “We need to reject hatred in all of its forms and we need to reject the atmosphere of intimidation, bullying and threats.”De León has said he acted in self-defense: “Once we were able to push open a door and try to get out, Reedy launched a pelvic thrust, followed by a headbutt to my forehead,” he said to media. “My response, in defense of myself, was to push him off of me.”The attorney for Reedy, Shakeer Rahman, told CNN that the councilman initiated the assault.“Video footage clearly shows him and his supporters initiating this assault while Mr Reedy stands with his hands up. Not only has Kevin de León lost all political legitimacy, his claims that he was the one attacked here simply underscores how he’s lost touch with reality,” Rahman said in a statement.De León appeared on Friday at his first council meeting since mid-October, setting off a chaotic protest between competing factions in the audience. About a dozen protesters bellowed at De León to leave the ornate chamber, while his supporters chanted: “Kevin, Kevin.”Some council members walked out and police ejected two people, fearing they might fight.“Leave, Kevin!” one protester shouted at de León. “This is why these meetings need to be shut down.”De León has apologized but said he will not resign, arguing that he wants to continue working on homelessness, fallout from the pandemic and the threat of evictions for renters in his district.There is no legal avenue for his colleagues to remove him – the council can only suspend a member when criminal charges are pending.Krekorian, the council president, has said: “The only way we can begin to heal as a city is for Mr de León to take responsibility for his actions, accept the consequences and step down.”While De León has largely stayed away from city hall, he has continued to quietly conduct business, including attending holiday events and meeting officials on pending homeless projects and illegal dumping problems.With his appearance at the council meeting on Friday, it is clear he is trying to gradually step back into the public sphere. Meanwhile, organizers behind an effort to recall him from office have been cleared to collect petition signatures needed to qualify the proposal for the ballot.TopicsCaliforniaLos AngelesUS politicsDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

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      US vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass

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      US vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Los Angeles mayor Karen BassThe ceremony will be a nod to the barriers broken by the two most powerful women in California politics and beyond US vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Karen Bass as Los Angeles mayor, marking the historic election of the first Black woman to lead the second largest city in the country.The swearing-in ceremony on Sunday will bring together two elected leaders who have repeatedly broken barriers in California politics and beyond. In 2020, Harris became the first woman, first Black person and first Asian person to be US vice- president. In 2008, as a California state assemblymember, Bass became the first Black woman to serve as the speaker of any US state legislature; she was elected to represent Los Angeles in the US congress in 2010 and later became chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.The mayor-elect asked Harris to administer the oath of office as a way to recognize their positions as two of California’s most powerful Black women, the LA Times reported, citing an aide to the vice-president. Harris was honored to participate, the aide told the paper. The vice-president tweeted that it was “an historic moment for the people of Los Angeles”.This is an historic moment for the people of Los Angeles. I look forward to swearing in Mayor-elect Karen Bass this weekend. https://t.co/uzV29F9PZv— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) December 5, 2022
      The inauguration will take place on the steps of LA’s city hall and will include musical and other performances, according to a Bass spokesperson.Bass, the first woman to lead LA and second Black mayor in the city’s history, defeated her opponent, billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, in the closely watched race in November. Caruso had spent more than $100m (£87m) of his own funds on his campaign, which spent roughly 10 times as much as Bass’s campaign.It took a week for the race to be called, with Bass ultimately earning 55% of the vote and Caruso earning 45%.Bass is stepping up at a pivotal moment in LA politics after a leaked audio recording captured three councilmembers making racist and bigoted remarks about colleagues and marginalized communities in the region, prompting an ongoing scandal. Several progressive candidates defeated more moderate opponents in key LA races this year.The congresswoman is also taking over city hall at a time when LA county has recorded 69,000 unhoused people, including more than 48,000 living outside. On the campaign trail, Bass pledged to move 17,000 people indoors in her first year.TopicsCaliforniaKamala HarrisLos AngelesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Los Angeles mayor hopefuls Karen Bass and Rick Caruso locked in tight race

