L.A. City Council welcomes first African American president
Perry and Parks did not attend
The City Council unanimously elected Councilman Herb Wesson to be the panel’s first Black president on Nov. 23.
Councilman Ed Reyes was chosen to serve as president pro tempore. Both will assume their new posts Jan. 2.
The council chamber was packed with hundreds of high-ranking city officials, council staffers and relatives of the members to witness the historic vote. But the two other Black council members were notably absent were—Jan Perry and Bernard Parks, who have clashed with Wesson in recent weeks over redistricting and the behind-the-scenes process leading to Wesson’s nomination.
“This presidency is not about me. It’s about we. It’s about us,” Wesson said in a chorus he repeated throughout a 15-minute speech accepting the position. “Be assured, I will lead. The question is will you lead with me, and the answer is yes, because I know that you can.”
Wesson said his presidency would be focused on leading the city out of “financial darkness and bring it back into the light.”
Wesson will take over the presidency from Councilman Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor.
The position of president pro tem, the No. 2-ranking official on the council, became open Nov. 4 when Perry resigned out of “disgust” with what she described as behind-the-scenes maneuvering over redistricting and the council presidency. Perry is also running for mayor.
Wesson, who represents the mid-city area and parts of Koreatown, was elected to the council in 2005, served in the Assembly from 1998-2004 and was its Speaker from 2002-2004.
http://www.ourweekly.com/features/la-city-council-elects-first-black-president
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Four Los Angeles City Councilmembers will pay a total of $13,300 in fines for accepting free tickets to various events, such as the Oscars and Emmy Awards, according to city Ethics Commission documents released today.
The commission is expected to approve the fines of Eric Garcetti, Jose Huizar, Herb Wesson and Tony Cardenas at its meeting Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Thousands of people lined the streets of South Los Angeles for the 26th annual Kingdom Day Parade, themed "Working together, we can make the dream come true.''
More than 3,000 participants, including marching bands, drill teams, dance groups and equestrian units, took part in Southern California's largest King Day observance.
The mayoral candidate that Los Angeles magazine aptly termed “the unpolitician,” has folded his tent and withdrawn from the race. It’s a pity, because Austin Beutner brought a rare freshness to the Los Angeles political scene, though for big-city politics he brought very little name recognition.
The rift between Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson on the one side and council members Bernard Parks and Jan Perry on the other continued to widen at City Hall after Wesson stripped both Parks and Perry of key committee assignments last week.
Wesson removed Parks from the Budget and Finance Committee. Parks had been chairman of the committee for eight years. The powerful committee does much of the early vetting of the mayor’s budget proposals.
National Newsmaker
Without a doubt, the 27-year campaign to build a national monument to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. that came to fruition this year is more than worthy of all the words of praise, acknowledgment and congratulations that have been previously spoken.
But in the eyes of Our Weekly, this feat to enshrine the first non-president and African American on the National Mall deserves much more recognition. That is why we have selected Alpha Phi Alpha as our national newsmaker of the year.
