“Those comments, they’re about my uncles and aunts and family friends."

October 11, 2022 11:26 AM

L.A. City Council's true colors were put on blast this weekend. This weekend, audio of a year-old conversation between three City Council members and the (now former) President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor leaked, leading to a major shakeup in the City due to the conversation's overt racism and cynical political horse-trading.

In the last 48 hours, the County Labor Federation President has resigned, City Council President Nury Martinez has resigned that post and taken a leave of absence from her Council seat, and basically the entire city and its political establishment have called for the resignation of all three Councilmembers.

The conversation is wide-ranging, but hinges on a few things: the fate of the Council District 10 seat after the October 2021 indictment of Councilmember Mark Ridley Thomas, the redistricting/gerrymandering of the city's Council Districts, and the group's desire to dilute the political power of left-insurgent Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is favorable to tenants and unhoused residents.

There's a lot to unpack here, but it includes: anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, more than a hint of homophobia against two sitting Councilmembers, and some pretty despicable comments about another Councilmember's child. It's a mess.

Some of this is clearly just the blunt and unvarnished politics of racial and ethnic representation in a diverse city, which has not been discussed very much so far, but the rest is, again, racism, homophobia, and the rest. And it's all undemocratic horse-trading over seats that represent hundreds of thousands of people each. Some links:

LAist coverage for people who don't subscribe to the LA Times.

https://knock-la.com/nury-martinez-city-council-president-leaked-racist-audio/

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-09/city-council-leaked-audio-nury-martinez-kevin-de-leon-gil-cedillo

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/us/los-angeles-city-council-tape-leak.html

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-11/los-angeles-chaotic-political-landscape-nury-martinez-leaked-audio

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-10-10/nury-martinez-kevin-deleon-gil-cedillo-should-resign

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-10-11/oaxacan-indigenous-communities-nury-martinez-los-angeles

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-11/nury-martinez-city-council-seat-audio-leak

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-10/ron-herrera-resigns-los-angeles-labor-federation-head-amid-leaked-recording-furor-sources-say

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjgm_cWrzAF/?hl=en

Also, unrelated but another real hit to the soul of Los Angeles, Art Laboe has died.

posted by kensington314 (55 comments total)

Thank you for all this. I saw it in passing and I thought that it was just a huge dirty bomb, liable to hurt everything for a while, not least that poor little boy. (He was three! And now he's just old enough to understand that very powerful people are being mean about him for no reason!) But I knew I didn't have the LA-specific knowledge to understand exactly why it was all going down like this.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:45 AM on October 11, 2022

I am disgusted and deeply dismayed by all of this, but I appreciate the opportunity to learn about it. We can't make things better if we don't know the truth about how things are.

I appreciate the LA Times choosing to report on the recording, even given its questionable legality. ... I thought meetings of politicians were supposed to be on the record and literally recorded for the public, anyway, due to sunshine laws?

This post is really well summarized and has a wealth of useful links. Thank you so much for sharing this deeply disappointing, infuriating information with us, kensington314, so we can look for ways to kick the racism and homophobia out of politics.
posted by kristi at 11:48 AM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

kristi, I am not a lawyer or expert on sunshine laws, so take my comments with a grain of salt, but in California elected officials' conversations are governed by the Brown Act -- page 10 of the pdf here discusses the definition of a "meeting" for this law's purposes.

Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson has said that this conversation may be in violation of the Brown Act.

My understanding of the Brown Act is that it only comes in to play when a majority is present--for City Council here, that's gonna be eight people--but I do wonder whether the fact that Nury is (was) Council President brings the law into play here. I just don't know.
posted by kensington314 at 12:00 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

This has been a hell of a thing. The Council members involved need to resign — completely. Not resign the presidency, not a leave of absence — gone.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:11 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

It feels inevitable at this point that Nury and KDL resign, Cedillo is already out in January anyway. It just feels like they can't stay, almost the entire Council and every organization in this City has demanded they step down. But I could see Nury holding on for dear life and hoping to ride it out. Jose Huizar recently did this all the way up to Federal indictment, so we'll see.
posted by kensington314 at 12:15 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

City Council meeting livestream

members of public commenting at the meeting now
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

kensington314: the Brown act applies to any unscheduled meeting that is more than two, so it applies here.
I know this, coming from a county where the Brown Act has basically been weaponized.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 12:20 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]

Not to minimize or treat lightly the revolting situation in any way, but on top of all the other despicable things she said, Nury Martinez said she’s never seen The Wizard of Oz.
posted by elphaba at 12:22 PM on October 11, 2022 [17 favorites]

Thank you thank you, LeRoienJaune!
posted by kensington314 at 12:22 PM on October 11, 2022

Video of Bonin's statement in council today
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 12:29 PM on October 11, 2022

Not that it excuses them in any way, shape, or form, but these 4 are just the assholes who happened to get caught. Flabbergasting how long it is taking them all to actually, for realsies, resign: where exactly do they envision this all going?? And I'm really appreciating some of the left LA accounts I follow on twitter connecting the dots for liberals on how this racism has manifested within policy in a way that's already been unambiguous to those willing to see it.
posted by dusty potato at 12:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [9 favorites]

This reminds me a little bit of what happened in Virginia in 2019 with Governor Northam. It's possible that the council members think they can ride it out too. But on the other hand, Virginia is a battleground state in more ways than one and LA is not.
posted by FJT at 12:40 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Not to prolong a derail, but ISWYD, elphaba.
posted by fedward at 1:15 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

Nury Martinez:

In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council.