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      Los Angeles mayor hopefuls Karen Bass and Rick Caruso locked in tight raceThe margin of votes between the Democratic congresswoman and billionaire developer remains too close to call A billionaire real estate developer and a Democratic congresswoman are still locked in a tight race to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, in a record-breaking campaign where political spending topped $120m.US midterm elections 2022: Senate remains tight as ‘red wave’ fails to materialize – liveRead moreOn Wednesday morning, the margin of votes between Rick Caruso and Karen Bass was still too close to call, with the candidates virtually tied, the Associated Press reported.Caruso was ahead by 12,000 votes on Wednesday morning local time, with nearly 80% of expected votes remaining to be counted.Bass told supporters at her election party that the vote counting could take days, but added: “We will win, because we are going to build a new Los Angeles.” Caruso told his crowd: “We don’t know the outcome yet, but I’m happy to say that we’re starting out strong.”In another closely watched LA race, the incumbent county sheriff, Alex Villanueva, was trailing his opponent, the former police chief of the city of Long Beach Robert Luna. Villanueva, a Democrat who took a hard turn to the right since his election in 2018, has been derided by some as the “Donald Trump of LA” due to a steady stream of controversies surrounding obstruction, abuse and misconduct cases.Both nominally Democrats, Bass and Caruso come from starkly different backgrounds, and their down-to-the-wire contest comes at a particularly fraught time for Los Angeles.The region’s homelessness crisis has become a humanitarian catastrophe, with LA county recording 69,000 unhoused people in this year’s annual estimate, considered an undercount, including more than 48,000 living outside.During the campaign, Caruso made it clear he would like to roll back some criminal justice reforms in order to impose tougher penalties for theft, and suggested he would be willing to arrest unhoused people who were unwilling to move into shelters.City government is also in crisis. Recordings leaked last month captured three councilmembers, including the council president, making bigoted and racist remarks about Black, Indigenous, Jewish, Armenian and gay people while discussing redistricting. The closed-door remarks of the three Latino councilmembers included derogatory statements about the Black toddler of another councilmember and offensive stereotypes about Oaxacans in Los Angeles.The scandal sparked international outrage and exposed longstanding racial tensions and anti-Black racism of some lawmakers in a city that is roughly 50% Latino and 9% Black. The leaks captured the three moderate Democrats deriding progressives and crudely discussing their efforts to reduce the power of renters and their Black colleagues in the redistricting process, prompting a state investigation.If she wins, Bass, who rose to a position of influence in Congress after decades as a community organizer in Black and Latino neighborhoods, would be Los Angeles’ first female mayor and its second Black mayor.While Bass has a long track record of building multiracial coalitions, including in times of political crisis, she is also the candidate of the city’s Democratic establishment, and was backed by some of the Latino politicians whose leaked comments portrayed them as primarily interested in preserving their own personal power.With an estimated net worth of $5.3bn, Caruso, who developed some of Los Angeles’ most beloved luxury malls, presented himself as an outsider businessman with the skills to clean up corruption in city government and disorder in the city streets. He outspent Bass by more than 10 to one, pouring more than $100m of his own money into an election that shattered previous campaign finance records in the city.Los Angeles’ rising Latina leader on the fallout from leaked racist tapes: ‘They took us back decades’Read moreCaruso’s campaign ran “the best-funded and -focused Latino get-out-the-vote effort in the history of Los Angeles”, implementing a strategy that more leftwing Latino activists and academics had been urging candidates to deploy for years, political scientist Fernando Guerra said.During the general election, Caruso’s campaign poured millions into on-the-ground paid canvassing efforts in Latino neighborhoods, Guerra said, with young Latino and Latina canvassers presenting Caruso as a champion of small businesses and as the product of an immigrant success story, whose Italian American family had roots in Boyle Heights, now a predominantly Latino neighborhood.Caruso generated mockery and criticism during a campaign debate when he disputed a description of himself as a white man by calling himself “Italian”, and said, “That’s Latin.”TopicsCaliforniaLos AngelesDemocratsUS politicsUS midterm elections 2022newsReuse this content More

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      LA city council members defy calls to resign after racist recording, setting up power struggle

