Nury Martinez, one day after resigning from her position as Los Angeles City Council President, announced that she is taking a "leave of absence" from her seat on the Council.
"This has been one of the most difficult times of my life and I recognize this is entirely of my own making," Martinez said in a statement sent from her office on Tuesday morning.
"At this moment, I need to take a leave of absence and take some time to have an honest and heartfelt conversation with my family, my constituents, and community leaders. I am so sorry to the residents of Council District 6, my colleagues, and the City of Los Angeles."
Martinez did not immediately share how long her leave of absence would last. It was also not immediately clear what would happen to her City Council seat in the meantime.
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Martinez, who assumed office in 2013 and became president in January 2020, released the following statement Monday when she stepped down from her seat as president.
"I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I’m so sorry.
"I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words: to my colleagues, their families, especially to Mike, Sean, and your son. As a mother, I know better and I am sorry. I am truly ashamed. I know this is the result of my own actions. I’m sorry to your entire family for putting you through this.
"As someone who believes deeply in the empowerment of communities of color, I recognize my comments undercut that goal. Going forward, reconciliation will be my priority. I have already reached out to many of my Black colleagues and other Black leaders to express my regret in order for us to heal.
"I ask for forgiveness from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much. In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends.
"Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council."
The announcements come after a recorded October 2021 conversation involving Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Ron Herrera, a top LA County labor official was made public.
Among other comments in the conversation, Martinez belittled Bonin, who is white and has a Black son, and criticized the child for his behavior at a Martin Luther King Day parade, saying Bonin's son was misbehaving on a float, which might have tipped over if she and the other women on the float didn't step in to "parent this kid."
"They're raising him like a little white kid,'' Martinez said. "I was like, 'this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I'll bring him back.'"
Martinez also called the child "ese changuito,'' Spanish for "that little monkey."
De León also criticized Bonin. "Mike Bonin won't (f---ing ever say peep about Latinos. He'll never say a f---ing word about us."
De León also compared Bonin's handling of his son at the MLK Parade to "when Nury brings her little yard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag."
"Su negrito, like on the side,'' Martinez added, using a Spanish term for a Black person that's considered demeaning by many.
It was not immediately clear who recorded audio of the conversation, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, about council redistricting that involved three members of the council and a county labor official. The audio, which appeared on Reddit, but was later removed from the site, also includes discussion of efforts to replace Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who's been indicted on federal corruption charges.
In a statement Sunday, Bonin called on the council to immediately remove Martinez from the council president's seat and demanded she resign from the council
“We are appalled, angry and absolutely disgusted that Nury Martinez attacked out son with horrific racist slurs, and talked about her desire to physically harm him,” Bonin said in a statement. “It’s vile, abhorrent, and utterly disgraceful. The City Council needs to remove her as Council President immediately, and she needs to resign from office. Any parent reading her comments will know she is unfit for public office.”
Herrera resigned from his position as the head of the LA County Federation of Labor on Monday. The organization confirmed his resignation in a statement Tuesday morning, and called for de León, Cedillo and Martinez to "follow President Herrera’s example by immediately resigning as well."
