California AG investigates LA redistricting after leaked audio with racist comments
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Wednesday that his office will investigate the redistricting process conducted by the City of Los Angeles and its City Council after leaked audio of a discussion between three members about redrawing boundaries revealed racist, discriminatory and derisive remarks.
Los Angeles City Council Members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera were caught in a conversation that included racist and homophobic terms to describe their fellow councilman and his child.
Martinez also made racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Armenian remarks about colleagues and residents while the four speakers talked about preserving political power for themselves and their allies through redistricting, the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative boundaries.
“The decennial redistricting process is foundational for our democracy and for the ability of our communities to make their voices heard — and it must be above reproach,” Bonta said in announcing the investigation. “The leaked audio has cast doubt on a cornerstone of our political processes for Los Angeles.”
The council members still have not resigned from their posts as of Wednesday at noon Pacific Time. Herrera resigned on Monday.
Bonta, who is running for election to a full four-year term next month, said he was “deeply appalled” by the comments and that there was no room for discriminatory and derogatory language in California, “especially in relation to the duties of a public official.” He stopped short of calling for the city council members to resign.
Calls to resign
Joining the calls for council members to step down was President Joe Biden.
“He believes they should all resign,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Tuesday White House press briefing. “The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable and it was appalling.”
All four members on the recording apologized. Martinez relinquished her position Monday as president of the council, but did not give up her seat. On Tuesday, she said she was taking a leave of absence.
In the past few days, several major California Democratic officials, labor leaders, and candidates called for their resignation. Sen. Alex Padilla, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rep. Karen Bass were among them. The California Democratic Party, the Los Angeles Democratic Party, the California Young Democrats, the California Legislative Black Caucus and Latino Caucus members also demanded their immediate departure.
While Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced the language on Monday, he has not called for resignations as of Wednesday.
Racist, homophobic comments
The four caught on tape, who are Latino, talk about getting the Latino council members re-elected and preserving assets in Latino-heavy districts. A report by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday widely publicized the hour-long October 2021 meeting.
Martinez said that fellow Councilman Mike Bonin uses his Black, adopted son as an “accessory” and described the child in Spanish as “parece changuito,” or “like a monkey.” Martinez also called Bonin, who is gay, a “little bitch.”
Council member de León said that Bonin handles his child like a designer handbag. He said that Bonin, who is white, was like the “fourth Black member” of the city council.
And in comments about lending their support to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, Martinez said: “F— that guy … He’s with the Blacks.” Gascón condemned the comments on Twitter Monday.
Bonin, who called for their resignation, said through tears in a City Council meeting on Tuesday: “I take a lot of hits, and I know I practically invite a bunch of them. But my son? Man, that makes my soul bleed.”
He said he wouldn’t be able to comprehend the amount of racism his son will face. “I can’t forgive them,” he said of his colleagues, “because it’s not my prerogative. It’s the prerogative of a boy who is too young to really understand what’s going on.”
Also in the leaked recording, Martinez used a racist stereotype to describe members of the Oaxacan community as “little short dark people” who live in Koreatown. “Tan feos,” she said of community members: “They are ugly.”
Martinez brought this up while talking about putting Koreatown in the district represented by Council member Nithya Raman, who also called for the council members’ resignation. Martinez had said this was an issue because that “solidifies her renters’ district”: A district holding a lot of people who rent homes would presumably favor a more politically progressive candidate for the council, which currently has 14 Democrats and one Independent.
Anti-Semitic, anti-Armenian comments
In the audio, Martinez said the “judíos,” referring to Jewish people, “cut their deal with South L.A.” The statement was in response to Herrera’s prompts that former Assemblyman Richard Katz, who represented that area from 1980-1996, “and his crew have an agenda.”
Martinez also talked about how Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, who is of Armenian descent and represents a district in the central-southern San Fernando Valley, and fellow Councilman Paul Krekorian, who is the first Armenian American to be elected to public office in Los Angeles, would want an Armenian-heavy Assembly district in the Valley.
“Not an Armenian district in the Valley, ‘cause that doesn’t exist,” she said. “But they want as many Armenians in that district as possible to be able to play.”
She said that Nazarian likely could not win a “pretty white” district.
When Martinez asked what the Assemblyman’s last name was, de León said, “It ends in i-a-n, I bet you.”
The recording had circulated on Reddit earlier this month before the person who posted it was suspended. It is not clear who recorded the conversation, who the person on Reddit is or if there were any others present during the conversation.
At the council meeting on Tuesday, members of the public and officials called for resignations, chanted “fuera,” meaning “out,” and demanded justice in the face of systemic racism. Cedillo and de León, who were present, at one point left the chamber, as seen in a video livestream.
Though the council does not have the power to suspend members, those who spoke at the meeting called on their colleagues to resign.
After an hours-long public comment period, rowdy and filled with emotion, acting Council President Mitch O’Farrell said that “the court of public opinion has rendered a verdict.”
“And the verdict is: they all must resign.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 12:44 PM with the headline "California AG investigates LA redistricting after leaked audio with racist comments."
