This appeared in the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez should resign from the council.

There is no way she can fairly represent her constituents after leaked audio captured her deplorable and racially divisive comments, her political machinations to maintain power at the expense of communities, and her use of racist, homophobic tropes to describe her colleague, and worse, his young son. She should leave elected office immediately.

On Monday, when it became apparent that her colleagues were ready to oust her as council president, Martinez announced she would step down from her leadership position. But that is not enough. The casual racism and disregard for colleagues and constituents on the audio revealed a serious rot that cannot be papered over with apologies.

The audio was from a roughly hourlong conversation from October 2021 with Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera.

Cedillo and de León should resign as well. While Martinez was the ringleader in the conversation, firing off insults and attacks, Cedillo and de León joined in with their own commentary.

Martinez took aim at Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin, calling him a “little bitch,” and saying the white councilman handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory.” She described the child, who was 3 years old at the time, as like a “changuito,” or little monkey. De León chimed in, apparently comparing Bonin’s handling of his child to Martinez holding a Louis Vuitton handbag. Martinez even suggested physical harm to the toddler, saying, “I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back.”

Bonin called the comments on the recording “vile, abhorrent and utterly disgraceful” on Sunday after news of the recorded comments broke.

Martinez said of District Attorney George Gascón, “F--- that guy,” and “He’s with the Blacks.” While speaking of the ethnic makeup of Koreatown, which has a substantial Oaxacan community, she said, “I was like, I don’t know where these people are from, I don’t know what village they came (from), how they got here,” and added “Tan feos” — “They’re ugly.”

Their inexcusable comments, now made public, have damaged faith in how the city is governed. Martinez, Cedillo and de León have to go.