I don't want to give her too much credit for this, but I'm a little bit bemused realizing how rarely I've seen a public apology that acknowledges this reality.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:07 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yes, but it still seems to be words only; the action should be "I'm resigning from the Council," not "I'm resigning as President".
posted by trig at 2:10 PM on October 11, 2022 [21 favorites]

Well, trig, turns out Joe Biden agrees with you.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3683393-biden-believes-all-la-city-council-members-caught-on-tape-should-resign/
posted by kensington314 at 2:14 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

the action should be "I'm resigning from the Council," not "I'm resigning as President"

Oof.. Yeah, I didn't catch that subtlety.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:14 PM on October 11, 2022

Yeah, she did that yesterday. Then when people were still mad, announced she's taking a leave of absence. She has not actually resigned, as of the most recent reporting I've seen.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:16 PM on October 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Another thing that's never a good look -- from other LA Times coverage: "Labor federation says leaked audio is ‘illegal,’ vows to investigate, seek prosecution"

In its message to affiliates, which was sent on behalf of Herrera, the federation said it had been successful at removing audio clips posted on Reddit and getting the anonymous user suspended, and said it planned to investigate and “make sure these crimes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

It asked anyone with information to contact the federation’s chief of staff, Wesson.

Wesson is the son of former Councilmember Herb Wesson and the husband of Martinez’s chief of staff, Alexis Wesson.

posted by Nerd of the North at 2:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

To Elphaba’s earlier point, I just got out of a professional development training and they said the Wizard of Oz was the most widely understood references across generations and backgrounds.

I have nothing more to add except to echo that everyone involved should resign. But yucky back room stuff will still be happening. and Ridley Thomas is corrupt.
posted by CostcoCultist at 2:24 PM on October 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

I just got out of a professional development training and they said the Wizard of Oz was the most widely understood references across generations and backgrounds.

"I understood that reference."
posted by The Tensor at 3:05 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I was born and raised in LA (and have lived in the DC area since I graduated college) a few generations back and my mom is really involved in ONELA (One LA-IAF is a network of diverse religious and non-profit institutions across LA County committed to building relational power and exercising that power to strengthen our communities and bring about a more just society). She regularly meets with LA City Council Members and County Assemblypeople on issues of affordable housing and fighting it's destruction, etc. Shes had big wins. She's a retired white Jewish woman, intersectional, and happens to be visiting my and my kids now. And she is thrilled these fuckers have been caught out.
But her real thoughts align with mine: come on dummies, stop shitting on Oaxacans and fighting black people! If you just united against all these white people, can you even imagine the power you'd yield?
posted by atomicstone at 3:37 PM on October 11, 2022 [13 favorites]

Considering the historical corruption in the LA County Sheriffs Department, whoever leaked that should get out of town for a bit.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:42 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]

In case you prefer to consume the info in audio form:
LA Podcast has released "Emergency Episode: The Fed Tapes" about this scandal (link to ep on podcast website)

(I was not personally familiar with the podcast previously, but at least one of the hosts is a local reporter and the members seem knowledgeable about the local politics and broader context of the issues.
Since this has hit national news, perhaps some other outlets will come out later with more confirmed reporting; in the meantime, trying to get emerging info from local reporting and discussion...)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 3:47 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I live and own a business in CD14, Kevin De Leon’s district. He took office early because our last council member, Jose Huizar, was indicted for bribery. After Huizar was first raided by the FBI, he held on to the seat (stripped of committee seats) for almost two years, leaving us with effectively no representation. Now we are going to be stuck with KDL for who knows how long before he realizes his political prospects are dead. (Not that I think his prospects were particularly strong - he came in a distant third in his run for mayor, and was trounced by Feinstein when he tried to run for his seat.)

If he and Martinez do resign, and O’Farrell loses his race, it could be that the next city council has a majority of new members, which is unusual. They are proposing an expansion of the council, which would get a huge “finally” from me. We got the idiotic neighborhood council system instead of that expansion with the last charter reform.
posted by jimw at 4:08 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

I think a lot of new blood, and council expansion would be good for the city.

