Part 114: Critiquing the Los Angeles City Council – Leadership Transitions and People Power

Published September 23, 2024

Sep 23, 2024

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addresses the City Council on September 18 to congratulate President Paul Krekorian on completing his term as President by author (GoPro Hero 11 Black).

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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist

Plenty of people have criticisms of the Los Angeles City Council, which is the least representative municipal leadership body in the entire United States of America. Composed only of 15 members, by comparison, as noted by LAist Staff writing in the Boyle Heights Beat, cities such as “New York and Chicago — have 51 and 50 city council members.” The upstart publication was recently named by the L.A. Local News Initiative as the “model” for journalism in Southern California. By contrast, no one says the same thing about the City Council in Los Angeles government, widely viewed as ineffective and corrupt by those on both the left and right because of its lack of success in confronting crises of poverty, crime, and homelessness. Despite some recent stabilization, since the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles County overall, of which the City of Los Angeles is the largest municipality, has “about 340,000 fewer people than it did in 2019,” according to the city's flagship publication, the Los Angeles Times.

Housed in Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, the 32-story white-sided building stands opposite the now abandoned Times Mirror Building, finished in 1935, which once housed the paper before owner Patrick Soon-Shiong moved it to El Segundo in 2018. Despite being famous for real estate developers, no one has been able to take it over effectively, and it’s now used only for filming. Most people in Los Angeles don’t go to Los Angeles City Council, which takes place on the 3rd floor of City Hall in the columned John E. Ferraro Chambers, named for its longest-serving member from 1966-2001. An alumni of the University of Southern California, the Department of Water and Power’s General Office Building also bears his name. This week though, it was two other names in the news: outgoing President Paul Krekorian and incoming President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the second African-American to serve in the role.

So unlike most people, I went to City Council with meetings held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00 am; attendance is outside of the possibility of most working people in Los Angeles barring special occasions. This means that unless there’s some exceptional draw, like the transition of its leadership position outside of pre-arranged presentations that are widely critiqued as a distraction from actual governance, the chamber can feel fairly empty. Usually, there are only two types of people there: lobbyists and those whom are viewed as serial disrupters, gadflies, plus those with a direct interest in giving public comment on any given issue, such as the recently proposed approved ban on rodeos. Go often enough, and you’ll start to recognize individuals and even get to know names. So I arrived on Wednesday, September 18, to find one foul-mouthed frequent public commenter being expelled by two Sargent of Arms and one individual in plainclothes. I began doing what you do, filming just in case, before telling the private citizen that he should just call it a day and come back tomorrow.

The following meeting, on Friday, September 20, the same man in plainclothes could be seen donning a Korean gown for his 1-minute general public comment, singing a song in the language, and delivering a message of peace. A request for comment on if the man was also a member of the Los Angeles Police Department went unanswered, and Council Pro Tem Bob Blumenfield let him sing longer than others who voice their protests often get, before being shut down as outgoing President Paul Krekorian almost seemed to take some zeal in doing so for the last two years, following the scandal of scandals to hit Los Angeles, perhaps the LA Fed Tapes. The tall, sizable man glared at me as I took his picture, and hours later, he was still there, drinking fluids in the hallway. According to others, he appeared about a year ago and can be seen frequently speaking with the uniformed LAPD officers who are there to reasonably protect the functioning of the city’s government. As reported in the Los Angeles Times by journalists David Zahniser and Rebecca Ellis, incoming President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is “vowing to crack down on hate speech and bad behavior by audience members in the chamber.” At present, Los Angeles has only an interim Chief of Police, Dominic Choi.

Ironically, Councilmember Kevin de León, who was illegally recorded alongside former President Nury Martinez, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and former President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Ron Herrera, has largely been welcomed back into the good graces of his peers. After all, despite being encouraged to resign by the likes of even President Joe Biden, De León was still there as an elected official. What were they to do? With the Los Angeles Times winning Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of the aftermath of the widely criticized, racist conversation that took place on October 18, 2021, in the conference room of the labor union headquarters, De León took his turn to thank outgoing President Paul Krekorian, noting his record of distinguished service in Sacramento before returning to LA.

