Citing the importance of not rushing to judgment, and to assure that voters have proper representation, the Los Angeles City Council Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee took no action on Friday, June 23, on whether to suspend Councilmember Curren Price who is facing multiple corruption charges. The committee decided to continue the discussion at its next meeting in August.
Price put out a statement saying, “I am pleased that the City Council’s Rules Committee has delayed its vote, as I have not yet had the opportunity to answer the unwarranted charges against me in Court. I hope that the Committee, and the full Council, will extend to me the same presumption of innocence that the law extends to me, and I look forward to proving my innocence.”
The rules committee advanced a separate motion to explore all options for filling Price’s seat if he is suspended, including soliciting input from residents in his district about selecting a voting representative on the City Council.
Price said in his statement, “My sincerest gratitude to the dozens and dozens of neighbors, the young and young at heart, who came out in droves to speak from the heart on all the wonderful work taking place across OUR community. Your voices mattered and roared like thunder across City Hall today. I’m so unbelievably humble and proud to be your public servant.”
Council President Paul Krekorian, who also chairs the rules committee, stressed that there is no foregone conclusion that the council will suspend Price, and he spoke of lessons learned.
He said the City Council moved swiftly to suspend former Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas after he was indicted on federal charges but before he was arraigned, leaving residents in Council District 10 without a voting representative for months before the council ultimately appointed Heather Hutt to replace Ridley-Thomas. Some residents in the district remain upset that the council never called a special election to…
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