LOS ANGELES — When four Latino leaders held a meeting to discuss Los Angeles' City Council boundaries last year, one in the group acted at points as the political elder in the room, a now-infamous audio recording revealed.
City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, 68, stepped in to guide the discussion among himself, Councilmembers Nury Martinez and Kevin De León, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor leader Ron Herrera, when the conversation strayed from the topic of the 15 City Council districts.
"Let me say this. So unlike 25 years ago, we now have a Mexican in charge of the [county Federation of Labor]. We have a Mexican in charge of the [City] Council," Cedillo said. "We have more members on the council. We're in a different spot now than we were 25 years ago. That thing for us is to exercise our power."
