What we know about the explosive leaked audio roiling L.A. City Hall and its origins
2 years, 2 months ago

What we know about the explosive leaked audio roiling L.A. City Hall and its origins

LA Times  

A leaked audio recording of three members of the Los Angeles City Council and a top county labor official punctuated by racist comments and derisive remarks about colleagues has rocked Los Angeles politics just a month before a key election. VIDEO | 03:12 City Council leader makes racist comments about colleague’s young son Council President Nury Martinez makes racist remarks about Councilmember Mike Bonin’s young son while others chime in during this section of the conversation. Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera were present during the conversation. The wide-ranging, roughly hourlong conversation also includes discussion of Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ indictment and what should happen with his council seat, talk of upcoming council races, derisive remarks about council colleagues and numerous racist comments.

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History of this topic

Column: Nury, Kevin and Gil turn to the most weak salsa excuse of all for their racist remarks
1 year, 2 months ago

Column: Nury, Kevin and Gil turn to the most weak salsa excuse of all for their racist remarks

LA Times  

A protester at the Oct. 11, 2022, L.A. City Council meeting calls for the ouster of Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León after the leak of a recording on which the three council members can be heard making racist remarks. The voices — then-Los Angeles City Councilmember Nury Martinez, then-Councilmember Gil Cedillo, Councilmember Kevin de León, and then-Los …

L.A. on the Record: The Next Big Fight at City Hall
1 year, 5 months ago

L.A. on the Record: The Next Big Fight at City Hall

LA Times  

Officers enter the LAPD’s downtown headquarters. City negotiators have spent weeks bargaining with the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents police officers — which, like the hotel workers, has a contract that expired June 30. At City Hall, contract negotiations with public employee unions are overseen by the Executive Employee Relations Committee, a panel made up of …

LAPD launches criminal probe of racist leak at request of Martinez, De León, Cedillo
2 years, 1 month ago

LAPD launches criminal probe of racist leak at request of Martinez, De León, Cedillo

LA Times  

Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore announced Tuesday that his department has launched an investigation into the source of the leaked racist recordings that thrust City Hall into a harsh national spotlight. “The department has initiated a criminal investigation into the allegation of eavesdropping into the L.A. Fed meeting involving then-Councilperson Nury Martinez, Councilmember Gil Cedillo and Councilmember Kevin de …

Roots of L.A. City Council’s leaked audio scandal can be traced back decades
2 years, 2 months ago

Roots of L.A. City Council’s leaked audio scandal can be traced back decades

LA Times  

In simple terms, the scandal that has sent Los Angeles politics into a tailspin began with a surreptitiously recorded private meeting last year involving three City Council members during which crude, racist comments were made. “What I heard on that tape, it was just unbridled arrogance.” Now, as support grows for changes that would expand the number of council seats …

L.A. Times and Fox 11 to Host ‘LA in Crisis: The Call For Change,’ Town Hall on City Council Scandal, Oct. 20
2 years, 2 months ago

L.A. Times and Fox 11 to Host ‘LA in Crisis: The Call For Change,’ Town Hall on City Council Scandal, Oct. 20

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Times and Fox 11 L.A. are hosting a live town hall event on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. to examine the impact of the L.A. City Council scandal and explore a way forward for the city. L.A. Times Columnist Erika D. Smith, Staff Writer Benjamin Oreskes and Op-Ed Columnist LZ Granderson will join Fox 11 News …

‘L.A. in Crisis’: Watch the town hall hosted by the L.A. Times and Fox 11
2 years, 2 months ago

‘L.A. in Crisis’: Watch the town hall hosted by the L.A. Times and Fox 11

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Times and Fox 11 L.A. hosted a live town hall event Thursday night to examine the L.A. City Council scandal and explore a way forward for the city. Times columnists Erika D. Smith and LZ Granderson and reporter Benjamin Oreskes joined Fox anchors Elex Michaelson and Marla Tellez for “L.A. “It’s time for them to go.” The …

Editorial: Tired of City Hall scandals? This is the moment to reform Los Angeles city government
2 years, 2 months ago

Editorial: Tired of City Hall scandals? This is the moment to reform Los Angeles city government

LA Times  

Los Angeles City Hall has lurched from scandal to scandal in recent years. Opinion L.A. Times electoral endorsements for November 2022 The L.A. Times’ editorial board endorsements for statewide ballot measures, elected offices in Los Angeles city and county, L.A. Unified School District board, L.A. county superior court, statewide offices, the state Legislature and U.S. House and Senate seats. The …

How L.A. City Hall became so corrupt: A recent history of bribes, kickbacks, scandal, leaks
2 years, 2 months ago

How L.A. City Hall became so corrupt: A recent history of bribes, kickbacks, scandal, leaks

LA Times  

Less than a year after a leaked racist recording led to the downfall of several of Los Angeles’ top officials, a new bombshell is rocking the city’s political world. After the bombshell recording went public, the California attorney general said his office would open an investigation into the city’s redistricting process, which last year redrew lines for the 15-seat City …

How all 15 L.A. City Council members have responded to the racist leaked audio
2 years, 2 months ago

How all 15 L.A. City Council members have responded to the racist leaked audio

LA Times  

The Los Angeles City Council is in crisis. Secretly recorded audio revealed three council members — Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, along with a local labor leader who has now resigned — engaged in a racist conversation and the kind of slimy backroom politicking that we usually see only in the movies. To start at the beginning, …

The mystery behind L.A. racist tape scandal: Who leaked it — and why?
2 years, 2 months ago

The mystery behind L.A. racist tape scandal: Who leaked it — and why?

