The June 27 special election to replace former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nury Martinez is happening because of a scandal involving Martinez and two other current or former councilmembers that involved racist comments at a private meeting with a top labor official to discuss redistricting strategies.
Martinez’s name came up during a candidates forum on Wednesday, June 15, and so did the name of another councilmember now dealing with his own scandal: Curren Price.
The charges that the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office filed this week against Price – who faces 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest – come at a time when many Angelenos already are wary of local government, given City Hall’s scandal-plagued history.
It’s also left the two candidates in the June 27 runoff election in Council District 6 in the unenviable position of fending off criticisms from those who might try to assign guilt by association.
Candidate Imelda Padilla worked as a field deputy for Martinez between 2013 and 2014. The other candidate, Marisa Alcaraz, has worked in Price’s office for the past decade and currently serves as his deputy chief of staff.
“I get hit a lot for spending 18 months of my life working for former Councilwoman Nury Martinez. … But you know, I left that office way before that office ever had to do with any kind of scandal. And if there was anything shady happening in the office, I was never involved. That’s probably why I was never elevated to such a high position,” she said, an apparent dig at her opponent in the District 6 race, who is a top aide to Price.
Twice during the evening, Padilla asked what staff members who worked for the city officials at the time those scandals took place were doing to make sure they didn’t run afoul.
“Every time there’s a scandal as it pertains to these elected officials,” Padilla said, “I always ask myself, and I ask myself that with Nury Martinez, too: Where is the…
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