On Tuesday, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez took to the floor to directly tell embattled fellow Councilor Kevin De León to resign his position.
The city council was recently rocked by leaked audio of Council President Nury Martinez speaking to De León, Councilman Gil Cedillo, and labor leader Ron Herrera about council redistricting, during which they engaged in flagrantly racist remarks, including Martinez describing Councilman Mike Bonin's Black son as "like a monkey" and saying the city's district attorney is "with the Blacks," and De León comparing Bonin's parenting to Martinez wearing a Luis Vitton handbag.
Martinez resigned from office and Cedillo was defeated for re-election, but De León alone has remained on the council and refused to resign in the face of other members demanding he step down, even getting into a violent physical altercation with a Black activist during protests, whom he claims started the fight.
"I want to ... speak directly to Councilmember De León," said Hernandez. "The people of Los Angeles have made themselves clear. You're not welcome in these chambers. The people of District 14 need a representative whom they can trust, who works for them. That cannot happen as long as you continue to monopolize the space and energy of this government for your own ego. Your words, your actions, were anti-Black, anti-indigenous, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-tenant. The Black and Brown constituents in my district, the renters in my district, the low-income families in my district, are suffering because of your actions. And I know the residents of yours are as well."
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"How dare you," she continued. "How dare you show up to these chambers and continue to make yet another day that should be focused on life-saving tenant protections, about yourself. You have had the opportunity to resign this post and allow your constituents to move on from this disgraceful period. You have had numerous job offers which you have declined. So we are left to assume that your only motivation is personal gain and ego."
"I want to be very clear. I'm here today because I refuse to sit out this process and sit idly by as thousands of families in my district face eviction," she added. "I refuse to let you continue to cause harm to my constituents by distracting from this critical vote. I am not okay with your presence on the floor today. And I want Angelenos to know that I will be throwing my full support behind recall efforts to remove you from office and I hope that my colleagues will do the same."
Watch the video below or at this link.
\u201cKDL has disqualified himself from public office.\n\nWe've tried calls for resignation. We've tried censures. \nWe've tried leaving chambers to break quorum. \n\nHe has refused accountability over and over. So today I spoke to him directly and tell him, yet again, that he needs to go.\u201d— Eunisses Hernandez (@Eunisses Hernandez) 1673381115
