Some South L.A. residents call for embattled City Councilman Curren Price to step down
With the fate of yet another Los Angeles City council member up in the air after criminal corruption charges, a group of his constituents said they are clear on the path forward: Curren Price should resign.
In front of the gates of Price’s district office in South Los Angeles, a small crowd of about a dozen rallied Saturday to demand the council veteran step down. They said they had already felt sold out by Price, whom they accused of favoring developers over his constituents during his three terms in office. Felony charges this week alleging Price had a financial stake in development projects he voted on had cemented that belief, they said.
“We are here today to ask Curren Price to resign from his position as he deals with his legal challenges,” said Adriana Cabrera, a longtime activist who twice ran against Price to represent the city’s 9th Council District. “While the community was here, trying to survive, he was stealing money from the public — and that is a reflection for many of us of how it’s felt living in this community with his leadership.”
Cabrera was flanked Saturday by roughly a dozen people holding signs decrying the corruption they say permeates City Hall: “South Central is not for sale,” read one such sign. “Renuncia Curren Price Hoy” read another — Curren Price resign today.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Price on Tuesday with 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest, making Price the fourth council member in three years to face corruption charges. Prosecutors say Price ran afoul of the state’s conflict-of-interest laws by voting on projects developed by companies that had ties to his wife. They also allege he received tens of thousands of dollars in medical benefits from the city for the woman who is now his wife before they were married.
Price has denied the charges and called them “unwarranted.”
A longtime Black leader in a majority Latino section of the city, Price has represented the South Los Angeles district since 2013. Supporters of Price have responded to the allegations of corruption by pointing to his track record as a stalwart advocate for organized labor and low-wage earners.
Price’s district includes some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods. During his time in office, the council member has pushed to raise the income of low-income constituents by supporting a citywide $15 minimum wage, helping to legalize street vending and advocating for a pilot program to put money directly into the bank accounts of struggling families. Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, a South L.A-based nonprofit, recently called Price a “champion for working class Angelenos.”
But speakers at Saturday’s news conference traced some of the ills of the neighborhood — evictions of long-term residents, rising rents, police violence, too little green space and too many potholes — to the alleged corruption of Price, whom they accused of neglecting the neighborhood.
“We live in this community, we walk through our streets, we know that there’s something wrong, we know that the council member is not prioritizing the needs of our community,” said Cabrera.
Alberto Tlatoa, a community organizer from South Los Angeles, said he felt Price had been too focused on large development projects over his tenure on the council that had little benefit for lifelong residents of the area.
“I have lost faith in a lot of our elected officials,” he said.
Like the others in attendance Saturday, Tlatoa said the best path forward was for Price to step down. If he resigns, the council has the power to call a special election for his replacement.
Price has resigned from his committee seats, but remains on the council. Council President Paul Krekorian has started the process of suspending Price, though he has also urged council members to weigh the “real world consequences” of his suspension.
If convicted of a felony, Price would permanently lose the seat.
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