Los Angeles City Council elects Paul Krekorian as new president in wake of Martinez resignation
The Los Angeles City Council elected Councilman Paul Krekorian as its new leader Tuesday to replace a president who was forced to resign amid a burgeoning scandal over racist remarks.
Krekorian is
replacing former Council President Nury Martinez, who resigned her leadership
post and her council seat after she was caught on a leaked recording making
racist comments and discussing manipulations of the city redistricting process.
Krekorian is now
tasked with leading the council on a series of political reforms, while dealing
with increasingly loud calls for the two other members involved in the
controversy, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, to also step down.
Legally the
council cannot force members from office, short of serious criminal
accusations, but most other members of the council have said resignations by
the two is the only way for the city to heal and move forward.
Krekorian said he will aim to reduce the power of
the position.
"The Council Presidency
is a position of collaboration, not command," Krekorian said in a
statement. "I will see that the power of the Council Presidency is
reduced, not enlarged. The era of unilateral decision making and consolidating
power ends today."
And he repeated
calls for Cedillo and de Leon to follow Martinez and resign from office.
"Three
elected members of this Council forfeited the public's trust. One has already
resigned, the greatest service to the city that the others can now perform is
to resign their offices so that we can begin the process of healing."
Mayor Eric
Garcetti praised the selection of Krekorian, whose district is in the San
Fernando Valley.
"Paul is a
committed and conscientious leader who can bring a smart, collaborative, and
effective approach to a painful moment when Angelenos deserve steady leadership
on the City Council," Garcetti said. "I am confident that he'll
assemble a leadership team of bridge builders, and I'll work closely with the
Council to help heal the wounds caused by the hateful words of a few."
Protesters
gathered outside City Hall on Tuesday - although the council itself was meeting
online - to call for Cedillo and de León to step down.
At one point,
protesters tried to force their way into the building, which was closed to the
public.
Police officers
wearing riot helmets pushed them back.
It was not
immediately clear why the protesters wanted to enter the building, since the
meeting was taking place online. Only Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, who was
serving as acting president at the start of the meeting, was inside council
chambers, while nine other members were meeting online.
They may have
hoped to shut the meeting down until Cedillo and de León resign. Some
protesters were heard chanting "No resignations, no meeting."
Some protesters
opposed the selection of Krekorian.
"It's a slap
in the face given what has just happened with the former City Council
leadership, that they're putting someone in place that's actually worse than
Nury Martinez," said Black Lives Matter leader Melina Abdullah.
Some protesters
with Black Lives Matter remain camped out in de León's neighborhood, saying
they will stay there until he steps down. De León has been publicly quiet since
the scandal erupted and there was no sign of him at the home.
"Our prayer
today is simply that these elected officials would do what is best for the
city," said Pastor James Thomas, with the NAACP of the San Fernando
Valley. "This issue has attempted to rip this city apart. But thank God
for Black Lives Matter and those who organize for justice, who have been
committed to making sure that all of the solidarity built, all the unity built
over the past couple of years will not be destroyed as a result of elected
officials."
Tuesday's meeting
was expected to be a launching point for a series of reforms and power shifts.
Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, who temporarily served as acting president when
Martinez resigned, earlier this week stripped de León and Cedillo of most of
their committee assignments and leadership posts.
Other reforms on
the table include changing the redistricting process and expanding the size of
the council to increase representation.
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