LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Nury Martinez resigned her seat on the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday, two days after a recording of her and other councilmembers last fall leaked in full Sunday.
“It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for Council District 6, the community I grew up in and my home,” she said in a statement.
Martinez thanked her family, staff, and colleagues, but notably, no apologies to the Black child, ‘the Blacks,’ Jews, Oaxacan families, the LGBTQ community, or other people she disparaged. Her lengthy statement included no mention of the leaked audio recordings, yet she asked for "space and privacy" as she takes "the time to look inwards and reflect."
The audio leaked on Sunday was a recorded conversation between Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin de León, Gil Cedillo, and a labor union leader from October 2021. In the talk, Martinez made racist remarks at Councilman Mike Bonin's 2-year-old Black adopted son. She also made racist comments at other ethnic groups during a discussion on the process of redrawing council boundaries.
Following the leak, Martinez resigned from her leadership position as Council president and then announced she was taking a leave of absence.
Interim City Council president Mitch O'Farrell released a statement regarding Martinez's resignation, saying, "For Los Angeles to heal, and for its City Council to govern, there must be accountability. The resignation of Councilmember Nury Martinez is the first, necessary step in that process."
Governor Gavin Newsom's office called her resignation, "the right move."
"What was said by these elected leaders is deeply troubling and racism cannot be tolerated in California," he said in a tweet.
"Nury made the right decision, one that I realize is painful to her personally, but unquestionably in the best interests of a city that I know she loves," L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. "Racism and hateful words cannot ever be overlooked by our community or within one's self, and she needs the time and space to reflect, make amends, and move forward with her life."
Garcetti urged the two other members of the City Council on that recording — Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo — to "arrive at the same decision soon," noting the "challenges in their neighborhoods ... are too serious to risk a paralyzed City Council.”
Local and state politicians, activists, and President Joe Biden have called for Martinez, de León, and Cedillo to resign. However, de León and Cedillo have not resigned at this time.
During a press conference, O'Farrell it will be impossible for council to continue on until the council members resign.
"It's holding us up from moving forward," he said. "The emotions are only going to flare up more and more and more. This is not going to calm down. It's at a boiling point. It's boiling over."
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