City Hall Scandal Bleeds Into Mayor's Race

LOS ANGELES, CA — Against the backdrop of one of the biggest scandals to hit City Hall, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso sought to tie his opponent Re. Karen Bass to the ignominy.

After audio leaked of a conversation between three City Council members — Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera that included racial slurs and discussions on how to redraw council district boundaries in the council members' favor, Caruso and Bass both called for their resignations.

Caruso, trailing in the most recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll by 15 percentage points among likely voters, has already attempted to connect Bass to the scandal despite the fact that the trio expressed disdain for a prominent Bass ally in the conversation.

"Most of the people involved in this episode have endorsed Karen Bass, I hope she'll do the right thing and demand for their accountability and renounce the endorsement of those who used hate speech," Caruso said on Sunday.

Martinez endorsed Bass in the mayoral race, while Cedillo endorsed Caruso. Neither de León nor Herrera have made endorsements.

Bob Shrum, director of the Center of Political Future at USC, told KNX that the leaked tapes could impact the race either way.

"The real question here is whether or not this episode pushes African American turnout in a way that helps Karen Bass, or whether it reinforces Rick Caruso's characterization of City Hall as a kind of political cesspool," Shrum said.

Caruso's initial statement was likely an attempt to tie Bass in with the political establishment, according to Mindy Romero, director of USC's Center for Inclusive Democracy.

"By targeting that topic, he's likely going to get some soundbites," Romero said to City News Service.

Bass, in a statement, said she intended to use the final debate Tuesday to share her plans to move Los Angeles in a new direction, noting that it was "time we start solving homelessness and build a city that is safer and more affordable for all."

"To move forward as a city, we must move past the politics of divide and conquer," Bass said. "There is no place for division and hate in Los Angeles. The challenges we face in our city affect us all -- and we must unite around our shared values if we are to overcome them and achieve the common dreams we all have for our families."

Romero said Bass should get out in front of any potential attempts by Caruso to connect her to the City Hall scandal, such as renouncing Martinez's endorsement. Caruso has renounced Cedillo's endorsement.

"She's going to want to get ahead of that and sound like she's kind of leading on that topic," Romero said.

Romero was unsure how much the scandal would impact the race, though she noted neighborhood groups could become more aggressive in turning out voters because the issue is "really salient to people."

"It is an issue to mobilize really easily within communities because it's really clear cut," Romero said. "Look, we have a recording, we're talking about racism, we're talking about bias, we're talking about political manipulation of districts."

By ERIC HE, City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.