Ridley-Thomas Urges Calm Over Hernandez Issue

City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas urged restraint Wednesday by fellow public officials, some of whom have been engaged in a bitter, racially tinged name-calling debate over whether City Councilman Mike Hernandez should resign.

Last week, Councilman Nate Holden blasted fellow council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer for calling for Hernandez’s resignation, saying they were acting like “Westside Ku Klux Klansmen” and that the council members were racist for attacking Hernandez, a Latino.

“The charges and countercharges of racism and anti-Semitism, among the leaders of this racially and culturally diverse city, are completely misplaced,” said Ridley-Thomas, who served as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles before he was elected to the council. “Such reckless remarks and defensive replies serve no good purpose and only make a bad situation worse.”

The Anti-Defamation League has sent a letter to Holden seeking an apology for his remarks. “Since the only two characteristics shared by council members Chick and Feuer are their status as council members and their Jewish heritage, unfortunately, it appears that your comments can only be interpreted as referring to the latter,” wrote David Lehrer, Anti-Defamation League regional director and George Moss, president of the league’s Pacific Southwest Regional Board. “ADL fails to see how a call for council member Hernandez’s resignation can be compared to the actions of the KKK.”

Holden said Wednesday that he never intended to bring religion into the debate and that he was upset that council members from outside Hernandez’s district would call on him to resign. Further, he applauded Ridley-Thomas for “trying to bring a sense of calm to [a] situation that’s virtually out of control.”

Holden said he had not yet received a copy of the letter. But he said: “They’re making assumptions that are not true. To bring religion into the discussion was not my intent and nor should it be theirs.”

Feuer responded angrily to Holden’s KKK comments last week, saying that the statements were irresponsible. Chick said she would not dignify the remarks with a response.

Hernandez, who was arrested in August on charges of felony cocaine possession, pleaded guilty Monday. He was placed in a drug diversion program that will allow him to avoid a felony conviction and jail time if he completes a drug treatment program.

While Hernandez has steadfastly refused to resign, Mayor Richard Riordan and four of his colleagues--Chick, Feuer, Hal Bernson and Rudy Svorinich Jr.--have urged him to step down.

A recall campaign is just beginning to get underway in the 1st District. The council has no power to remove Hernandez from office unless he receives a felony conviction.