De León’s district boundaries in question amid recall drive
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our local elections newsletter. It’s Ben Oreskes here back from vacation and happy to be serving up news about this wonderful but currently wet city. Julia Wick and Dakota Smith contributed this week.
Election season is over, and now it’s time to govern. Not so fast!
We’ll have at least one City Council election this year. It will be April 4 to fill the vacancy that came from Nury Martinez’s resignation. So far, five people have qualified for the special-election ballot to fulfill the duties of the seat until 2024.
There could be an election as well in Council District 14 if proponents of a recall of Kevin de León collect 20,437 signatures by the end of March.
It’s anything but certain that this will happen, but if recall supporters succeed, it raises an intriguing question: What council boundaries would be used in the election, and if it were to succeed, what lines would be used to select De León’s replacement?
De León was elected using the map from the last redistricting process a decade ago — and it was comments about the most recent redistricting fight that got him into hot water. He has faced calls to resign following fallout from a racist leaked audio tape that roiled the city.
He’s apologized for his involvement but refused to step down. That’s when a group of people who had tried to recall him multiple times before started this new effort.
The quirk here comes from the fact the City Charter “is in conflict with state law regarding recall and replacement post-redistricting,” according to redistricting guru Paul Mitchell.
“When there is a special election for a vacant seat, the voters are those in the district that elected that official — not in the newly redistricted lines, which are taking effect in 2022 [the election we just had] and 2024,” he wrote.
Several legal opinions have been issued on the question from state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office over the last few years that propel this argument. One of these cases related to the redrawing of Orange County’s supervisorial districts.
“A special election to fill a supervisorial vacancy must be conducted according to the district boundaries as they existed when the term began, not according to the district boundaries adopted by intervening redistricting,” Bonta writes.
Sacramento had a similar legal run-in with these questions last year.
The point here, Mitchell says, is if De León’s recall succeeds, it’s the constituents who elected him in 2020 who should get to decide whether he stays or goes. The same is true in the Council District 6 race.
District 6 remained the same during the 2021 drawing of the lines. District 14 is about 95% the same, picking up some slices of Lincoln Heights that were in former Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s old district.
Still, Mitchell says using the new lines could open the city up to legal chicanery that would only further complicate the process.
I emailed with City Clerk Holly Wolcott about the question. Her office will oversee these elections and she believes that recall proponents should be collecting signatures within the old district lines. But she told me her office is looking into some of the aforementioned ambiguity if the recall gets on the ballot.
“If a recall is successful, we are researching the legal means of moving forward with a special election … i.e. new or old district lines,” she told me.
For now, De León won’t let this recall interfere with his attempts to return to work.
The recall “will not distract the council member or his office from continuing to serve the people of Council District 14,” his spokesman Peter Brown previously said. “He will keep moving forward important projects and issues that threaten the communities and the lives of his constituents.”
State of play
— LAPD LEADERSHIP: The initial weeks of Mayor Karen Bass’ term were defined by her focus on homelessness. We told you before the new year about her state of emergency declaration and her “Inside Safe” effort. Both continue apace with Bass visiting an encampment in Venice this week alongside the newly installed Councilmember Traci Park.
After a push in Hollywood, a similar effort to bring folks into hotel rooms was occurring there through the rain.
But behind the scenes, Bass’ arguably second-biggest priority is coming before her much sooner than expected. That is trying to decide what to do about L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore, who at the end of last month asked for a second term.
Then the question became whether the die had been cast and Moore’s reappointment was a certainty. For a moment that looked to be the case.
The day after Moore asked to keep his job, Board of Police Commissioners President William J. Briggs II announced his panel was planning a Jan. 10 up-or-down vote on Moore’s request, prompting some to argue that the decision was being rushed. Then, days later, Briggs reversed course and said the board would still discuss Moore’s request for a second five-year term at the meeting but no longer cast a vote on Moore’s reappointment during that session.
It was clear that Bass had a hand in slowing down this process and buying herself some time. Her spokesman told The Times: “The mayor provided this guidance because she feels a vote on the first meeting following the chief’s request is too soon.”
— MOORE APOLOGIZES: This looked to be the end of this melodrama. For her part, Bass would likely prefer that the news of a selection of a new chief or retaining Moore not step on the work she’s doing on homelessness.
But this week, the chief was forced to backtrack after The Times obtained an email he sent suggesting he had Bass’ “full support.”
“She will let the police chief, the police commission and the public know when she has made a decision,” Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said Tuesday. “Until then, anything that anyone says regarding a decision is speculation.”
Moore apologized for the implication and said he looked forward to talking more with the new mayor. Still, the whole episode had the effect of focusing attention on a politically tricky decision Bass will have to make … eventually.
For now, we will watch next week’s L.A. police commission meeting with considerable interest.
— COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: The City Council is back next week, and we got a look at who will serve on the various committees. The full list is here. Check it out.