I liked KDL in the state legislature, and would have preferred him to the shell of Feinstein but I feel terrible for his district.
posted by CostcoCultist at 4:29 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Is it normal for elected city officials to have a say in their own redistricting?
posted by thecjm at 4:30 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

thecjm, LA has a redistricting commission, and so that was my first question, like is there a statutory violation here in them having this conversation? It's a bit above my head, others may know.

The LA Podcast episode linked above includes some discussion of how the final district map compares to what was discussed in this conversation, but I haven't listened yet at length.
posted by kensington314 at 4:36 PM on October 11, 2022

Considering the historical corruption in the LA County Sheriffs Department, whoever leaked that should get out of town for a bit.

The City is not the County—not that LAPD has such a sterling reputation.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2022

The City is not the County—not that LAPD has such a sterling reputation.

Indeed, but regardless, I'm sure Sheriff Villanueva is eating his popcorn and reveling in this controversy among the city's liberal ruling elite.
posted by kensington314 at 5:00 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Los Angeles Times also rescinded their endorsement of Danielle Sandoval (candidate for city council) for her own, now quaint-seeming, scandal related to wage theft at the restaurant she owned.
posted by jimw at 5:09 PM on October 11, 2022

I'm sure Sheriff Villanueva is eating his popcorn and reveling in this controversy among the city's liberal ruling elite.

Probably happy to have the focus off his own corruption for a second, but I have faith he will find new ways to disgrace himself and his office before the election.
posted by jimw at 5:11 PM on October 11, 2022 [10 favorites]

Small-time community organizer here, living in KDL's district. Trying to get any response on anything from anyone in his office has been an exercise in frustration. They couldn't even be bothered to lift a laconic middle finger in our direction. And then he threw his hat in the ring for mayor and our inboxes were overflowing with responses from his district office (not re-election committee) wanting to know more about us and how they could help. He came in a distant third in the primary and it was back to the silent treatment. I know he saw the council position as a stepping stone. I would be lying if I wasn't delighted that it's turned into a downward step. Fuck that guy, he needs to resign.
posted by dantsea at 5:14 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

What a mess.

A good way not to have leaked recordings of you saying racist shit is never to say racist shit. But some folks can't help themselves.
posted by LarryC at 6:46 PM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

Indeed, but regardless, I'm sure Sheriff Villanueva is eating his popcorn and reveling in this controversy among the city's liberal ruling elite.

As this has laid bare, the liberal/conservative split is not all there is to how political power is transacted in Los Angeles.

But the Sheriff definitely isn't wasting any time grandstanding. (Via WEHOville, too.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:50 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

(Whatever that is -- seems to be some kind of astroturf nimby crank operation)
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:57 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Resident of Kevin DeLeon's CD14, historic preservation advocate and public corruption watcher weighing in. This is an astonishing, awe-inspiring turn of events that might well clear the slate for a revival of the suffering city I love. I'm giddy!

The unanswered question is who the hell did it--who bugged the room and who leaked these tapes? The timing benefits recently Republican mayoral candidate Rick Caruso with his anti-corruption platform (and his ostensibly progressive toadie Gil Cedillo is on the tape being horrible). But there are other recordings that seem to only contain labor people, which suggests it wasn't a one-off pocket phone recording, but a hard-wired Nixonian office bug. If that's the case, the source could be Labor's tech person, any staffer trusted with keys, or even the cleaning crew. I'd like to know the answer, but all that really matters is that the entrenched machine that is killing Los Angeles has been broken.

We went over to the scene of the crime this afternoon, and shot a little video of the corrupt labor HQ that will feature in the history books. And this was happening outside City Hall this morning, after they locked the doors and said nobody else could come in and make public comment.
posted by Scram at 11:11 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

the source could be Labor's tech person

Remote exploits aren't out of the question in this age of the integrated webcam.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:32 AM on October 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

Is it normal for elected city officials to have a say in their own redistricting?

I read it as them bitching about it, not them plotting to influence it.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 9:47 AM on October 12, 2022

I read it as them bitching about it, not them plotting to influence it.

No, City Council took the recommendations of the redistricting commission--packed with political appointees who would have received direction on how to draw the maps based on the conversation leaked on Sunday--and made the final map decisions themselves. The most egregious example, which appears prominently in the leak, was changes to Nithya Raman's CD4, to strip her of the left leaning mid-city renters who helped get her into office in favor of more conservative San Fernando Valley homeowners.

It's not just these three who were making maps in secret. The former SFV councilman Paul Krekorian apparently knew before the maps were even voted on--since he sold his Studio City house and moved into his new district before it even existed!
posted by Scram at 10:14 AM on October 12, 2022 [5 favorites]

No no, they were plotting to influence it! I forgot the details of this and so I went back and looked at the history. At issue were various things, including creating a single Koreatown district, a dispute between two South LA districts about major economic assets, and a desire by Councilmembers to end pro-tenant Nithya Raman's political career.

