Chick, Feuer Urge Hernandez to Quit City Council

City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer said Thursday that their embattled colleague Mike Hernandez should resign and that they will seek changes in the City Charter compelling the removal of any council member who admits committing a felony.

In an interview Thursday evening, Hernandez said he will not step down voluntarily.

The 1st District councilman, who has admitted addictions to alcohol and cocaine, was arrested in August and charged with felony possession of the drug.

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Monday, Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court, where he is expected to plead guilty and enter a drug-diversion program. If he successfully completes the program, he will avoid jail and a felony conviction.

Under the City Charter, council members face removal from office for felony convictions--not pleas. Chick, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, called that “a loophole” that should be closed.

The Valley councilwoman also said she plans to meet with Hernandez this morning to ask him to resign and to explain her proposed charter amendment, which she will put before the council today.

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“I do not believe that someone who commits a felony should stay in office,” she said.

Feuer said he will introduce his own motion today, proposing that the charter be amended to contain a code of conduct for council members. Penalties for violating it would range from censure to expulsion from office.

Feuer said he already has told Hernandez that he ought to resign. “We’ve had a good relationship . . . and I wish him well,” Feuer said, “but I think there are broader institutional concerns at stake here.”

Even if approved, neither Chick’s nor Feuer’s proposal would affect Hernandez’s status.

Hernandez, 45, who represents a mostly Latino district that stretches from Pico-Union to Highland Park, responded sharply to his colleagues’ proposals. “I question their timing and I question their motivations,” he said. “The reality is we’re all human. I’m working on my [recovery] program. I’m sober and I continue doing my job.

“If anything, I’ve been reaffirmed in my decision to stay in office because of the work I’ve been doing,” he said.

After his arrest in August, Hernandez entered a drug rehabilitation program, where he remained until his return to the council earlier this month. A recall campaign is underway in his district, but Hernandez said he does not believe it will succeed.

Since his return to work, however, he has faced tension within the council chamber.

On the day he returned, for example, he was cheered by supporters, who packed the chamber. But most of his council colleagues gave him a chilly reception.

Thursday, Chick said the council’s silence gives the appearance of condoning Hernandez’s conduct, including--by his own admission--attending council meetings while under the influence of cocaine.

In a letter she plans to give Hernandez, Chick wrote: “I cannot, along with my colleagues, pretend that things are normal. . . . I cannot deal with what you have done on a quiet, personal level. I can no longer remain silent.”

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Feuer said that both his call for Hernandez’s resignation and his proposal for a change in the charter are based on his opinion that “it is appropriate for elected officials to be held to an exceptionally high standard. My basic point is that . . . a double [higher] standard is appropriate for us.”

Before his return to City Hall, Hernandez met individually and privately with some of his council colleagues at the request of council President John Ferraro, who was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

But in those meetings, Hernandez said he asked for forgiveness from his colleagues and promised to remain in therapy and recovery programs.

Chick, who was out of town when Hernandez held those meetings, said she spoke at length with her colleague by telephone. Feuer said he did meet with Hernandez.

Both Chick’s and Feuer’s proposals are likely to be referred to the Rules and Elections Committee before going before the full council.

Amending the charter also requires voter approval, and both Feuer and Chick said they hope to see their charter amendments appear on the June ballot.