Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León will resume committee duties he had previously been stripped of following his involvement in a secretly recorded conversation.
Council President Paul Krekorian announced Wednesday that De León will be serving on four committees: housing and homelessness, energy and environment, trade and tourism, and transportation.
De León, who represents downtown, Boyle Heights, and other parts of the Eastside, was removed from committees in 2022 by then-Council President Mitch O’Farrell after he was heard participating in a recorded conversation with other Latino councilmembers making racist and derogatory remarks.
Krekorian also returned committee duties to Councilmember Curren Price, who represents parts of South L.A and is facing his own scandal. Price agreed to step down from committees last June after he was charged with perjury, embezzling funds and conflict of interest. Price recently pleaded not guilty to these charges.
In a press release sent out by Krekorians’ office, the council president cited the overwhelming workload placed on the other 13 councilmembers as one reason for his decision. “Reducing their committee schedules will allow them to focus their attention on advancing the highest priorities of the City and to perform committee work more thoroughly and effectively,” Krekorian stated.
Kekorian also said that residents in CD 14 and CD 9 deserve ample representation on a bureaucratic level. “The Council currently is deeply engaged in developing solutions to many significant and complex issues that are especially important to the half million people who live in Districts 9 and 14, including expansion of the Convention Center, homelessness, and continuing reforms and improvements to public safety, among others.”
In a statement, De León said he looks forward to serving on committees once again. “These specific committees are particularly critical for the residents of my district and I’m looking forward to helping shape policies that will deliver tangible benefits to my constituents and Angelenos across Los Angeles,” De León stated.
The decision, however, is not popular with some in CD14. Ysabel Jurado, a housing attorney and the frontrunner in this year’s council district 14 election race, believes that De León put his constituents’ needs last when he ignored pleas for his resignation almost two years ago.
“Kevin de León should have stepped down when his racist misconduct was exposed,” Jurado said in a statement to Boyle Heights Beat. “The fact alone that he is making headlines for being appointed to committees is absurd. This is a basic duty, not an accomplishment.”