— PHILANTHROPIC FIREWORKS: Our colleagues Kevin Rector and Libor Jany took a deep look at the department’s philanthropic arm and how “Moore and other police officials regularly assist the foundation. In the quest to secure private cash for the LAPD, they make the case to potential donors that the agency’s already robust taxpayer-funded budget is insufficient for its needs, according to thousands of pages of emails and other public records obtained by The Times.”
— GARCETTI IN THE WIND: We spent much of last year watching and waiting for the Senate to vote on former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India. That waiting game will continue now that President Biden has renominated Garcetti for the post, which he has waited far longer to be confirmed for — more than 500 days — than all others whom Biden has designated to be ambassadors, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
— SPEAKING OUT ON BLOCKADE: The Los Angeles area is home to the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia — a diaspora with deep roots in the city and strong clout in local politics.
This week, Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian weighed in on the latest in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh (known to Armenians as Artsakh), where an Azerbaijani blockade has cut off the only supply route to the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave controlled by pro-Armenia separatists. Bass and Krekorian sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday condemning the blockade as an “unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” and calling on the U.S. to “clearly demonstrate its commitment to democracy and global stability by coming to the aid of the people of Artsakh.”
— ADOPTION PROBLEMS: City Controller Kenneth Mejia, whose focus on animal issues brought him attention in the recent controller’s race, held an hourlong Zoom meeting with the public Wednesday night to discuss the beleaguered Animal Services Department. He said he recently toured all six city animal shelters and called the tour “eye-opening.”
Mejia described the shelters, which take in thousands of animals each month, as “short-staffed.” In some cases, there were just four animal care technicians working at some shelters, Mejia said. He also questioned why the name “Animal Welfare” was removed from the City Council committee that formerly had it in the title.
“It’s very shocking because we’re clearly in an animal crisis right now in the city of L.A.,” Mejia said.
Krekorian spokesman Hugh Esten told The Times that animal shelters and animal safety issues will be discussed in the Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee (formerly Arts, Parks, Health, Education and Neighborhoods), describing that as “a much better fit than the Personnel and Audits Committee, where it was before.”
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.
Quick hits
- Who’s running the city? Bass, though she’s in Sacramento attending the inaugurations of Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
- Where is Eric Garcetti? Awaiting a vote on his nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to India.
- Dig of the week: “I would love to ask all those who were involved in running against me this: Why don’t you welcome someone new in the Democratic party? Why don’t you welcome someone new with clear ideas — fresh ideas,” Rick Caruso said when asked by Spectrum News 1’s Giselle Fernandez in his first interview since conceding if he should’ve run as an independent.
- On the docket for next week: The City Council is back in session Tuesday.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our local elections newsletter. It’s Ben Oreskes here back from vacation and happy to be serving up news about this wonderful but currently wet city. Julia Wick and Dakota Smith contributed this week.
Election season is over, and now it’s time to govern. Not so fast!
We’ll have at least one City Council election this year. It will be April 4 to fill the vacancy that came from Nury Martinez’s resignation. So far, five people have qualified for the special-election ballot to fulfill the duties of the seat until 2024.
There could be an election as well in Council District 14 if proponents of a recall of Kevin de León collect 20,437 signatures by the end of March.
It’s anything but certain that this will happen, but if recall supporters succeed, it raises an intriguing question: What council boundaries would be used in the election, and if it were to succeed, what lines would be used to select De León’s replacement?
De León was elected using the map from the last redistricting process a decade ago — and it was comments about the most recent redistricting fight that got him into hot water. He has faced calls to resign following fallout from a racist leaked audio tape that roiled the city.
He’s apologized for his involvement but refused to step down. That’s when a group of people who had tried to recall him multiple times before started this new effort.
The quirk here comes from the fact the City Charter “is in conflict with state law regarding recall and replacement post-redistricting,” according to redistricting guru Paul Mitchell.
“When there is a special election for a vacant seat, the voters are those in the district that elected that official — not in the newly redistricted lines, which are taking effect in 2022 [the election we just had] and 2024,” he wrote.
Several legal opinions have been issued on the question from state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office over the last few years that propel this argument. One of these cases related to the redrawing of Orange County’s supervisorial districts.
“A special election to fill a supervisorial vacancy must be conducted according to the district boundaries as they existed when the term began, not according to the district boundaries adopted by intervening redistricting,” Bonta writes.
Sacramento had a similar legal run-in with these questions last year.
The point here, Mitchell says, is if De León’s recall succeeds, it’s the constituents who elected him in 2020 who should get to decide whether he stays or goes. The same is true in the Council District 6 race.
District 6 remained the same during the 2021 drawing of the lines. District 14 is about 95% the same, picking up some slices of Lincoln Heights that were in former Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s old district.
Still, Mitchell says using the new lines could open the city up to legal chicanery that would only further complicate the process.
I emailed with City Clerk Holly Wolcott about the question. Her office will oversee these elections and she believes that recall proponents should be collecting signatures within the old district lines. But she told me her office is looking into some of the aforementioned ambiguity if the recall gets on the ballot.
“If a recall is successful, we are researching the legal means of moving forward with a special election … i.e. new or old district lines,” she told me.
