LOS ANGELES—A special election to fill the Sixth District seat vacated by Nury Martinez’s resignation for her involvement in the city hall racism scandal could cost Los Angeles up to an estimated $7.65 million, the city clerk’s office said Oct. 21.
The election would take place on April 4, 2023, at the earliest, with a runoff—if necessary—taking place on June 27. The council is set to discuss calling a special election at Tuesday’s meeting and allocating $7.65 million for the two elections.
The Sixth District—which includes central and eastern portions of San Fernando Valley—is being overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) who was floated as a candidate for the seat if the council holds a special election, said this week that she wasn’t interested.
“I love my role in the state Assembly, which allows me to work on—and make progress on—the issues that I care most about, especially environmental justice and empowering underserved communities,” Rivas said on Twitter.
Martinez resigned from the council last week after the recent leak of a recorded racially charged conversation from a year ago made her the center of a political firestorm. She made disparaging comments aimed at Councilman Mike Bonin’s 2-year-old black adopted son and at other ethnic groups while the group discussed the politically sensitive process of redrawing council district boundaries.
Martinez spoke about Bonin’s son as “Parece changuito”—which is translated to “like a little monkey”—while recalling seeing Bonin’s son on a float during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, where she said the child was like “an accessory.”
de León chimed in and said Bonin treats his child the same way as “when Nury brings her Goyard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag.”
During the conversation, Martinez used multiple slurs in Spanish to describe Bonin’s son.
Her term was set to expire in December 2024.
The other two council members involved in the leaked conversation that spurred the scandal, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, have so far defied calls to resign. de León said earlier this week that he does not plan on stepping down, and a spokesman for Cedillo said Oct. 19 night that the councilman remains at “a place of reflection.”
de León’s term also expires in December 2024.
Cedillo lost his re-election bid to Eunessis Hernandez in June and will leave office in December. Council President Paul Krekorian has suggested swearing in Hernandez immediately if Cedillo resigns.
Recently, Councilwoman Heather Hutt served as a non-voting caretaker of the 10th District for several months before being appointed as council member last month in place of Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is suspended as he awaits trial on federal corruption charges. Previous fill-in Councilman Herb Wesson was legally barred from serving on the council.
