How did De León cast his ‘yes’ vote?
A little more than a decade ago, The Times wrote a story that annoyed a few people and revealed an open secret at City Hall: Los Angeles City Council members don’t actually need to be sitting at their seats on the council floor to vote.
As long as they remain in a limited section of the building, they can meet with lobbyists or staffers in a back room, use the bathroom or chat in a corridor — all while remaining technically present, with their voting machines continuing to work on their behalf.
The chamber’s voting software is set to register each of the 15 lawmakers as an automatic “yes” vote, even when they are in nearby rooms. However, to vote “no,” members must press a button from their chairs.
This particular set of procedures was used to startling effect Tuesday, when Councilmember Kevin de León made another chaotic return to chambers — followed by Council President Paul Krekorian declaring a recess, then a lengthy standoff before the council returned to its business with De León out of the room.
We won’t rehash the lengthy fracas, but the drama climaxed nearly four hours in, when it became clear that De León had voted on Mayor Karen Bass’ homelessness emergency declaration while seemingly outside of council chambers.
Realizing they’d been tacitly tricked, the thinnedout crowd of protesters screamed in outrage as the meeting quickly concluded.
The eagle-eyed spectators who’d previously noticed that De León was marked as present on the board and yelled about his name being up there had their answer.
Hugo Soto-Martínez, one of two new council members who’d vowed to leave the chambers if De León was present, said he did not initially realize that De León was in another room casting votes.
Tuesday’s sleight of hand — with De León out of sight but still present — was a wily and effective tactical maneuver. But it won’t work nearly as well a second time, now that both the public and new council members are hip to what’s happening.
The council members’ first meeting after the winter recess is scheduled for Jan. 10, and their embattled colleague has promised to keep attending.
The way forward will be particularly complicated for progressive council members such as Soto-Martínez and Eunisses Hernandez, who exited the room each time De León entered.
Along with Bass’ emergency order on homelessness, the council approved a one-month extension of the city’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium. (The latter vote took place at a moment when De León was away from the council floor and considered absent.)
Before that vote, SotoMartínez and Hernandez tried to pass an amendment that would have removed the expiration date indefinitely, until the council approves a new set of eviction protections. They came up two votes short.
Tuesday’s meeting felt at times like absurdist theater, with the crowd shouting expletives at bureaucrats delivering bland statements about municipal procedure. Hours were spent waiting for one man to arrive, then another hour was spent waiting for him to leave.
De León brief ly reentered the room right after the vote on the eviction protections, prompting Soto-Martínez and Hernandez to walk out. He left again, and his colleagues strode back in.
De León spokesperson Pete Brown later clarified that De León had been speaking with Krekorian in a back room during part of the recess and hadn’t realized that the council had reconvened. By the time he got back in the room, the council had voted on the failed amendment, Brown said.