The recent revelation of the racist rant, irrational reasoning and inequitable reordering of the political map of Los Angeles by a group of Latina/o city council and labor leaders offers useful insights and lessons in racial, racialized and racist sentiments, thought and practice in American politics, regardless of the local and Latino context in which it occurred.
Los Angeles has seen its fair share of political scandals over the decades, but the leaked audio of Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo, Kevin de León, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera making disparaging and racist remarks about Black people, their colleagues, and conspiring to commit voter suppression takes the cake. In one single instance, the worst fears of Blacks in Los Angeles were confirmed in graphic detail – the top Democratic political and labor leaders of the city are anti-Black and are actively conspiring to dismantle what is left of
Heather Hutt is a woman who has stood the test of time. She has been committed to the community and serving its people in one form or another since I have known her. I remember when we first met, I was not sure what she did, but what I did know was she was someone that could get things done and if she did not have the answer, she knew where to go and get the answer. I have many memories of reaching out to her for help, whether it was on how to get into a
Frustrated and disappointed that Council District 10 constituents lack a voting representative, the Empowerment Congress West Area (ECWA) Neighborhood Development Council approved sending a letter to Los Angeles City Council requesting that Heather Hutt be designated as the area’s “Board Appointed Member.”
As word spread that Heather Hutt is now the Caretaker for Council District 10, residents throughout the region voiced their support for her appointment.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has re-opened the possibility of a lawsuit filed by Mark Ridley-Thomas supporters to sue over the selection of Herb Wesson as a temporary member of the Los Angeles City Council, throwing the status of Los Angeles’ 10th Council District back into question.
The city of Los Angeles will spend up to $3 billion over the next five years to develop as many as 16,000 beds or housing units for the homeless, enough to accommodate 60% of the homeless population in each of the 15 City Council districts, under the terms of a settlement of a long-running lawsuit demanding solutions to the crisis.
Herb Wesson knows his way through and around Los Angeles City Hall and on Monday, March 21, Councilman Wesson assumed his leadership role as the “interim” councilmember of the 10th District, replacing Mark Ridley-Thomas who was suspended by the Los Angeles City Council in October 2021 on federal bribery and embezzlement charges.
Since 1963, when Tom Bradley defeated Joe E. Hollingsworth to become the first African American elected councilmember of the 10th District, the seat has always been seen as a Black seat.