LOS ANGELES — Nury Martinez said Tuesday she would take a leave of absence from the Los Angeles City Council, two days after a surreptitious recording surfaced on which she is heard making racist remarks and denigrating colleagues.
The comments elicited outrage across Los Angeles, with demands for her resignation coming Monday from Mayor Eric Garcetti, mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, Sen. Alex Padilla and numerous members of the City Council.
“This has been one of the most difficult times of my life and I recognize this is entirely of my own making,” Martinez said in a statement. “At this moment, I need to take a leave of absence and take some time to have an honest and heartfelt conversation with my family, my constituents, and community leaders. I am so sorry to the residents of Council District 6, my colleagues, and the City of Los Angeles.”
A group of religious leaders held a news conference Tuesday morning outside City Hall.
“This ends today. This ends right now. I will be here every day until our city council members step down,” said the Rev. Rae Huang, who volunteers with Black Lives Matter, appearing with the group, roughly an hour before the council meeting.
The leaked audio and its aftermath halted the political rise of Martinez, 49, who in 2019 became the first Latina to hold the powerful position of City Council president — a post she resigned from on Monday.
Martinez represents San Fernando Valley communities including Van Nuys and Sun Valley.
Martinez’s remarks, made during an October 2021 meeting over the city’s redistricting process with two other council members and the head of a labor group, targeted City Councilman Mike Bonin and others.
She said Bonin handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory” and said of the son “parece changuito,” or “He’s like a monkey.” And she referred to “little short dark people” in Koreatown as “Tan feos” — “They’re ugly.”
Speaking about Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, Martinez said, “F--- that guy. ... He’s with the Blacks.”
Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera all also apologized Sunday for their role in the conversation. At one point, de León appeared to compare Bonin’s handling of his child to Martinez holding a Louis Vuitton handbag. Herrera resigned from his position Monday night.
Martinez served on the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, then joined the City Council after a come-from-behind race in 2013.
She led the council through the rocky first year of the pandemic, focusing on helping renters and a vaccination requirement for city. She also pushed to redirect money from the Police Department to social services and other following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.
Protesters on the left and the right side of the political spectrum targeted her and other politicians in 2020 and 2021 by gathering — sometimes with bullhorns — outside their homes, prompting Martinez to support a law barring protests close to a target’s home.
A group returned Sunday night to her home in Sun Valley to protest her racist comments, according to a video posted on Twitter.
The leaked audio of Martinez and her colleagues revealed explicit conversations about the council district maps that had recently been proposed by the city’s 21-member redistricting commission.
The once-a-decade redistricting process reshapes the city’s 15 council districts and sets off competition among various groups over political power and representation.
Martinez’s leave is the latest shake-up at City Hall, which has been rocked by numerous scandals over the last few years. City Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was indicted last year on bribery charges, while former City Councilmember José Huizar is awaiting trial on felony charges stemming from downtown development.
Former City Councilmember Mitch Englander was sentenced in January 2021 for lying to federal authorities about his dealings with a developer.
Martinez’s leave also arrives at a key moment for City Hall. As many as five council members could depart by the end of the year, depending on the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