The Redistricting Commission--which was appointed by Council and which none of us believed operated independently or in good faith--suggested a final map in October 2021 that would have literally just picked up Nithya Raman, removed her from her constituents, and placed her into a new district over hundred of thousands of people who had mostly never heard of her.

I recall that the public outcry was great. In the end, the Council rejected the map and drew their own. (Nithya lost half her constituents in the final map.)

I'd really ask someone who knows LA politics better to weigh in here, but I think that what the Council drew was actually less harmful than what was being discussed in those tapes.
posted by kensington314 at 10:19 AM on October 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

Attorney General Bonta: California Department of Justice to Investigate Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Process (link to press release on AG's website; see also AG Bonta's announcement on twitter)

update to Huizar case: Brother of Former L.A. City Councilman José Huizar Admits Lying to Investigators about Converting Cash to Checks for Ousted Politician (link to US DOJ press release)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:45 PM on October 12, 2022 [2 favorites]

She has resigned!

Nury Martinez resigns from Los Angeles City Council after leaked audio of racist remarks (CBS News)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:50 PM on October 12, 2022 [6 favorites]

wowowow
posted by kensington314 at 2:53 PM on October 12, 2022

I do wonder if KDL tries to cling to his seat.
posted by kensington314 at 2:58 PM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

Her statement is a real lesson in how to apologize without apologizing, at all. \

https://twitter.com/brittny_mejia/status/1580308508934778882?s=20&t=4jT45stFdwEpAqGwrZMVQw
posted by kensington314 at 3:36 PM on October 12, 2022

Yup. I skimmed it for a snip quote when posting the news about her resignation, but it was just words words words so I figured better not waste everyone's time...let's spend our attention on more informative coverage:

Nury Martinez Resigns From LA City Council, Hours After Public Outrage Shuts Down Session (Jackie Fortiér, LAist, 10/12)

Your Guide To Who Is Currently On The LA City Council And What's Next (Caitlin Hernández, LAist, updated 10/12)

Can LA Councilmembers Be Removed? What Could Happen Amid Fallout Over Racist And Derogatory Comments (Caitlin Hernández, LAist, 10/10)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 3:55 PM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

To me, the most important takeaway is discussed here:

One Way the City Hall Leaked Audio Meltdown Could Have Been Avoided

How polluted was L.A.’s process? It was so bad that in its end-of-work report to the City Council, the redistricting commission actually begged the elected officials to junk the system. It included nine recommendations for the future. The first read: “Follow the example of the state of California and many counties and cities, and create an independent, rather than advisory, citizen’s redistricting commission, removing the appointing authority and final decision on redrawn Council District lines from city elected officials.”
posted by kensington314 at 4:00 PM on October 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

The LA Times on TikTok put together this supercut of all the fucks at the first council meeting after the story broke.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:38 PM on October 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

This is such a depressing story. I wonder how long that specific little boy can be shielded from learning people were talking about him, personally.
posted by praemunire at 10:39 AM on October 13, 2022

Gleefully repeating the goss from some city hall employees that I know who say that in the over decade they've worked there, KDL is the stupidest council member ever elected.

As usually, Arellano has a take worth reading.
posted by klangklangston at 11:31 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

We got the idiotic neighborhood council system instead of that expansion with the last charter reform.

By the way, the neighborhood council system wasn't related to expanding the council. There's a fascinating couple of documents out there about the actual process, one from Erwin Chemerinsky who was the lead legal author, and the idea behind neighborhood councils was twofold: First, to stop rich White neighborhoods in the Valley from seceding from the city, and second to give a way for underserved minority neighborhoods to familiarize themselves with city bureaucracy. There were two separate proposals, with Mayor Riordan wanting neighborhood councils to get official legislative or plenary power, in part to undermine the power of city council, and the city council basically outmaneuvered him and got the NCs to be advisory bodies only.

(I'm a current NC member in my neighborhood)
posted by klangklangston at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Acting City Council president Mitch O'Farrell just announced at a press conference that there will be no City Council meetings until Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo resign. So they are essentially holding the city hostage while drawing a paycheck and preventing anyone else from doing legislative work. And if they want to keep doing that, there's nothing short of a criminal indictment that can stop them. What a city!
posted by Scram at 12:11 PM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]

By the way, the neighborhood council system wasn't related to expanding the council.

Fair enough, it wasn’t one or the other, we could have had both but the expansion got defeated at the polls.

I shudder at the thought of neighborhood councils having actual power.
posted by jimw at 8:19 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Today the New Yorker published a piece by Jay Kaspian Kang that is the best thing I've read on the scandal, maybe the only good thing at all.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-la-city-council-and-the-limits-of-identity-politics

This is a more complete picture of that conversation than I've seen anywhere.
posted by kensington314 at 8:48 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]