LA City Council In 2023: Your Guide To Who’s Who (And What They Do)
Things are settling down after a period of scandals and elections. New faces are in, and longstanding members are gone. We help you understand who’s who and what’s next.
Los Angeles voters changed out multiple City Council members after the 2022 election, but 2023 is shaping up to be an evolving year of its own.
The first among those changes was a small cohort of progressives who took office on December 12, 2022. Their districts’ support signals that Angelenos may be looking to change course. The council’s previous makeup enacted nearly citywide anti-camping laws and saw systemic racism fester behind closed doors.
The special election for the sixth district seat, which has had a non-voting caretaker since last year, is headed to a June 27 runoff between Imelda Padilla and Marisa Alcaraz. The previous council member, Nury Martinez, was one of three elected officials caught on tape engaging in a racist conversation about redistricting last year.
Another change came from the City Council on April 11, which appointed Heather Hutt to serve out the rest of Mark Ridley-Thomas’ term in the tenth district. The seat opened up after he was automatically ousted under the city charter because of a March 30 conviction on federal corruption charges. Hutt was previously an interim replacement and then briefly a non-voting caretaker.
Here’s your guide to who’s who on the City Council.