After the discovery of a recording in which three City Council members of Los Angeles discussed ways to change political boundaries to benefit Latino representatives, the attorney general of California announced on Wednesday that his office would investigate the redistricting process in Los Angeles. This announcement came after the recording was made public.
The audio has caused a stir due to the offensive and racially charged words that it contains. On Wednesday, Councilwoman Nury Martinez resigned from her position as a result of mounting pressure from other lawmakers, including President Biden, who demanded that she and two other council members step down.
In addition to making offensive remarks, the three council members discussed strategies for ensuring that council districts would be At the time, the three Democrats were having a confidential discussion with Ron Herrera, the leader of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, at the headquarters of the union.
However, the Los Angeles City Council merely depends on such a panel to provide suggestions and has the authority to set its own district borders, in contrast to the state government of California, which utilises an independent commission to define the political boundaries of the state.
During an interview on Wednesday, Democrat Mr. Bonta stated that his office would investigate potential violations of the federal Voting Rights Act, as well as the state’s open meetings law and a 2019 act that established transparency guidelines for local redistricting. Mr. Bonta’s comments came in response to a question about whether or not his office would also investigate potential violations of the state’s open meetings law. It was not immediately obvious if the focus of the inquiry would be restricted to the public officials heard in the leaked recording. It was possible that other people may be investigated as well.
The aftermath from the tape has roiled the politics of the city of Los Angeles, and as a result, the 15-member Council has been unable to do the business of the city. Wednesday was the second consecutive day that demonstrators crowded the Council chamber and yelled continuously, asking that the three Council members quit as a prerequisite for putting a stop to the interruption.
On Tuesday, when the Council attempted to convene for the first time since the recording was made public, the City Hall was crowded with irate locals, many of whom were members of local far-left groups.
When the Council attempted once again to meet on Wednesday, a council member named Mitch O’Farrell, who is now serving as the interim president of the body, worked to bring order back into the grand hall, which was decorated with colourful tiles and elaborate columns. In a later statement, he clarified that none of the three council members who are now under investigation were present: Ms. Martinez, Mr. Cedillo, or Mr. de León. After a little over an hour of vehement protest, the meeting was finally called to a close without any formal acts or substantive debate having taken place.
Nithya Raman, a council member who was mentioned on the recording as “not an ally” of the three, proposed a measure this week that would ask voters to change the city charter so that the City Council would no longer be in charge of its own redistricting. The City Council was scheduled to discuss the measure on Wednesday, but that meeting was cancelled due to the recording. Following the meeting that was videotaped, Ms. Raman’s district was drastically redrewn in a way that made it less likely that she would be reelected.
Last year, following the redistricting process, California Common Cause, an organisation that advocates for open government, and members of the city panel that makes redistricting recommendations to the City Council both recommended that the redistricting commission be replaced with a “fully independent” body, stating that the current system had led to “extreme political interference” in the mapmaking process. Both of these groups charged that the current system had led to “extreme political interference” in the mapmaking process.
The video contains audio of Ms. Martinez insulting the Black kid of a white councilman, Mike Bonin, in racist terms. The news of the recording was originally revealed by The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, and it struck like a grenade on Los Angeles’ political establishment.
During the course of the 80-minute recording, which was obtained by The New York Times, the council members and Mr. Herrera complained about a lack of political representation for Latinos and considered ways to carve up districts that have historically been represented by Black council members. The recording also included ugly remarks describing recent migrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, among other disparaging comments.
On Tuesday, Councilman Bonin delivered an impassioned statement in which he described the mental and emotional toll that the event had placed on his family. He then informed his three colleagues that they needed to retire in order for the community to be able to move on. There were close to 80 people who stood up to demand that the council members resign. Many of these people claimed that all of the Council’s actions should be reevaluated in light of the bigotry, especially with regard to the redistricting process.
On Tuesday, the Reverend Shane Harris, who is the head of a civil rights group called the People’s Association of Justice Advocates and is located in San Diego, asked for an investigation to be conducted by the state.
