Councilmember Kevin de León refuses to step down from his post within the Los Angeles City Council because he believes he is key to the repairing and healing of his constituents and the district he represents. De León spoke about the racist incident that shook Southern California in a one-on-one interview with CBS’ Tom Wait.
“I’m not going to mince words,” De León said in the interview. “I’m not going to deflect blame. I’m not going to defend the defenseless.”
An audio recording capturing Nury Martinez, President of the LA City Council, Gil Cedillo, District 1 LA City Council representative, and Ron Herrera, President of the LA County Federation of Labor, leaked earlier in Oct. revealing a derogatory conversation about staking political and economic power and influence for Latino constituents through strategic tactics regarding the city’s redistricting plans.
The meeting also threw around demoralizing statements about Black and Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant (RIM) communities, and another Councilmember’s child.
“I failed to step up and shut down a conversation, the words that were incendiary, words that were painfully hurtful, and I didn’t do that,” De León said. “I’m so sorry for the City of L.A. for not stepping up and being the leader that they expected of me.”
When De León was asked about his reaction to Nury Martinez’ racist comment regarding fellow councilmember Mike Bonin’s son, who is Black, in which he joked that the child was like an accessory, he claims that his comment was not pertaining to the child.
De León responded, “The comment was directed more towards Nury Martinez and her penchant for having luxury accessories and luxury goods. It was a joke towards her and not towards Mike Bonin’s family. But, nonetheless, I apologized to Mike Bonin’s family, profusely.”
Despite many of his colleagues, including President Joe Biden and mayoral candidates, Rick Caruso and Karen Bass, calling for his resignation, De León is convicted to his belief that his continuance in the role will be beneficial to those he is supposed to serve. De León represents the 14th District in Southern California, consisting of predominately Latino neighborhoods, such as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, El Sereno, and Northeast Los Angeles.
As an elected official, Councilmembers cannot be terminated from their titles by the Council unless a crime has been committed. However, the people of Los Angeles can execute a lengthy recall effort to get him out of office.
Since the debacle, Martinez has resigned, with Mitch O’Farrell, Councilmember representing District 13, acting as Los Angeles City Council President. While both Cedillo, whose term ends in Dec., and De León refuse to resign, O’Farrell has removed their committee chairmanships.
“I have to do the hard work,” De León concluded. “I have to repair. I have to help heal. I have to help restore and that means rolling up my sleeves and engaging with my constituents.”
