LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian introduced a motion Wednesday to suspend Councilman Curren Price, who has been charged with theft by embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest for allegedly voting on projects involving developers tied to his wife’s consulting firm, then failing to report the connections.
Motions were also introduced to have Councilman Marqueece Harris- Dawson fill Price’s position of president pro tempore of the council, and to initiate a process for community input from Ninth District residents.
For the time being, Krekorian said he will be appointing Councilman Bob Blumenfield as the assistant pro tem.
The motion to suspend Price, pursuant to Section 211 of the City Charter, will proceed to the Rules Committee for hearing, then back to the full council for a final vote. A Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting is scheduled a week from Friday, but Krekorian said the council might agree to a special session to discuss the motion sooner.
“The process will give the council adequate opportunity to consider all of the issues, including the nature of the charges that have been filed and the impacts of suspension of the people of the Ninth District,” Krekorian said.
“That is obviously a deeply political process that the community will have to have significant weigh-in as to who that person might be to represent them as a temporary voting member,” he added.
Harris-Dawson introduced the motion to initiate the process for community input from the Ninth District. It is alleged that he has already called Jorge Nuno about the appointment due to his close work with the Community Coalition, where Harris-Dawson served as executive director.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Price had sent a letter to Krekorian announcing his decision to step down as council president pro tem, and surrendering all of his committee assignments.
“While I navigate through the judicial system to defend my name against unwarranted charges filed against me, the last thing I want to do is be a distraction to the people’s business,” Price wrote in the letter.
An arraignment date is still pending for Price. The criminal complaint, filed Tuesday, also alleges that Price effectively embezzled money between 2013 and 2017 by having the city cover roughly $33,800 in medical premiums for Del Richardson, to whom he claimed to be married, although he was still married at the time to Lynn Suzette Price.
Price, 72, has represented the Ninth District, which includes most of South Los Angeles and the western part of downtown Los Angeles, since 2013. He previously served in the state Assembly and state Senate and on the Inglewood city council.
Inglewood received a criminal search warrant last July inquiring about how they determined they would provide medical benefits to his 2nd wife, Delbra Richardson. They were seeking documents, and emails about how and why those benefits were provided.
Richardson filed a claim against Inglewood seeking “medical premium reimbursements” during the period of 2015-2017 despite already being provided coverage by Los Angeles taxpayers, according to the criminal complaint.
Price was charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, three counts of perjury, and two counts of conflict of interest, according to a criminal complaint provided by the District Attorney’s Office.
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According to the complaint, between 2019 and 2021, Price’s wife’s consulting firm, Del Richardson & Associates, received payments totaling more than $150,000 from real estate developers Thomas Safran and Mark Walther, after which Price voted on matters pertaining to the companies. He also allegedly failed to report the connections or the money paid to his wife’s company on city disclosure forms.
The criminal complaint also lists Price voting in favor of dropping the value of land in order for it to be purchased for less than market value by GTM Holdings whose CEO is Mark Walther.
“Today’s charges against Councilman Curren Price are the result of a thorough investigation into allegations of public corruption,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “This alleged conduct undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public’s trust in our elected officials. We will continue to work tirelessly to root out corruption at all levels and hold accountable those who betray the public’s trust.”
It is believed that the federal government pressured Gascón’s office to bring charges after sitting on the case for over two years.
Gascón turned a blind eye to Inglewood Councilwoman Gloria Gray for holding two elected seats, that perform overlapping duties, despite his office suing to remove a Latino councilman from La Puente for doing the same.
City News Service contributed to this report.