LOS ANGELES — Embattled Los Angeles Councilman Kevin de Leon stated Wednesday he is not going to resign amid an uproar over a leaked tape that exposed him collaborating in a gathering by which Latino officers made crude, racist remarks and plotted to develop their political energy.
The scandal already has led to the resignation of former Metropolis Council President Nury Martinez and calls from President Joe Biden for these concerned to step down.
De Leon advised the Univision Spanish-language station that he’s “so sorry,” and needs to proceed engaged on homelessness and different issues in his district.
The councilman additionally advised KCBS-TV in Los Angeles that he would refuse to resign. “I failed in my management,” he stated.
His assertion was instantly criticized by different Council members pushing for his resignation.
“Apologies is not going to be almost sufficient to undo the harm that this metropolis has suffered,” stated Council President Paul Krekorian, who changed Martinez within the management publish. “The one means we will start to heal as a metropolis is for Mr. de Leon to take accountability for his actions, settle for the implications and step down.”
The Council can’t expel members — it will possibly solely droop a member when prison fees are pending.
The racist feedback got here in a virtually year-old assembly, which additionally supplied an unvarnished look into town’s racial rivalries. These concerned within the personal assembly — all Democrats — spent a lot of the time discussing the way to safeguard Latino political energy throughout the redrawing of council district boundaries.
The California Legislative Black Caucus stated the recording “reveals an appalling effort to decentralize Black voices throughout the crucial redistricting course of.”
Martinez stepped down final week, however de Leon and Councilmember Gil Cedillo have to this point resisted widespread calls for his or her resignations.
The Los Angeles Metropolis Council put in a brand new president Tuesday — Krekorian — after a chanting crowd of protesters referred to as for halting the vote till de Leon and Cedillo resigned for his or her half within the 2021 assembly.
A robust labor chief who additionally attended the 2021 personal assembly, Ron Herrera, additionally resigned.
Within the closely Latino Boyle Heights part of de Leon’s district, some voters stated they’d had sufficient. Carlos Loera, 52, stated he beforehand voted for the councilman however now thinks it’s time for him to go.
“We don’t need him right here as a result of he’s racist,” stated Loera, a salesman reviewing objects at a neighborhood family items store with a view of downtown Los Angeles.
“The belief will not be there anymore,” Loera stated in an interview earlier than de Leon introduced his resolution to stay on the Council.
It’s not identified who made the recording, or why it was launched within the run-up to subsequent month’s midterm elections.
“I can’t resign as a result of there may be plenty of work forward,” de Leon stated within the interview, referring to unemployment, fallout from the persevering with pandemic and the specter of evictions for renters in a metropolis with hovering housing costs.
“I really feel very unhealthy, I really feel very sorry for the harm, for the injuries that exist right this moment in our communities,” he stated.
The remarks had been his first because the White Home referred to as for him to resign. He has not appeared at latest conferences, and the Council stripped him and Cedillo of a lot of their energy as they search to extend stress on them to resign.
The interview Wednesday was performed by Leon Krauze, an anchor for Univision Noticias nationwide community.
“I express regret from all my individuals, my group for the harm that these painful phrases triggered on that day,” he stated.
De Leon referred to as the feedback within the personal assembly “horrible,” however stated the accountability for the offensive language rested with Martinez, who has resigned.
“I failed for not elevating my voice,” he stated.
When requested a couple of joke he made on the recording about Councilman Mike Bonin carrying round his son like Martinez carries round her Louis Vuitton bag, de Leon referred to as it a “unhealthy joke and I apologize.”
In an announcement on Twitter, Bonin referred to as de Leon’s feedback “gaslighting of the best order.”
“His feedback on that tape clarify he’s unfit for workplace,” Bonin added.
Los Angeles Metropolis Council members are among the many highest paid within the nation with annual salaries of almost $229,000, and de Leon’s announcement additionally retains his metropolis paychecks coming.
Whereas staying in workplace, de Leon and Cedillo have continued to earn their biweekly wage of $8,779.20, which elevated this previous July. So long as they continue to be on payroll, in addition they proceed to obtain medical and pension advantages.
In a letter Wednesday to Krekorian, de Leon requested to be excused from Council conferences “in coming weeks” to try to “rebuild the relationships I’ve damaged.” He additionally stated he would search “skilled sensitivity coaching.”
“Till this second in my life, I couldn’t have imagined being a part of the issue as a substitute of the answer,” de Leon wrote.
Observe NBC Latino on Fb, Twitter and Instagram.
