LA City Council President Paul Krekorian pens letter to Kevin de León calling for "immediate resignation"

Nearly a week after Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León announced his refusal to resign from his position in the wake of racist scandal, causing immense fallout throughout the city, new Council President Paul Krekorian has responded. 

"Those of us who know you and have worked with you are glad to hear that you acknowledge the significance of the damage that your actions have inflicted," the letter said. "This city is still reeling and suffering deeply from the revelation of what happened in that meeting. The city, your constituents, and the City Council itself all desperately need to turn the page and begin the process of healing. I must reiterate to you as clearly as I can that the first and most important step you must take to facilitate that process is to resign from the Council."

De León joined CBS LA's Tom Wait in an exclusive interview, where he detailed that rather than step down from his position, he plans to remain a councilmember and work on repairing the relationships broken by his involvement in the scandal. 

The audio leak, which contained a conversation from Oct. 2021 between then-President Nury Martinez, de León, Councilman Gil Cedillo and LA Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. During the discussion, they hurl a number of racially-charged comments around against a litany of different ethnicities and groups. 

He said that he has offered "profuse" apology to Councilman Mike Bonin, whose family was specifically targeted in the leaked audio, referring to his adopted Black son as a "little monkey." He also noted that he had written a letter to Krekorian, asking for some time away from council meetings and duties. 

"I do not grant your request to be excused from attending Council meetings," Krekorian said. "Councilmembers are excused from attendance for temporary absences until they return to the Council. You cannot return to the Council without causing more harm and disruption. There is no path forward that includes your continued participation in this Council."

In the weeks since, thousands of Angelenos have expressed their outrage, a number of prominent political figures have called for the resignation of those involved and protests have occurred on a daily basis outside of LA City Hall. Several City Council meetings were disrupted by protestors, putting a temporary stoppage on council doings until they reverted to online meetings. 

Both Martinez and Herrera resigned in the days after the news broke, but de León and Cedillo have yet refused to do so. 

"The people of Los Angeles have overwhelmingly cried out that your continuing presence as a member of the Council significantly worsens their pain and interferes with the city's ability to repair this damage and move on. Your refusal to resign is also causing actual ongoing harm to the practical operation of the City Council and our ability to serve the people of Los Angeles," the letter said. 

In the exclusive interview, de León reiterated his failure to step up as a leader and put an end to the conversation. Saying that his plans to remain on council start with "hard conversations" with those city leaders and organizations most impacted. 

"I have to do the hard work. I have to repair. I have to help heal. I have to help restore," the councilman said. 

"There is no realistic possibility that you can effectively continue to serve the people of your district as a member of the Council. There is no realistic possibility that you can effectively legislate as a member of this body," the letter said. "The people of the 14th District need to start fresh and elect a councilmember who can participate fully in the work of the Council and who can bring communities together. A special election will give the voters of your district that opportunity. I can assure you that the Council will schedule that election as soon as you resign in order to minimize disruption, and in the meantime I will ensure that a caretaker provides essential constituent services to the people of the 14th District."

Since the scandal broke, residents living in District 14 have reported that calls to de León's offices are unanswered, prompting concerns that their neighborhood issues aren't be addressed and falling by the wayside. 

Krekorian ended the letter by reiterating his call for resignation.

"This Council has urgent work to do to address many enormous challenges, including the current crisis that your actions contributed to causing. Every day you remain interferes with the Council's ability to function, delays the city's healing process, hurts your constituents, and reduces your chance of redeeming yourself and your legacy. Your immediate resignation is now the best thing you can do to help the people of the 14th District and the four million people of the City of Los Angeles who want, need and deserve to move forward."