L.A. on the Record: A City Council standoff as De León digs in, Cedillo stays silent

Then-acting Council President Mitch O’Farrell, left, speaks with Councilmember Kevin de León at a City Council meeting on Oct. 11, two days after the recording came to light. Theoretically, according to Section 207 of the charter, an office becomes vacant when “the incumbent has been absent from the City without the consent of the Council for more than 60 consecutive days” or when the incumbent “has ceased to discharge the duties of the office for 90 consecutive days, except when prevented by illness, injury, or other reasonable cause.” City Clerk Holly Wolcott said Friday via email that that 60-day rule would apply only if someone was actually outside the boundaries of the city without approval, while the 90-day rule “is interpreted to mean 90 consecutive days without fulfilling the duties of their office without an excused absence.” Even if De León stops attending council meetings, it’s unlikely this section of the charter would be triggered, as long as he continues to fill some official duties. — POLL ALERT: A new poll of likely voters from the Los Angeles Daily News and J. Wallin Opinion Research found Rick Caruso with a 3-percentage-point lead over Bass in the mayor’s race. Dig of the week: This week’s comes from journalist Margarita Noriega, who tweeted of Tuesday’s multi-mayor day: “It would be cool if America’s second largest city had just one mayor each day.” This week’s comes from journalist who tweeted of Tuesday’s multi-mayor day: “It would be cool if America’s second largest city had just one mayor each day.” On the docket for next week: OneLA, a multifaith community organization, will hold a forum with Bass and county supervisor candidates state Sen. Bob Hertzberg and West Hollywood Councilmember Lindsey Horvath at 3 p.m. Sunday at Reseda High School.