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      LA city council members defy calls to resign after racist recording, setting up power struggleMagic Johnson joins in with citywide denunciations of De León and Cedillo, but council is powerless to expel them The Los Angeles city council appears to be headed for a long and bruising power struggle, as two councilmen resist widespread calls for their resignation amid a racism scandal and state investigation.‘We ain’t done dancing’: Los Angeles festival brings Black community togetherRead moreA week since the president of the city council, Nury Martinez, resigned over crude and racist remarks she made during an October 2021 meeting with other Latino leaders, two other councilmembers present at the meeting have refused to step down, despite Democratic leadership – up to Joe Biden – calling on them to do so.On Wednesday, Magic Johnson, the superstar athlete, philanthropist and one of the city’s most respected celebrities, added his voice to the calls for their resignation, tweeting: “Let the city heal and move forward! The people of Los Angeles voted you in the position, and now they are calling for you to resign.”Activists from Black Lives Matter Los Angeles pledged to hold a 24/7 protest outside one of the councilmember’s houses until he agrees to resign.We have a long history of Black & Brown #Solidarity…because smashing white-supremacy benefits us all. @kdeleon betrays that history and must #ResignNow. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cQJQe3kjFv— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) October 16, 2022
      Rise and shine. @blmla embarks on first full day of 24/7 encampment in front of LA Councilmember Kevin de Leon’s Eagle Rock home. LAPD is keeping a close watch. pic.twitter.com/QySJQBJnXo— Proud Member of The Blacks (@Jasmyne) October 16, 2022
      But that councilmember, Kevin de León, a brash, longtime power player in California state politics, disclosed in media interviews on Wednesday that he would not step down but wanted to take a leave from council meetings to attempt to restore his reputation. The city council president, Paul Krekorian, called that unacceptable.The standoff is unfolding even as there seem to be few hard rules about personal conduct and consequences for public officials. The council already has stripped De León of much of his power in an effort to pressure him to resign, but it has no authority to expel members.De León also could face a recall election if he refuses to resign, a measure some progressives in Los Angeles have been advocating.The remaining councilmember who participated in the meeting, Gil Cedillo, is already scheduled to leave office in December, after being defeated by a young progressive challenger, Eunisses Hernandez, in a primary election earlier this year.The uproar began with the release nearly two weeks ago of a previously unknown recording of a 2021 private meeting involving De León, two other councilmembers and a powerful labor leader, all Latino Democrats, in which they schemed to protect their political clout in the redrawing of council districts during an hourlong conversation laced with bigoted comments, with particularly demeaning remarks about Black, Indigenous and gay politicians and local residents.The conversation focused on the relative lack of Latino political representation in a city where nearly half of the residents are Latino, but documented Los Angeles’ most powerful lawmakers talking in derogatory terms about the “Blacks” and about Indigenous people from Mexico, as well as comparing the Black son of one of their colleagues to a monkey.The blunt backroom talk has prompted conversations about racism and colorism among Latinos in the United States, while also highlighting the enduring American scandal of political gerrymandering, in which voting districts are drawn and redrawn to protect the political power of individual incumbents.Disclosure of the recording has been followed by days of public outrage and protests, including a march of hundreds of Oaxacan Angelenos demanding the resignation of the Latino leaders who disparaged Indigenous people.A sign of more trouble came from two Black developers working on a downtown project who said in a letter to the city council that they could no longer work with De León, whose district includes the project that would be anchored to two hotels.The developers, R Donahue Peebles and Victor MacFarlane, called for his resignation and wrote that De León had been dismissive of their proposal, meeting with them just once over a two-year period.Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio said it is possible for De León to survive, but he must make sincere apologies and win back his constituents’ trust. That would start with small private meetings with business leaders, or coffee with community groups; any larger event would attract protests.He pointed to former Virginia governor Ralph Northam, who survived calls for his resignation after a picture surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook showing a man in blackface standing next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The Democrat initially acknowledged he was in the photo and apologized, then reversed course, saying he was not in it.One person unlikely to lend a sympathetic ear to De León will be the state’s most powerful Democrat, Gavin Newsom. The governor and the councilman, who was once a Democratic leader in the state senate, have had strained relations for years that worsened when De León embarked on a failed attempt to oust Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2018.TopicsLos AngelesRaceCaliforniaUS politicsnewsReuse this content More