Two more Los Angeles city council members are facing the music for their involvement in a leaked October 2021 phone call, in which former L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez was caught calling Councilman Mike Bonin’s son a “changuito,” or monkey, and referred to Oaxacan immigrants as “little short dark people.” The other parties on the line included L.A. County Federation of Labor boss Ron Herrera, who has since resigned, along with City Council Members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León. The two remaining committee members have refused to step down, but were formally stripped of their committee assignments on issues including real estate development and homelessness on Monday by Acting Council President Mitch O’Farrell in an effort to push them out. Political figures across the nation have urged Cedillo and de León to join Martinez and Herrera in resigning, including President Joe Biden. “The only recourse is resignation or recall,” O’Farrell said. “I do not see the remaining two members who haven’t resigned coming back to council with any level of credibility whatsoever.”
