Assemblyman Gil Cedillo announces run for L.A. City Council
City Council members are among the highest paid in the nation
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Assemblyman Gil Cedillo said today he will run for the 1st District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.
“Growing up here, I learned from a very early age that Los Angeles was a city of opportunities for anyone who had a dream of living a better life for themselves and their families,” Cedillo said. “I am announcing my candidacy for City Council District 1 because we need bold and experienced leadership to strengthen and protect the 'Los Angeles Dream.”’
Term limits prevent the current seatholder, Ed Reyes, from seeking reelection to represent the area stretching from Pico Union northeast through Westlake to Dodger Stadium and through Lincoln Heights to Highland Park.
Reyes’ chief of staff, Jose Gardea, has also filed paperwork to raise money to run.
Cedillo’s entrance is part of a wider trend of Sacramento lawmakers running for local office in Los Angeles, where City Council members are among the highest paid in the nation, earning an annual salary of $178,789.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a former Assembly speaker. Five former state legislators—Herb Wesson, Paul Krekorian, Paul Koretz, Tony Cardenas and Richard Alarcon—currently serve on the City Council.
Cedillo joins two other assemblymen—Warren Furutani and Michael Davis—in a run for a City Council seat. And Assemblyman Mike Feuer is considering a run for city attorney.
Cedillo has served a combined 14 years in the Assembly and state Senate.
His Assembly district overlaps heavily with the City Council district he wants to represent, including Chinatown, Echo Park, and Highland Park.
Cedillo recently authored the California Dream Act, which allows illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer funded grants for college. He honed his political skills in the labor movement, serving as general manager of Service Employees International Union Local 660 from 1991-1996, according to his campaign.
“Gil began his crusade for change and social justice over three decades ago as a young student labor leader right here in Los Angeles,” El Centro del Pueblo Executive Director Sandra Figueroa said. “Since those early days, Gil has remained one of the most effective and passionate progressive advocates in Los Angeles.”
By Richie Duchon | City News Service
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The City Council today unanimously elected Councilman Herb Wesson to be the panel’s first Black president.
Councilman Ed Reyes was chosen to serve as president pro tempore. Both will assume their new posts Jan. 2.
The first thing on Herb J. Wesson’s agenda after his swearing-in as president on Jan. 3, could be whipping the Los Angeles City Council into shape, although those are not his words. Actually, what he wants to do is make the Council “run more smoothly—no multiple issues on the agenda, no lengthy debates and just work on streamlining things and making it more effective.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The city’s General Services Department was conducting an investigation into a city worker who was caught on camera buying liquor, drinking while driving and then supervising construction of a wall at the mayor’s house.
The department’s personnel officer, Dan Yoshimura, said he could not comment on specifics of the probe, but he added, “Just from the basic info we’ve seen so far, it screams for an investigation.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The City Council unanimously approved a $50,000 reward today for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the apparent gang-motivated murder of a 21-year-old man last summer.
Jason Pervis Randle, who was not a gang member, was gunned down outside his apartment complex in the 7000 block of S. Hoover Street the night of Aug. 7, 2010. He was approached by suspected gang members, one of who produced a gun and fired multiple shots around 10:20 p.m., police said. The suspects fled on foot.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—City Controller Wendy Greuel announced today she will audit the city’s Department of Animal Services in the wake of the alleged theft and sale of shelter animals by city employees.
“We need to get to the bottom of why animals are missing while addressing the allegations of waste, fraud and abuse within the Department of Animal Services,” Greuel said.