There to support incoming President Marqueece Harris-Dawson were members of the non-profit Community Coalition, which Harris-Dawson once led. In the most-well-known “secret” recording, two in total, after discussing the bribery and fraud scandal involving former City Council Member Mark Ridley-Thomas, a legend of African-American politics, the group discusses the city’s 2020 redistricting process. LA Fed President Ron Herrera says the following in reference to the "CoCo's,” as they call the heavily African-American group:

So here’s like, for us, I didn’t finish, but, so we got the, you know, Gil’s opponent [Current City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez], whatever you want to call them. Right? And then you have, you know, the CoCo group. Right? Marqueece? And then you have us, right? Who believe [sic] in union and, you know, helping poor Latinos. So we could, if the council split three ways — which it very well could — then you got the whites on there, right? So four. We’re the minority with 25% at that point.

To which Kevin de León responds about current City Councilmember Current Price of the 9th District, “I think Curren will come with us.” Former President Martinez goes, "Yeah.” Herrera, of the LA Fed equivocates, “No, but I mean, I mean, just in the future.” Martinez replies, “Curren will come with us” before De León agrees about outgoing President Krekorian: “Krekorian, I think, will come with us, but if they’re made sure that the labor map is better for Krekorian.”

Strangely enough, the exact election scenario that Martinez then discusses has come to fruition. Businessman Adrin Nazarian is in a runoff with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA-LA) Candidate Jillian Burgos for Council District 2. Martinez says about the proposed district lines: “They want to assure, they want to be reassured that they have, not an Armenian district in the Valley, cause that doesn’t exist.” She then concludes, about the negotiations around redistricting, “I’m not, I’m not cutting that deal with anybody because I don’t know…I don’t know that he can win.” Ethnic politics on the Los Angeles City Council, rarely brought out in the open, are unlikely to be simply wished away. For his part, De León, who faces DSA-LA backed Ysabel Jurado, recently refused to sit for an endorsement interview with the Los Angeles Times, who in turn backed Jurado for Council District 14, citing the LA Fed Tapes as a principal cause. The paper of record has backed Nazarian, and in Council District 10, current appointed representative Heather Hutt over attorney Grace Yoo, saying, “Hutt has so far done a respectable job in this position, and we believe she can grow stronger and get better at it.”

For his part, Marqueece Harris-Dawson at least outwardly seems to have forgiven Kevin de León for having participated in the conversation. In a recent radio interview with KNX News 97.1 FM, he says in response to the question about whether he had caused his district trauma:

“I think that’s what democracy is about; that’s what elections are about; and we’re adults, and we’re going to make a decision. And I gotta diplomatically, yet very respectfully push back, against the narrative a few moments ago, with regards to manipulating the council districts, with the redistricting process to the advantage of some folks over other folks.”

KNX co-host Charles Feldman then questions De León, but he continues forcefully, “If it was accurate, we would have a Department of Justice lawsuit, as well as litigation from other folks; ultimately, at the end of the day, all of the current council members, including myself, voted for the lines we have today.” De León is then questioned again by co-host Margaret Carrero, and he responds furtively, “That was a narrative that continued to be perpetuated, and that’s why I do want to bring accuracy to a false narrative, 100%; the question was making sure the Voting Rights Act was respected among people of color; that’s the definition of the Voting Rights Act.” De León then says, “It took off like a firestorm” before declaring that “I owned it,” claiming he took responsibility for his actions. Should Kevin De León simply be let off the hook?

