Recall Effort Against LA Councilman Kevin De Leon Filed With City Clerk

A recall effort against Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon, who has been embroiled in the Council racist comments recording scandal for most of the month, was launched on Thursday following the LA City Clerk’s office accepting a notice of recall intent from organizers.

De Leon, along with then-City President Nury Martinez, Councilman Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, were found to have made multiple racist and racial comments earlier this month following an audio leak of the four talking during a district realigning meeting last year. In addition to the racist words, the four were also heard plotting to reorganize Council lines to decrease the power of black Councilmembers and others in the city.

In the ensuing weeks, all four made multiple apologies, both Martinez and Herrera resigned, and calls for both de Leon and Cedillo to resign have come from the majority of Angelinos, as well as Mayor Eric Garcetti, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Governor Gavin Newsom, and President Joe Biden. Protests have also been constant against both de Leon and Cedillo, with protestors even appearing outside de Leon’s house non-stop for the past several weeks.

However, de Leon has remained defiant in the growing calls for him to resign. In the past week he has said that he is staying in office as duty for his constituents and has said that a recall would be the only way for him to be removed from office.

“My duty is to represent my constituents,” said de Leon earlier this week. “They are the ones who elected me. If they are the ones who say that I need to leave, then I will respect that decision by them.”

A new recall attempt against KDL

On Thursday, a group of organizers led by Pauline Adkins, who twice previously tried to recall de Leon, gave their notice of intent to recall de Leon to the LA City Clerk’s office.

“Even though the City Council has called for his resignation, and have stripped him of his committee assignments, Kevin de León has refused to resign,” said the notice statement. “He currently cannot represent the stakeholders of Council District 14.”

The City Clerk’s office acknowledged on Thursday that they had accepted the notice, with the whole process starting. De Leon will have 21 days  to confirm that he received the notice to intend to recall. Following acknowledgement, recall organizers will wait 28 days until signature gathering to begin. After that, organizers will then need to collect 21,006 signatures from registered voters in District 14, or 15% of all voters in the district, in 120 days. Once collected and verified, then a special election can be triggered, most likely sometime later next year should everything go to plan.

De Leon’s office responded to the recall notice on Thursday, with de Leon spokesman Pete Brown saying in a statement that “After three failed attempts, yet another recall that distorts his record will not distract the councilmember or his office from continuing to serve the people of Council District 14. He will keep moving forward important projects and issues that threaten the communities and the lives of his constituents.”