LA Times  

Questions are swirling about the origins of a recording that captured Councilmember Kevin de León and then-council President Nury Martinez, among others, making racist, crude and bigoted remarks. “My goal in life is to get the three of you elected, and you know, I’m just focused on that,” Ron Herrera, president of the federation, told Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo …

Racist leaked audio. Corruption. City Hall in chaos. L.A. politics faces a perilous moment
2 years, 2 months ago

Racist leaked audio. Corruption. City Hall in chaos. L.A. politics faces a perilous moment

LA Times  

The scandal engulfing Los Angeles City Councilmember Nury Martinez comes at a volatile time in city politics, with a consequential election just weeks away. Yet another scandal burst into public view over the weekend when the release of a secret audio recording revealed a closed-door meeting in which the City Council president, two of her colleagues and the county’s top …

Photos: High emotion at first City Council meeting following leaked audio of Nury Martinez’s racists remarks
2 years, 2 months ago

Photos: High emotion at first City Council meeting following leaked audio of Nury Martinez’s racists remarks

LA Times  

Emotions ran high at the first Los Angeles City Council meeting following the leaked audio in which former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez is heard making racists remarks about a fellow council member’s son. Councilmember Mike Bonin gets emotional as he addresses the general public at Tuesday’s L.A. City Council meeting. Protesters block Main Street while the Los …

Column: Nury Martinez divided L.A. with racism. Can the next mayor help us heal?
2 years, 2 months ago

Column: Nury Martinez divided L.A. with racism. Can the next mayor help us heal?

LA Times  

For one last time before ballots start arriving in mailboxes for the November election, mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso will meet on stage for a televised debate Tuesday night. For much of that, we can blame Los Angeles City Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. It’s …

Abcarian: Racist L.A. City Council conversation spared no one
2 years, 2 months ago

Abcarian: Racist L.A. City Council conversation spared no one

LA Times  

Nury Martinez has stepped down as L.A. City Council president and taken a leave of absence after she was heard making racist remarks on a recording. Among the many casual slurs made by several of our city’s high-profile Latino Democratic officials in a secretly recorded conversation about redistricting were a few mild ones directed at a former City Hall staffer …

Protests, anger, tears roil L.A. City Council meeting over leaked racist recordings
2 years, 2 months ago

Protests, anger, tears roil L.A. City Council meeting over leaked racist recordings

LA Times  

Politicians, religious leaders, activists and everyday Angelenos directed their fury at the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, telling elected leaders about the rage and sadness they felt over a recording in which Councilmember Nury Martinez is heard making racist remarks and denigrating colleagues. California Photos: High emotion at first City Council meeting following leaked audio of Nury Martinez’s racists …

Breaking down crucial moments in the racist leaked recording of L.A. councilmembers
2 years, 2 months ago

Breaking down crucial moments in the racist leaked recording of L.A. councilmembers

LA Times  

In what they thought was a private conversation, some of the most powerful people in Los Angeles politics gathered to discuss the city’s once-every-decade redistricting process. Martinez and the other Latino leaders present during the taped conversation were seemingly unaware they were being recorded as Martinez said a white councilmember handled his young Black son as though he were an …

Listen to audio of L.A. council members making racist, crude remarks
2 years, 2 months ago

Listen to audio of L.A. council members making racist, crude remarks

LA Times  

In this surreptitiously recorded conversation from October 2021, Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez — while speaking with Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo as well as Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera — made racist remarks and insults about various elected officials. Martinez focused in particular on Councilmember Mike Bonin, who is white, and …

L.A. Labor head Ron Herrera resigns; federation joins calls for councilmembers to resign
2 years, 2 months ago

L.A. Labor head Ron Herrera resigns; federation joins calls for councilmembers to resign

LA Times  

Ron Herrera, center, has resigned as president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Facing outrage over a controversial leaked audio recording, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera resigned Monday night, and the organization’s remaining leaders demanded Tuesday that the three City Council members involved in the scandal submit their resignations as well. “The Executive Board of …

Racist remarks in leaked audio of L.A. council members spark outrage, disgust
2 years, 2 months ago

Racist remarks in leaked audio of L.A. council members spark outrage, disgust

LA Times  

L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez, shown in 2019, made racist comments in a 2021 meeting, according to a recording reviewed by The Times. Martinez and the other Latino leaders present during the taped conversation were seemingly unaware they were being recorded as Martinez said a white councilmember handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory” and …

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