LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson has resigned as the interim replacement for indicted Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, three days after a judge issued a preliminary injunction continuing to bar him from performing any official duties.
Wesson, in a letter Thursday to the City Council obtained by The Times, said he was grateful to have been appointed to represent the 10th District and argued that residents of the district which stretches from Koreatown to Leimert Park in South Los Angeles deserve “a voting voice.”
The motion to appoint Wesson as a temporary replacement was unanimously approved by the council on Feb. 22. Wesson was supposed to hold the position through Dec. 31 unless the incumbent was acquitted or the charges against him were dropped.
Deputy City Attorney Jonathan Eisenman argued the appointment did not run afoul of term-limit rules because Wesson would serve less than half of the remainder of Ridley-Thomas’ term.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California challenged the legality of Wesson’s appointment as a temporary replacement for Ridley-Thomas, saying he is termed out due to his previous time on the council.
Wesson initially represented the 10th District from 2005 through 2020, serving as council president from 2012 to 2020. The group also challenged the legality of the council’s suspension of Ridley-Thomas, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff said Monday he concluded the council did have such authority.
There is now a groundswell of support to name Heather Hutt the voting member as she was appointed caretaker by Council President Nury Martinez after the judge blocked Wesson from performing any duties.
