LOS ANGELES — California’s attorney general said Wednesday that he will investigate Los Angeles’ redistricting process as three of its City Council members face calls to resign after a recording surfaced of them using racist language to mock colleagues while they schemed to protect Latino political strength in council districts.
The move by Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat like the three council members, comes amid growing calls to address the way politics can still influence the redrawing of district maps after the census count each decade.
“My office will conduct an investigation into the city of LA’s redistricting process,” Bonta said, without providing many details. “We’re going to gather the facts, we’re going to work to determine the truth and take action as necessary to ensure the fair application of our laws.”
“It’s clear an investigation is sorely needed to help restore confidence in the redistricting process for the people of LA,” he added.
He said the results could potentially bring civil or criminal results.
“It could lead to criminality if that’s where the facts and the law dictate,” he said. “There’s certainly the potential for civil liability based on civil rights and voting rights laws here in the state of California.”
He said the process “is just starting and we don’t like to make conclusions first and get facts later.” The investigation will determine the outcome, he said, but he noted it could also lead to changes in policy at the state or local level.
Bonta spoke in Los Angeles while the council itself was trying to conduct business nearby despite the uproar triggered by a leaked recording of crude, racist comments from a nearly year-old meeting, which also provided an unvarnished look into City Hall’s racial rivalries. Those involved in the meeting were all Latinos, while Bonta is the first Filipino American to hold the top law enforcement job in the nation’s most populous state.
Three council members — former City Council President Nury Martinez, who is taking a leave of absence, and Councilmen Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo — are facing calls from President Joe Biden to resign after a recording surfaced of them participating in the closed-door meeting.
The council reconvened Wednesday, possibly to censure the three members, with the minimum of 10 out of 15 members necessary for a quorum but was unable to do business because a crowd of protesters chanted slogans such as, “No resignation, shut it down.” The acting council president eventually announced that there was no longer a quorum and adjourned the meeting.
A Tuesday meeting was nearly derailed when a raucous crowd of protesters packed the chamber.
The council cannot expel the members — it can only suspend a member when criminal charges are pending. A censure does not result in suspension or removal from office.
Martinez said in the recorded conversation that white council member Mike Bonin handled his young Black son as if he were an “accessory” and said of his son “Parece changuito,” or “he’s like a monkey,” the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. She also referred to Bonin as a “little bitch.”
At another point on the hourlong recording, Martinez, the first Latina appointed president of the City Council, called indigenous immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca ugly, and made crass remarks about Jews and Armenians.
The discussion — which also included a powerful Latino labor leader, who has since resigned — centered on protecting Latino political power during the redrawing of council district boundaries, known as redistricting. The once-a-decade process can pit one group against another to gain political advantage in future elections.
Martinez stepped down from the leadership job and apologized Monday, saying she was ashamed of her racially offensive language in the year-old recording. However, she did not resign her council seat. She announced Tuesday that “I need to take a leave of absence and take some time to have an honest and heartfelt conversation with my family, my constituents, and community leaders.”
In emotional remarks at Tuesday’s meeting, Bonin said he was deeply wounded by the taped discussion. He lamented the harm to his young son and the fact that the city was in international headlines spotlighting the racist language. “I’m sickened by it,” he said, calling again for his colleagues’ resignations.
“Los Angeles is going to heal,” he said at one point. “I want to lead with love.”
Black and Latino constituents often build alliances in politics. But tensions and rivalries among groups separated by race, geography, partisanship or religion have a long history in Los Angeles and, indeed, the country. The friction can cross into housing, education and jobs — even prisons — as well as the spoils of political power.
The California Legislative Black Caucus said the recording “reveals an appalling effort to decentralize Black voices during the critical redistricting process.”
In one of the most diverse cities in the nation, a long line of public speakers at the meeting said the disclosure of the secretly taped meeting brought with it echoes of the Jim Crow era, and was a stark example of “anti-Blackness.”
There were calls for investigations, and reforming redistricting policy.
Many of the critics also were Latino, who spoke of being betrayed by their own leaders.
Candido Marez, 70, a retired business owner, said he wasn’t surprised by Martinez’s language, who is known for being blunt and outspoken.
“Her words blew up this city. It is disgraceful,” he said. “She must resign.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the recording was posted on Reddit by a now-suspended user. It is unclear who recorded the audio, who uploaded it to Reddit and whether anyone else was present.
Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the president wanted Martinez, de Leon and Cedillo to resign.
“The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable, and it was appalling. They should all step down,” Jean-Pierre said.
Other calls for the council members to resign have come from across the Democratic establishment, including from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, Garcetti, mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso and members of the council.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has stopped short of doing so, denouncing the racist language and saying he was “encouraged that those involved have apologized and begun to take responsibility for their actions.” Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford, who represents parts of Los Angeles County, said Newsom should call for the resignation of the three council members.
“Every ethnic caucus in the Legislature has called for the resignations, so I would hope that the governor would … ask for the resignation as well,” Bradford said.
Council member Mitch O’Farrell, serving as acting president of the council, said the city cannot heal if the three remain in office. He called it a “clear abuse of power” that was “profoundly unacceptable” of elected officials.
“Public opinion has rendered a verdict and the verdict is they all must resign,” he said.
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Associated Press writers John Antczak and Amancai Biraben in Los Angeles and Sophie Austin in Sacramento contributed to this report.
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