L.A. Times and Fox 11 to Host ‘LA in Crisis: The Call For Change,’ Town Hall on City Council Scandal, Oct. 20

The Los Angeles Times and Fox 11 L.A. are hosting a live town hall event on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. to examine the impact of the L.A. City Council scandal and explore a way forward for the city.

L.A. Times Columnist Erika D. Smith, Staff Writer Benjamin Oreskes and Op-Ed Columnist LZ Granderson will join Fox 11 News Anchors Elex Michaelson and Marla Tellez for a one-hour special that will include discussions with city officials, community leaders and experts. Members of the community will be watching live in several locations around the city, where they will be able to comment and ask questions. Topics will include the immense power of the city council, relations between L.A.’s Black and Latino communities, and what reforms and reckoning may be necessary for the community to move forward.

The town hall event follows The Times’ reporting on leaked audio recordings of three members of the L.A. City Council and a top county labor official who can be heard, in October 2021, making racist and derogatory comments and plotting to consolidate power among Latino Councilmembers in the redistricting process. Since The Times reported on the recordings on Oct. 9, two of the individuals, former L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez and former L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, resigned. The two other individuals, L.A. City Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, have been stripped of their committee assignments, but have resisted calls for their resignations.

Read The Times’ full coverage on the scandal and ongoing developments. The town hall will be broadcast on Fox 11 and streamed live on latimes.com, as well as The Times’ YouTube channel and Twitter feed, Thursday night at 6 p.m.