To be fair, the Department of Justice has never indicated that they would pursue a case, but the California Attorney General’s office has launched an investigation that remains ongoing. The scandal set off months of protests that saw more people at City Council than perhaps ever before, yet in a video montage played during Paul Krekorian’s honorarium, the protests were depicted as chaotic and threatening rather than any sort of righteous outcry. For her part, Mayor Karen Bass, who stopped by to give a public comment, declared on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “one of the most tumultuous times in LA.’s civic history,” stating that he had “turned chaos into progress and moved the people’s business forward. Bass declared about the outgoing Council President: “He will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders and public servants that the City of Los Angeles has ever known.” Councilmember Blumenfeld announced that a childcare center, sports fields, and a park in the San Fernando Valley will soon be renamed in his honor.

For his part, Marqueece Harris-Dawson didn’t comment directly on the matter during the speech, preferring to turn the page and focus on what happens next. “When we have a situation where tens of thousands of people are living on our streets, it literally compromises everyone’s public safety, he said about the crisis of the unhoused. Harris-Dawson promised that the coming 2028 Olympics would be about the best of Los Angeles and that the city would become like the Village for the games, where everyone’s basic needs were met, such as food and shelter. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said about the scandal, “Some of the stuff left a mark,” offering reassurance that “Those marks are still there, but I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can actually do work on behalf of people of the city of L.A.” Harris-Dawson told the newspaper, “That he has largely restored his relationship with De León.” As Council President, Harris-Dawson will be responsible for making committee assignments in addition to the agenda.

The agenda for Friday, September 20, featured a significant expansion of so-called “41.18” areas prohibiting camping on sidewalks, including for a number of freeway underpasses in CD14, put forward by Kevin de León and John Lee. The Council in Los Angeles, despite principally being composed of Democrats, with the exception of Councilmember Lee from the West Valley, did not hesitate to pass the expansion. Eunissess Hernandez, who had succeeded Gil Cedillo after defeating him outright in the June 2022 primary, intended to vote “No” but was instead registered as a “Yes” vote. Requesting to change the record, Krekorian swiftly noted that they would move on as it wouldn’t change the outcome of the 11-3-1 vote, with fellow DSA-LA Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez dissenting. The Wednesday before the Council had voted 13-1 in favor of a new research facility in Boyle Heights at the University of Southern California—Health Sciences campus. Only Hernandez had voted “No” on the project, as the Boyle Heights Beat described, after “an appeal was filed by local labor union SEIU Local 721, USC Forward and Eastside LEADS, organizations that have been resistant to the campus’ growing footprint,” in the PLUM committee, short for Planning, Land-Use, and Management.

That morning, activists had circulated a video on social media showing an exchange between one of their members and a lobbyist for USC, alleging that he had threatened her that the “university would take over their neighborhood council.” The video didn’t quite show that, but the point was clear: not everyone was happy with the established order in Los Angeles. Arriving in the rotunda outside the Council chamber, I spoke with his staff and then shook his hand in the back of the chamber. Both days featured receptions on the patio colonnade overlooking Gloria Molina Park, the first with a check-in station, the second without. I still didn’t dare cross into the space, despite the abundance of community members. Heading up 3 elevators to the observation deck instead, I soon encountered Kevin de León heading into the Tom Bradley Room, named for the former mayor. Looking up at me on the stairwell, he said “Hello,” which I returned, before heading into the event hosted by the Consulate of Honduras, with Miss Honduras visible through the glass windows. The beacon atop City Hall is named for aviator Charles Lindbergh, who would later oppose American involvement in World War II.

Two activists had managed to make their way into the event for free food. I returned with them back outside the building to the south steps, where a band was setting for a Youth Climate Strike. They were no fans of Kevin de León and were shocked to see him so close, not knowing what to say. About Governor Gavin Newsom, one described him as a “fascist with good hair.” Soon the rally began, led by two former staffers of Controller Kenneth Mejia, who had been hired on after the campaign only to be swiftly dismissed. The mixed crowd of young people and older activists gathered, with speakers from the University of California—Los Angeles, USC, and Occidental College, among others. One student described how she had gone to give public comment City Council, only to come away disheartened with “bureaucrats” who did not care to pay attention. Often, Councilmembers and their staff pay no mind at all to the public comment. Speaker after speaker rejected the establishment and called for an end to war, including in Gaza, justice for workers, and a true response to climate change and environmental destruction.

