Two Los Angeles City Council members Friday introduced a motion seeking to update the city charter to require a special election take place any time a seat is vacant with 12 months or more remaining on the term.
Councilwomen Monica Rodriguez’s motion, seconded by Imelda Padilla, will be considered by the Ad Hoc Committee on Government Reform and the Rules, Elections, Intergovernmental Relations Committee for further consideration. The councilwomen hope to better define the amount of time a council district could be without an elected official of their choice.
Under the charter, there’s a section that outlines the procedures for filling vacancies in the offices of the mayor, city attorney, controller and City Council. It states that the City Council may fill a vacancy by appointing a person to the office for the remaining part of the unexpired term or call for a special election to fill the seat.
Special elections can cost millions of dollars and can take up nearly nine months to complete, often prompting city officials to appoint a caretaker of a district left vacant by an elected official. According to the motion, when council chooses to appoint someone to a seat, it “removes the voters from choosing their direct elected official.”
The councilwomen said that it is “paramount to democracy that people get to choose who represents them in City Hall.”
If the motion is approved, it would also prohibit any person from being appointed as a voting member until the special election has taken place. Any changes to the charter will require voter approval.
Last year, the City Council had officially appointed Councilwoman Heather Hutt to fill out the remainder of former Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ term following his conviction on federal corruption charges. Hutt had been District 10’s temporary councilwoman until March 30, 2023, when Ridley-Thomas was convicted and the seat became officially vacant.
Hutt was temporarily appointed by the council in September 2022. Prior to that, she was serving as caretaker while former Councilman Herb Wesson — who was originally appointed to fill in during Ridley-Thomas’ suspension — was legally barred from performing his duties on the council and eventually forced to resign because of term-limit issues.
At the time, some residents of the 10th District, including local civil rights leaders, had opposed the council’s action and called for an immediate special election, which would provide residents with a choice in who represents them at City Hall.
Some of those critics had also called out what they said was an unfair treatment compared to the Sixth District, where residents voted in a special election to elect Padilla.
A special election was held April 4, 2023, to fill the Sixth District seat vacated when former Council President Nury Martinez resigned after she was caught making racists comments on a leaked audio tape from 2021.
Council President Paul Krekorian, at the time of the vote, said “the people of the (Tenth) district will have the opportunity to decide whether they prefer to elect her or a different representative in the regularly scheduled election.”
Both Hutt and Padilla’s seats were up for re-election during the March 2024 election.
Hutt was forced into a runoff in her bid for a full four-year term representing the 10th District, receiving 37% of the vote in the five-candidate field. Attorney Grace Yoo was second with 23%. Both candidates will now face off in the November election.
Padilla avoided a runoff after receiving 78% of the votes.