For now, De León won’t let this recall interfere with his attempts to return to work.
The recall “will not distract the council member or his office from continuing to serve the people of Council District 14,” his spokesman Peter Brown previously said. “He will keep moving forward important projects and issues that threaten the communities and the lives of his constituents.”
State of play
— LAPD LEADERSHIP: The initial weeks of Mayor Karen Bass’ term were defined by her focus on homelessness. We told you before the new year about her state of emergency declaration and her “Inside Safe” effort. Both continue apace with Bass visiting an encampment in Venice this week alongside the newly installed Councilmember Traci Park.
After a push in Hollywood, a similar effort to bring folks into hotel rooms was occurring there through the rain.
But behind the scenes, Bass’ arguably second-biggest priority is coming before her much sooner than expected. That is trying to decide what to do about L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore, who at the end of last month asked for a second term.
Then the question became whether the die had been cast and Moore’s reappointment was a certainty. For a moment that looked to be the case.
The day after Moore asked to keep his job, Board of Police Commissioners President William J. Briggs II announced his panel was planning a Jan. 10 up-or-down vote on Moore’s request, prompting some to argue that the decision was being rushed. Then, days later, Briggs reversed course and said the board would still discuss Moore’s request for a second five-year term at the meeting but no longer cast a vote on Moore’s reappointment during that session.
It was clear that Bass had a hand in slowing down this process and buying herself some time. Her spokesman told The Times: “The mayor provided this guidance because she feels a vote on the first meeting following the chief’s request is too soon.”
— MOORE APOLOGIZES: This looked to be the end of this melodrama. For her part, Bass would likely prefer that the news of a selection of a new chief or retaining Moore not step on the work she’s doing on homelessness.
But this week, the chief was forced to backtrack after The Times obtained an email he sent suggesting he had Bass’ “full support.”
“She will let the police chief, the police commission and the public know when she has made a decision,” Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said Tuesday. “Until then, anything that anyone says regarding a decision is speculation.”
Moore apologized for the implication and said he looked forward to talking more with the new mayor. Still, the whole episode had the effect of focusing attention on a politically tricky decision Bass will have to make … eventually.
For now, we will watch next week’s L.A. police commission meeting with considerable interest.
— COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: The City Council is back next week, and we got a look at who will serve on the various committees. The full list is here. Check it out.
— PHILANTHROPIC FIREWORKS: Our colleagues Kevin Rector and Libor Jany took a deep look at the department’s philanthropic arm and how “Moore and other police officials regularly assist the foundation. In the quest to secure private cash for the LAPD, they make the case to potential donors that the agency’s already robust taxpayer-funded budget is insufficient for its needs, according to thousands of pages of emails and other public records obtained by The Times.”
— GARCETTI IN THE WIND: We spent much of last year watching and waiting for the Senate to vote on former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India. That waiting game will continue now that President Biden has renominated Garcetti for the post, which he has waited far longer to be confirmed for — more than 500 days — than all others whom Biden has designated to be ambassadors, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
— SPEAKING OUT ON BLOCKADE: The Los Angeles area is home to the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia — a diaspora with deep roots in the city and strong clout in local politics.
This week, Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian weighed in on the latest in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh (known to Armenians as Artsakh), where an Azerbaijani blockade has cut off the only supply route to the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave controlled by pro-Armenia separatists. Bass and Krekorian sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday condemning the blockade as an “unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” and calling on the U.S. to “clearly demonstrate its commitment to democracy and global stability by coming to the aid of the people of Artsakh.”
— ADOPTION PROBLEMS: City Controller Kenneth Mejia, whose focus on animal issues brought him attention in the recent controller’s race, held an hourlong Zoom meeting with the public Wednesday night to discuss the beleaguered Animal Services Department. He said he recently toured all six city animal shelters and called the tour “eye-opening.”
Mejia described the shelters, which take in thousands of animals each month, as “short-staffed.” In some cases, there were just four animal care technicians working at some shelters, Mejia said. He also questioned why the name “Animal Welfare” was removed from the City Council committee that formerly had it in the title.
“It’s very shocking because we’re clearly in an animal crisis right now in the city of L.A.,” Mejia said.
Krekorian spokesman Hugh Esten told The Times that animal shelters and animal safety issues will be discussed in the Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee (formerly Arts, Parks, Health, Education and Neighborhoods), describing that as “a much better fit than the Personnel and Audits Committee, where it was before.”
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.
Quick hits
- Who’s running the city? Bass, though she’s in Sacramento attending the inaugurations of Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
- Where is Eric Garcetti? Awaiting a vote on his nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to India.
- Dig of the week: “I would love to ask all those who were involved in running against me this: Why don’t you welcome someone new in the Democratic party? Why don’t you welcome someone new with clear ideas — fresh ideas,” Rick Caruso said when asked by Spectrum News 1’s Giselle Fernandez in his first interview since conceding if he should’ve run as an independent.
- On the docket for next week: The City Council is back in session Tuesday.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
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