The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday appointed Imelda Padilla — who has a lead of more than 1,700 votes in the special election to represent the Sixth District — as a temporary voting member while final results of the election are being certified.
Padilla took the oath of office while joined by her family, and said the district is “ready to have a voting member” and “to have someone advocate on their behalf.”
“I also want to of course give a special thank you to my family for everything that they’ve ever done for me over the years,” Padilla said.
The council voted 10-0 to appoint Padilla, as directed by a motion introduced last week by Council President Paul Krekorian. Council members Heather Hutt, Tim McOsker, Katy Yaroslavsky and Curren Price were absent during the vote.
“Ms. Padilla’s not being sworn in as the council member of District 6 until at least Aug. 1 may hinder her ability to fully prepare her office during the summer recess and could (affect) her ability to aid her constituents during that period,” the motion read.
Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez thanked her colleagues for bringing forward the motion. Hernandez, who has known Padilla for many years, called Padilla one of the “hardest working people” she knows.
“I’m incredibly proud of you and really excited that you’re joining this space to see how we move forward in a better direction for all of our districts in the entire city,” Hernandez said.
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who represents the Seventh District, which neighbors the Sixth District, said Padilla represents everything “our community is.”
“It is just an incredible honor to welcome you to finally have another partner back in fighting for the Northeast San Fernando Valley,” Rodriguez said.
A community relations manager, the 35-year-old Padilla has declared victory in the race to fill the remainder of former Council President Nury Martinez’s term, which ends in December 2024. Padilla’s opponent, council aide Marisa Alcaraz, conceded on Friday.
In the latest ballot results, Padilla leads with 8,520 votes to Alcaraz’s 6,751 — a 55.79% to 44.21% margin. Voter turnout based on semi-official results was 13.02%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The county clerk’s office is slated to certify and declare the winner of the election on Friday.
Padilla is scheduled to officially take office after the council returns from its three-week summer recess July 7-28.
Martinez resigned in October after she was caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and posted online.
The Sixth District consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood.