A recording leaked a few days ago exposed a few Latino Los Angeles City Council members making racist remarks towards blacks, whites, and Asians.
Three things happened today:
The conversation occurred in October 2021 with Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera about redistricting.
In the recording reviewed by The Times, Martinez can be heard saying the “judíos” — which means Jews in Spanish — “cut their deal with South L.A.”Martinez was responding to former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, who had concluded, “I’m sure Katz and his crew have an agenda,” referring to former state Assemblymember Richard Katz.Katz served on the city’s 21-member redistricting commission that worked on council district boundary maps. He was an appointee of City Councilman Bob Blumenfield.“They are gonna screw everybody else,” Martinez said in the recording.
Martinez doesn’t think too highly of Armenians:
Martinez also spoke about Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, who is of Armenian descent, and Councilmember Paul Krekorian, the first Armenian American to be elected to public office in Los Angeles.“He also wants his guy elected,” said Martinez, referring to Krekorian. “So he needs a district that Adrin Nazarian could win it. That’s what they want. They want to assure, they want to be reassured that they have, not an Armenian district in the Valley, because that doesn’t exist, but they want as many Armenians in that district as possible to be able to play.”Martinez added that she didn’t know whether Nazarian could get elected in a “pretty white” district.“Now, I don’t think Adrin … gets elected. If a white, a reputable white businesswoman was in that district … [it] is still pretty white. But that’s on them,” she said. “I’m not — I’m not cutting that deal with anybody because I don’t know. I don’t know that he can win.”Later in the conversation, Martinez was attempting to identify Areen Ibranossian, a former chief of staff for Krekorian who is now a senior advisor to Rick Caruso’s campaign for mayor. Someone in the room asks, “What’s his name? What’s he look like?” She said he’s “the guy with the one eyebrow.”“I like him,” Martinez said, adding that he is married to a friend of hers.When Martinez couldn’t recall his last name and asked what it was, Cedillo responded, “It ends in i-a-n, I bet you.”
Herrera resigned on Monday.
Cedillo and de León still face calls to resign.
Nazarin and the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region condemned the comments made in the recording.
The organization also wants to know “how the recording was made and leaked, and said the context of the conversation among the local politicians and labor leader raises serious concerns about the integrity of the redistricting process.”
The public, council members, and organizations demanded those in the recording apologize and resign.
Martinez took that step on Wednesday afternoon:
“It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for Council District 6, the community I grew up in and my home,” Martinez wrote in a lengthy resignation message.Martinez told her constituents that it had been a privilege serving them. “I hope you stay engaged and continue to fight for your fair share of the city’s resources,” she said in the statement. “It’s hard to say goodbye, but please know that I was in this fight for you.”“And last, to all little Latina girls across this city — I hope I’ve inspired you to dream beyond that which you can see,” Martinez said in closing. “While I take the time to look inwards and reflect, I ask that you give me space and privacy.”
I hope no little girl of any race finds inspiration in Martinez because the audio shows a not-so-nice side to her.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the investigation on Twitter.
Los Angeles redistricts yearly, determining “where LA residents can vote and who might represent them.”
The redistricting is quite simple: “Every ten years following the decennial U.S. Census, the Los Angeles City Charter requires that district boundaries for the City Council be redrawn so that each district is as equal in population as possible and practicable so that communities have equal access to political representation.”
It has nothing to do with skin color or ethnicity, does it? Nope.
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