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Politics Apr 03, 2023
Broadcaster and civil rights activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson stands across the street form the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. | Photo courtesy of Earl Ofari Hutchinson/Twitter
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Local civil rights leaders who support holding a special election to fill the now vacated District 10 seat on the Los Angeles City Council plan to hold a news conference Sunday to make their case.
The call for a special election comes just days after the seat was vacated following now-former City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ conviction Thursday on federal corruption charges.
Ridley-Thomas, who was elected to the seat in November 2020, had been suspended since October 2021 while the case was pending.
Longtime political aide Heather Hutt has filled the seat on a temporary basis since September 2022.
City Council President Paul Krekorian announced Thursday night that he wants the council, at its next meeting, to appoint her to complete the remainder of Ridley-Thomas’ unexpired term, which runs until December 2024.
However, local activists, lead by Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson, want voters to have a say in who represents them.
“The council must end the effective disenfranchisement and caretaker role it has assigned the thousands of residents of the district since Thomas’s suspension,” Hutchinson said in a statement Saturday. “The council has a duty to return representative government to the 10th District — not through an appointee it chooses but a special election that allows the residents not the city council to have a full and total say in who should represent them.”
The news conference is set for 9 a.m. at the corner of Stocker Street and Crenshaw Boulevard news conference Sunday to make their case.
Krekorian’s plan — in which he formally declared the seat vacant — emerged Thursday evening, hours after a federal jury in downtown Los Angeles convicted Ridley-Thomas of bribery and conspiracy charges, along with mail and wire fraud, stemming from his time on the LA County Board of Supervisors.
The charges are for what prosecutors called a quid pro quo arrangement between Ridley-Thomas and a former head of the USC School of Social Work, with the politician accused of steering county contracts toward the school in exchange for benefits to Ridley-Thomas’ son, former Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.
Mark Ridley-Thomas faces years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 14.
“While the federal legal process is continuing, and Mr. Ridley-Thomas may choose to pursue his right to appeal, his office nonetheless has now become vacant as a matter of law as provided by Section 207(a) of the Charter of the City of Los Angeles,” Krekorian said in a statement Thursday night.
“While charges against Mr. Ridley-Thomas were pending, the Council appointed Heather Hutt to hold the office of Council member for District 10 for so long as the temporary vacancy continues to exist. Because the vacancy of this office is no longer temporary but is now permanent, Ms. Hutt’s temporary appointment is no longer in force and the Council must decide what action, if any, to take to address this vacancy.”
In the short term, Krekorian said, he has appointed Hutt to serve as caretaker, effective immediately.
Beyond that, he said, his plan is to call on the council, at its next meeting, to appoint Hutt to fill out the remainder of Ridley-Thomas’ term. The council is on recess, and is next scheduled to meet on April 11.
“Mark Ridley-Thomas has been convicted of multiple felonies following a trial on charges described in the federal indictment of Oct. 13, 2021,” Krekorian said.
“I am deeply saddened that a career of extraordinary public service and achievement has been brought to a close in this way. Mr. Ridley-Thomas leaves behind an irrefutable legacy of leadership, activism and effective policymaking that have shaped our city, county and state.”
Hutt was serving as Distrtict 10 caretaker while former Councilman Herb Wesson — who was originally appointed to fill in during Ridley-Thomas’ suspension — was legally barred from performing his duties on the council and eventually had to step down due to term-limits.
The former California State Director for then-Senator Kamala Harris has announced her intention to run for a full City Council term in the 2024.
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