California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said Wednesday that his office would investigate the Los Angeles redistricting process that took place last fall.
The announcement comes days after The Times published a recording in which Councilmember Nury Martinez is heard making racist remarks while talking with fellow councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and labor leader Ron Herrera about how the city’s council district boundaries should be redrawn. This conversation focused on how the group could maintain Latino political power and help Latinos in the city.
“We’ll endeavor to bring the truth to light and it’s clear an investigation is sorely needed to help restore confidence in the redistricting process for the people of L.A.,” Bonta said Wednesday at a downtown L.A. news conference.
“We’re gathering the facts and we’ll be conducting our investigation and when it’s full and thorough and comprehensive and complete, we’ll have something to share about what liability there might be, either civil or criminal,” said Bonta, a former member of the state Assembly who was appointed attorney general last year.
Bonta said his office had reviewed information — which he didn’t detail — and the law “to determine whether we feel we have good faith basis to launch an investigation.”
“And after conducting that process and completing that process — it was not complete yesterday, but it’s now complete — we believe we have a basis … for an investigation,” Bonta said.
Calls for resignations and government structure reforms reverberated across L.A. after leaked audio surfaced.
Martinez, who referred to a Black child as a “changuito,” or little monkey, and to Oaxacans as “short little dark people” in the recording, stepped down as president of the City Council and has taken a leave of absence from the body. Herrera, the head of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, also stepped down.
Bonta condemned their comments, calling them racist and saying they had no place in California.
“They were offensive and they were deeply painful, deeply hurtful to many communities,” he said. “The redistricting process is foundational for our democracy and for the ability of our communities to make their voices heard, and it must be above reproach.”
The redistricting process typically involves open discussions of race and population numbers, but the divisive and racist comments heard in the audio drew condemnation from across the nation.
Bonta is seeking to hold on to his seat in the Nov. 8 election and faces Republican Nathan Hochman, a former U.S. assistant attorney general.
Dakota Smith, Benjamin Oreskes
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