The Los Angeles City Council appointed Heather Hutt to finish the term of former councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Since September 2022, Hutt filled the 10th district seat on an interim basis, following the suspension of Ridley-Thomas, who was indicted on federal bribery charges at the time.

With Ridley-Thomas found guilty of multiple corruption charges in March, the city council was able to appoint Hutt to officially join the council with an 11-1 vote, with the dissenting vote coming from Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez.

“It is an honor for me to serve the people in the 10th District,” a teary-eyed Hutt said during the council meeting. “With all the support that we get here, I’ll continue to do the work. I signed up to do the work and my mom raised us to work for our people.”

Before Hutt’s appointment, several Angelenos voiced their displeasure in the motion to appoint her, saying the 10th district seat should be filled through a special election, similar to how former council president Nury Martinez’s seat is currently being decided.

Councilwoman Rodriguez’s “no” vote came as an echo of what those Angelenos voiced, as she pointed out similar issues at the time Hutt was appointed to the interim position last year.

“My frustration is with the lack of transparency and process with which we are having this conversation again today,” Rodriguez said. “That is being rushed through, it is again not allowing for a public process and it is devoid of democracy. It’s really problematic for me that we find ourselves in this conversation again.”

Rodriguez added that the 10th district is a predominantly Latino community that she felt is being disenfranchised under the guise of a special election being “too expensive.”

“We exercise budgetary discretion through the budget process,” Rodriguez said. “Not by determining haphazardly whether or not we choose democracy and what that expense is in this process.”

Council President Paul Krekorian retorted Rodriguez concerns by arguing that the district’s constituents have not had representation since the Ridley-Thomas suspension and a vote against Hutt’s appointment would mean they would continue to be without representation.

“Let’s be crystal clear, a vote against this motion is a vote to take the voice of a quarter million people away in this council chamber for at least another five or six months,” Krekorian said. “Haven’t the people of the 10th district been through enough already, without taking their voice away from them?”

Krekorian then pointed to the election process to replace Martinez in the 4th district, which still has not been finalized and left the people without council representation for months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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