Vote of unity from a divided City Hall

The L.A. City Council picked Paul Krekorian as its new president, replacing a disgraced Nury Martinez. It's one of the first steps to restoring trust. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] [Essential California Newsletter] October 19, 2022 [View in browser]( [Click to view images]( council President Mitch O'Farrell, at City Hall, and other councilmembers, over Zoom, meet on Tuesday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) By Erika D. Smith Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California [newsletter](. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 19. I’m Erika D. Smith, a California opinion columnist. I spend my days — and sometimes nights — offering up hot takes on local and state politics, as well as social and racial justice issues. So, as you might imagine, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately following the evolving, or maybe devolving, mess at Los Angeles City Hall. For those who haven’t heard, three members of the Los Angeles City Council were caught on tape making racist remarks and plotting how to use the city’s redistricting process to hoard political power for Latinos at the expense of Black Angelenos. On Tuesday, 10 councilmembers managed to come together long enough to select Councilmember Paul Krekorian as their next president. He replaces Nury Martinez, who stepped down last week after we all heard her noxious comments. The other two councilmembers caught on tape with her, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, have inexplicably and unacceptably refused to do the same. As my Times colleagues [David Zahniser and Julia Wick reported]( Krekorian has wisely vowed “to restore the people’s trust” in city government. “We really need to ... make clear that no one ever again feels excluded or belittled or demeaned or disrespected or left behind by the people that they elected to represent them,” he said. To say that it will be an uphill battle is an understatement of ginormous proportions. One thing that might help is something else the council voted on Tuesday — to move forward with putting an independent commission in charge of redistricting. Currently, that process allows for political meddling by councilmembers, as the tape clearly indicates Martinez tried to do. This week, [I wrote a column]( about how suspicions over that meddling are playing out in one council district — the 10th, which spans South L.A. to Mid-City. The district’s new councilmember, Heather Hutt, was hastily appointed by her onetime ally Martinez, with minimal discussion and minimal community input. Now, many of Hutt’s constituents tell me they’re worried that she’s the inadvertent pawn in a calculated political game to disenfranchise Black voters. “Fruit of the poison tree,” is one common refrain about Hutt. What happened on Tuesday, with councilmembers taking a first step toward bringing more transparency and accountability to redistricting in L.A., won’t be a quick fix. It could take months and would require the approval of voters. But what is happening in the 10th district is the alternative. We all need a city government we can trust. Note: On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times and Fox 11 will present “L.A. in Crisis: The Call for Change,” a live town hall event examining the impact of the L.A. City Council scandal and exploring the way forward for the city. Watch at 6 p.m. Thursday on [latimes.com]( and Fox 11. And now, here’s what’s happening across California: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. ADVERTISEMENT L.A. STORIES In secret testimony, Rick Caruso was grilled about what USC knew about a disgraced campus gynecologist. In October 2020, lawyers for hundreds of USC students and alumnae questioned the developer, then chair of the university’s governing board, about who was to blame for sexual abuse and harassment they said they suffered at the hands of Dr. George Tyndall. A transcript of a deposition reviewed by The Times showed Caruso, now a candidate for L.A. mayor, refused to answer many questions, on the advice of USC’s legal team. He invoked attorney-client privilege again and again in declining to reveal discussions with administrators or the conclusions of an investigation into the gynecologist. [Los Angeles Times]( [In an image on a sign at a festival with tents, a man in a suit gives a thumbs up.] Danny Bakewell signage at the Taste of Soul festival, Oct. 15, 2022. (Brian Contreras / Los Angeles Times) Who is Danny Bakewell, the Black L.A. power broker named in the Nury Martinez audio? Yet relatively unexamined in the scandal that’s enveloped city politics are the brief references to Danny Bakewell, a high-profile leader among Black Angelenos, real estate developer and the executive publisher and owner of the Los Angeles Sentinel, the long-running Black newspaper. [Los Angeles Times]( Union calls leak of racist recordings “illegal,” but police haven’t been asked to find culprit. Capt. Kelly Muniz said the LAPD had not received a call from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor asking detectives to investigate the recording. [Los Angeles Times]( $32-million settlement approved in child abuse death of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement for the siblings and father of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos, who prosecutors say died of abuse and torture at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend despite repeated warnings to social workers. [Los Angeles Times]( Check out "The Times" podcast for essential news and more These days, waking up to current events can be, well, daunting. If you’re seeking a more balanced news diet, “The Times” podcast is for you. Gustavo Arellano, along with a diverse set of reporters from the award-winning L.A. Times newsroom, delivers the most interesting stories from the Los Angeles Times every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. [Listen and