Question

what recommendations or predictions for the resolution of the controversy?

Article

"The Los Angeles Police Department said it is opening a criminal investigation into whether the leaked audio recording that captured a city councilwoman making racist comments was made illegally. Nearly two weeks after the recording circulated and upended city politics, the officials caught on the tapeCouncilwoman Nury Martinez and three othersasked the Los Angeles police to investigate how the recording was made, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday. The officials told police they believed the recording was made illegally without their permission. In California, it is illegal to make a recording without consent from everyone communicating. It couldn't be determined who recorded the conversation. Chief Moore said the police didn't have a suspect in mind. The audio was secretly recorded in October 2021 while Ms. Martinez, two other council members and the president of a powerful union group met to discuss how they could obtain more power by redrawing district lines. Ms. Martinez was heard using racist language about several groups and comparing a councilman's Black son to a monkey.Ms. Martinez resigned from the city council days after the recording leaked. Ron Herrera, who was the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, also resigned his post. The other two council members, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Len, were censured Wednesday. The four officials didn't return requests for comment Wednesday.The recording, which drew national attention, exposed deep racial divisions in L.A., the country's second most populous city. L.A.'s demographics have shifted, bringing power struggles over redistricting and civic assets. Latinos have accounted for a growing share of the population but their political sway largely hasn't kept pace.The officials in the recorded conversation were meeting to discuss how they could maintain power for Latinos and keep it from groups including Black Angelenos, whose population has shrunk in recent decades. Ms. Martinez's crude language in particular drew sharp rebuke, with leaders as far up as the White House calling on her and her colleagues in the recording to resign.Ms. Martinez had initially only stepped down from her position as the council president before resigning from the city council days later.Messrs. Cedillo and de Len have resisted calls to resign from the city council.On Wednesday, at an in-person Los Angeles City Council meeting, a number of boisterous protesters chanted slogans against the two men. Despite the noise, the council heard phoned-in calls for public comment via earbuds. Many residents demanded that Messrs. Cedillo and de Len, who were in attendance, be censured or resign. the protesters were eventually cleared from the chamber before the city council voted to censure the two current council members, as well as former Councilwoman Martinez. The episode has renewed discussions over whether L.A. should change its redistricting process or add more seats to its 15-member council.On Tuesday, Chief Moore said that in addition to investigating how the recording was made, the police were also looking into how the meeting occurred. He said the police would share their findings with prosecutors who could decide whether to press charges. Acting Council President Mitch O'Farrell said earlier this month that "the very source of this entire tragedy was a secret meeting." While the L.A. police investigate the circumstances behind the redistricting meeting, California's attorney general is investigating the city's entire redistricting process. "The leaked audio has cast doubt on a cornerstone of our political processes for Los Angeles," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said days after the recording leaked." (The wall street journal)