Occasionally, a city staffer would open the door fronting the rock band. Inside, the City Council’s Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability Committee was meeting with a brief agenda following the celebration for Marqueece Harris-Dawson. No one else from the political class would appear. In his speech, the incoming President had vowed greater action on the climate crisis. Youth Climate Strike LA demands that the City Council “adopt a climate emergency bill package, creating a CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] binding climate action and adaptation plan as soon as possible.” They additionally demand that “Climate Clocks” be installed in both the Council Chamber and Mayor’s office, the creation of “Resilience Centers,” more walkable neighborhoods, more taxes on polluters, an end to new gasoline stations, and “end the sale of fossil fuel vehicles,” among other goals. Assuredly, these are no LA Fed Tapes, but given the gravity of the situation, you could only hope that politicians might actually, for a change, skip their Friday afternoon meeting and listen in for a change to the younger generation. Surely, the conversation would be worth their time at $224,000 in annual salary plus benefits.

You don’t have to be a genius to know that things aren’t quite right in Los Angeles. In a city built for vehicles, the public transit system lags. Tents line our streets, and police with shiny badges look fearfully at constituents. One of the LAPD sergeants of arms had kindly tried to usher me out of the Council Chamber in the midst of the crowd that had formed in the chambers to see the celebration for Paul Krekorian. Simply, I told him that I was waiting for them to leave and needed to actually be able to exit the building. “I know,” he told me before explaining that lingering on as a member of the press had allowed me to see Kevin de León giving Traci Park a backslap in the pews. For the sake of Los Angeles, we need more open, honest government, that doesn’t rug sweep unpleasant, scandalous facts.

Heading towards yet another election day, the lack of a complete investigation from the State Attorney General regarding whether our election maps are to be trusted is unnerving. Moreover, to date, not a single member of the City Council has openly questioned where the LA Fed Tapes came from or what the true motivation might be behind the leak. Termed by many to have been an “October Surprise”, the leaks were an attempt to influence the outcome of the November 2022 elections and Los Angeles City government for reasons beyond exposing corruption.

Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo are the ones’ undertaking reputation-saving litigation over the matter against the alleged leakers, Santos Leon and Karla Vasquez, two former employees of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Both Leon and Vasquez have maintained their innocence. Nury Martinez might well have disappeared from the face of the earth. Just what exactly has happened? Doesn’t anyone want to know? The criminal case against the two alleged leakers remains pending with the City Attorney’s office of Hydee Feldstein-Soto. She supported former Mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, as did Cedillo, but not Kevin de León, who waffled on endorsing Mayor Karen Bass. Cedillo’s lawsuit will be back in civil court on October 29. Los Angeles deserves better than games, it deserves leadership willing to face the truth of the leak; weaponized racism on tape.

Link: What’s the role of the L.A. City Council and why it matters ahead of the Nov. 5 general election

Link: Philanthropists invest $15 million in L.A. County local news

Link: California exodus left a gaping population hole. Can the Golden State finally bounce back?

Link: Democracy in action: When free speech delves into chaos at city council meetings

Link: A report offers clues about Mayor Bass’ plans for the next police chief

Link: Inside the room: The entire L.A. City Council racist audio leak, annotated by our experts

Link: L.A. Times electoral endorsements for 2024 November election

Link: Kevin de León talks about his ‘painful journey’ from scandal to reelection campaign

Link: Karen Bass Twitter Post RE: Paul Krekorian

Link: Council File: 24-1120 - RE: Remamings for Paul Krekorian

Link: Marqueece Harris-Dawson takes over as L.A. City Council president

Link: Council File: 24-4118-S7