A vote of unity from a divided L.A. City Hall

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:

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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

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

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

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

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:

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

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