If the Los Angeles City Council members caught on a recording making racist and vicious comments about their colleagues and constituents were hoping that the uproar would blow over and they could return to their positions of power, they need to face these hard truths:
Public indignation is not dissipating; it’s growing. Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo have lost the trust of the public, as well as the support of virtually every Democrat everywhere. Their political careers are effectively over — even President Joe Biden said, through his press secretary, that they should step down. They are not victims. They are public servants who have gravely harmed the city and the people they are supposed to represent.
On Wednesday afternoon, Martinez, the ringleader of that conversation, finally did the right thing and stepped down. L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, who joined the elected officials in the taped conversation at the private meeting in October 2021, resigned the day before.
Now it’s time for de León and Cedillo to do the same. It’s clear they are no long able to do the job for which they were elected. On Tuesday, both showed up for a public meeting, but were hounded out of the council chambers by an angry crowd.
Cedillo may think he can hide from the public for the two months left in his final term — his constituents voted in the June primary to replace him with community activist Eunisses Hernandez. De León has two more years in his term. Two years, even two months, is too long for any of them to avoid taking responsibility.
It’s time for them to stop stalling. There is no path forward. The huge number and diversity of people calling for their resignations is proof that they cannot effectively govern. Among them are two former L.A. City Council presidents — Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla — and both mayoral candidates, Karen Bass and Rick Caruso. Leaders of the state Legislature’s Black, LGBTQ, Jewish, AAPI, Latino and Women’s caucuses have also announced solidarity in seeking resignations. And groups that rarely agree on anything, including business associations, labor unions and grassroots activists groups, are now unified in calling for the resignations.
Every day that they delay is another mark against their character, as well is a sign of deep denial. They need to make the only right choice and leave now so that the city can start healing.
