The audio recording sparked outrage, with President Joe Biden joining a group of California politicians—including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), LA mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, and several councilmembers—in condemning the officials involved.
The audio recording—dated October 2021 and surfaced on Oct. 9—included Councilmen Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera.
At the time, the group was discussing the highly controversial redistricting process, which happens once every 10 years, and the need to keep Latino councilors in the office so that those districts would not lose important financial assets, including USC and Exposition Park, once the maps were redrawn.
At the Oct. 11 meeting—the first time councilors convened after the leak—angry protesters packed into the City Hall chamber, calling for the resignation of all three officials.
Martinez, 49, announced that she would be taking a leave of absence, without giving up her seat, shortly before the meeting, which she didn’t attend.
“This has been one of the most difficult times of my life and I recognize this is entirely of my own making,” Martinez said in a statement. “At this moment, 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. I am so sorry to the residents of Council District 6, my colleagues, and the city of Los Angeles.”
During the meeting, Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, serving as interim president, called for a 2024 ballot measure that would increase the number of city council districts to more than the current 15, he said, to ensure the council can “reflect and represent the residents that we serve.” O’Farrell’s motion included a provision for a new redistricting process if such an expansion were approved by voters.
“Los Angeles is at a crisis moment and Angelenos’ confidence in the structure of their government has been shaken,” O’Farrell said. “… [W]e must not lose sight of the fact that the leaked conversation revolved around the redistricting process. Ensuring fair, equitable, accountable representation in Los Angeles is a must, now more than ever.”
O’Farrell’s motion instructs the city’s staff to prepare a report on the steps needed for creating the ballot measure.
The meeting was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but O’Farrell had to call a brief recess after a half-an-hour delay because of chanting protesters. Cedillo and de León soon left the chamber.
Protesters shouted “We’re with the blacks”—a reference to a comment Martinez had made in the recording about her perceived notion that Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón was more an ally of the Black community over Latinos—“Resignations now,” “Shut it down,” and “Black lives matter here.”
After nearly an hour of disruption, Bonin addressed the crowd through a tearful speech.
“I take a lot of hits, and I know I practically invite a bunch of them—but my son? It makes my soul bleed,” Bonin said. “Asking for forgiveness is a good first step. Well, it’s a second step, because first you must resign and then ask for forgiveness.”
In the recording, Martinez spoke about Bonin’s black son as “Parece changuito”—or “like a little monkey”—while recalling seeing the boy misbehaving on a float during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. She also said Bonin treated the child as “an accessory.”
California Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) was among those giving public comments.
“The reason this is a hard meeting to conduct is because we heard an hour of some of the most hateful things the city has ever heard from four people in some of the most powerful positions in Los Angeles,” he said.
The leaked conversation prompted a group of California politicians including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), LA mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, and several councilmembers to condemn the officials involved.
Herrera resigned from his position Oct. 10 while none of the involved councilors had done so as of the evening of Oct. 11.
Herrera, Cedillo, and de León also issued statements of apology on Oct. 9.
“There were comments made in the context of this meeting that are wholly inappropriate, and I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family in private,” de León said. “On that day, I fell short of the expectations we set for our leaders—and I will hold myself to a higher standard.”
Herrera said “[t]here is no justification and no excuse for the vile remarks made in that room. Period.”
“I apologize to all of you, Mike Bonin and his family, the affiliates and community members, specifically those in the Black and Oaxacan community,” Herrera said.
Cedillo said it is his “instinct to hold others accountable when they use derogatory or racially divisive language.”
“I want to start by apologizing. While I did not engage in the conversation in question, I was present at times during this meeting last year. … Clearly, I should have intervened,” Cedillo said.
Currently, it is unclear who recorded the conversation, which reportedly took place at a Federation of Labor office, and who leaked it on Reddit.
The federation referred to the recording as “illegal” and is investigating the source of the leak, which was “a serious security and privacy breach” at its offices, according to an email sent to some of its affiliates and first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Since 2013, Martinez served on the LA City Council and represented the 6th District in the San Fernando Valley. Six years later, she became the first Latina to become president of the council, replacing long-time President Herb Wesson.