subscribe]( wherever you get your podcasts. POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Shape Your L.A. with this new tool from The Times. Understand how government handles the issues that matter to you, and how to get stuff done in your neighborhood and beyond. [Los Angeles Times]( Having problems activating your California gas tax refund debit card? Try again. Debit cards with state gas tax refunds appear to have been mailed early to some people who were unable to access the funds over the last few days. [Los Angeles Times]( California’s Inland Empire pushes back on booming warehouse construction. In recent months, half a dozen cities have imposed moratoriums on new warehouses — built for their proximity to the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — because of an uproar from residents. [New York Times]( Has a right-wing movement to flip school boards really landed in the Bay Area? Candidates’ connections to former President Trump have caused some parents to fear they are part of a national movement to flip school boards amid a backlash to COVID protocols and equity for transgender students and critical race theory. [San Francisco Chronicle]( CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING A conviction in the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. A jury found Paul Flores guilty of killing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student Kristin Smart, capping a more than two-decade mystery that both captivated and outraged the Central Coast college town. [Los Angeles Times]( Stockton serial killer suspect makes first court appearance. In a packed courtroom filled with victims’ families and television cameras, Wesley Brownlee faced a San Joaquin County Superior Court judge with a blank expression as the charges against him were read. [San Francisco Chronicle]( ‘Superfly’ actor and rapper sentenced for multiple rapes. Kaalan Walker, 27, has been sentenced to at least half a century behind bars after he was convicted at trial of numerous rapes. [Los Angeles Times]( Support our journalism [Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.]( ADVERTISEMENT HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT How many people are getting the new COVID booster? California is among the most vaccinated and boosted states in the U.S. But data from the California Department of Public Health show that just 5% of residents have sought out the latest COVID-19 booster shots. [Mercury News]( $50-million settlement reached over Huntington Beach oil spill. Amplify Energy will pay $50 million to people and businesses that lost money last year when nearly 25,000 gallons of oil flowed into the ocean from a ruptured pipeline about four miles off Huntington Beach. [Orange County Register]( A new study shows the awfulness of California’s wildfire smoke. California’s wildfires in 2020 — the worst modern wildfire season on record — put twice as much greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere as the state’s total reduction in such emissions from 2003 to 2019, researchers found in a new study. [San Francisco Chronicle]( First lease sale for offshore wind energy coming for the West Coast. The Biden administration will hold the first lease sale for offshore wind energy on the West Coast, targeting areas in the Pacific Ocean off Central and Northern California. [Santa Rosa Press-Democrat]( SeaWorld San Diego halts bird rescue program over bird flu. News that a highly contagious bird flu has reached Southern California has prompted SeaWorld San Diego to halt its bird rescue work and has San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife implementing extra precautions as it treats sick or injured birds. [San Diego Union-Tribune]( CALIFORNIA CULTURE How Martha Gonzalez became the latest MacArthur “genius grant” winner. The term artivista is key to understanding Martha Gonzalez’s work and why it put her on the radar of the MacArthur Foundation, which last week awarded her a coveted MacArthur Fellowship. [LAist]( San Diego’s best and worst architecture. The 46-year-old Orchids and Onions competition hands out trophies for the region’s best and worst architecture, making it one of the closest-watched local events. [San Diego Union-Tribune]( Free online games Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our new game center at [latimes.com/games](. CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles: 95, sunny. San Diego: 89, sunny. San Francisco: 81, sunny. San Jose: 86, sunny. Fresno: 89, mostly cloudy. Sacramento: 87, sunny. AND FINALLY Today’s California memory is from Charles: In November of 2001, I drove across the country — from Atlanta through to San Francisco. I barely beat the snow going over the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. It was awe-inspiring the whole way, but upon seeing San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean for the first time, I cried. I never imagined a place so beautiful could actually exist. It does. I don’t get emotional while traveling usually, but this was different than anything I’d ever experienced. I hope to be able to afford a life out there someday. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, [share it with us](. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. ADVERTISEMENT Thank you for reading the Los Angeles Times Essential California newsletter. Invite your friends, relatives, coworkers to sign up [here](. Not a subscriber? Get unlimited digital access to latimes.com. [Subscribe here](. [Los Angeles Times] Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times 2300 E. Imperial Highway, El Segundo, California, 90245 1-800-LA-TIMES | [latimes.com]( *Advertisers have no control over editorial decisions or content. If you're interested in placing an ad or classified, get in touch [here](. We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please send your thoughts and suggestions [here](mailto:newsletters@latimes.com). 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