LOS ANGELES (CN) — In the coming weeks, thousands of Los Angeles residents living the northeastern-most part of the city will vote for their next city councilmember.
City Hall is not particularly popular these days. In the last two and a half years, two city councilmen have pleaded guilty to federal felony charges, while a third was convicted of bribery in March. And last year, the city's political establishment was rocked by the leak of an hour-long audio recording in which then-City Council President Nury Martinez and two other council members could be heard insulting a large swath of the city using crass and profane language that at times crossed over into racism and homophobia.
Martinez resigned shortly after the audio leak. Another politician heard on the recording, Kevin de Leon, did not. His refusal to do so led to weeks of angry protests which intermittently shut down council proceedings.
But City Hall is trying move on. There is a new mayor, Karen Bass, who has impressed many with her urgent approach to tackling the homelessness crisis. The seat of Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was recently convicted, is being held by a caretaker, appointed by the rest of the council. And Martinez will be replaced soon by the special election, which heads to runoff on June 27, though mail-in ballots have already gone out.
The race pits longtime city council staffer Marisa Alcaraz against Imelda Padilla, a community activist who's worked for nonprofits and sat on the neighborhood council. They both grew up in Council District 6, which covers most of the East San Fernando Valley. It is a heavily Latino area, with many Spanish-speaking and low-income residents, with some of the lowest levels of voter participation in the city.
Martinez and the legacy of her infamous audio tape hangs over the race like a pall. It was the first topic discussed at a recent debate held on Wednesday night. Padilla said that when she heard the recording she was "angry, very sad, very embarrassed and very disappointed," so much so that she had to take a week off of work. Alcaraz too said she was "surprised and saddened" by what she heard, though she was quick to point out that Padilla once worked for Martinez — as a field deputy, during Martinez's first 18 month in office, some ten years ago.
"I have never worked for Nury Martinez or anyone from her political machine," Alcaraz said, "unlike my opponent."
But if the attack on Padilla is her affiliation with Martinez, the attack on Alcaraz is that she is a "City Hall insider," a veritable epithet following the succession of scandals. Alcaraz has been a city council staffer for nearly 15 years, most recently as deputy chief of staff to Councilman Curren Price, who represents a district in south LA and desires to be the next city council president. Some see the race as a proxy battle between Price and another councilmember, Monica Rodriguez, who supports Padilla.
"I believe voters are choosing between someone who is able to, with ease, talk about what the issues and assets are in this district," Padilla said in an interview last week. "Versus someone who has spent their entire time at City Hall, and is is sort of intertwined with the culture of City Hall and has been for too long."
Alcaraz bristles at the "insider" label.
"I don't consider myself a City Hall insider," said Alcaraz, in a phone interview last week. "I've done work out of the district offices before I've done work in in City Hall. I always saw myself as someone who was there to make change, though. That's why I've been working on a lot of these progressive policies."
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