Kevin de León Must Go
City Councilmember Kevin de León needs to resign or be recalled. Many influential and high-ranking political leaders and civic minded organizations, including the South Park Neighborhood Association and the LA Chamber of Commerce with support of 50 CEOs, have gone on public record strongly urging that CD14 Councilmember de León resign his official position. Unfortunately, as of this writing, he has refused to step down.
Mr. de León was appointed to the council in 2020 (replacing previous CD14 Councilman Jose Huizar, who is now awaiting trial for bribery, corruption, and other criminal charges) and has more than two years left in his term.
The recall petition process for Councilmember Kevin de Léon began on
November 3 when de Léon was sent a certified notification of the recall petition. He has 21 days to respond after which the process moves to LA City offices. Deanna Deacon, recall manager, estimated it would be mid-December before the group could begin gathering signatures. They will have 120 days to gather approximately 25,000 signatures (they need 21,000 “verified” and anticipate about 4,000 “bad” signatures) within the CD 14 district.
We as a community need to act. If de León continues to defy public outcry and refuses to resign, the SPNA will fully support a recall and the removal of Kevin de León from office. Our local government is elected by our extended community. We must do better. We must elect and empower ethical representatives to represent our expectations and desires. Our community must hold Council members, Kevin de León, and all others accountable.
The recall KDL website - https://recallkdl.org – has more information and the leaked recordings between Nury Martinez, Kevin de Léon, Gil Cedillo, and Ron Hernandez where the four talk of manipulating district boundaries along racial line and using deeply offensive language that exposed racial animosities.
As more information about the recall petition becomes available, the SPNA website will be updated.
By Marty Goldberg and Debra Shrout