LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The City Clerk certified the list of seven candidates for the April 4 special election to represent the Sixth District City Council seat left vacant by Nury Martinez’s resignation.
The candidates are:
— Isaac Kim, small business owner;
— Imelda Padilla, community relations manager;
— Rose Grigoryan, social activist/journalist;
— Marisa Alcarez, environmental policy director;
— Antoinette Scully, community organizer/mother;
— Douglas Dagoberto Sierra, father/business consultant; and
— Marco Santana, director of a housing nonprofit.
The special election could cost the city up to $7.65 million, according to a city clerk’s office estimate. A runoff, if necessary, will take place on June 27.
The Sixth District — which includes central and eastern portions of the San Fernando Valley — is being overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
Martinez, the former council president, resigned for her participation in a leaked audio recording.
The inappropriate conversation that was viewed as racist in October 2021 was secretly recorded. Three days after it circulated, Martinez resigned. Her term was set to expire in December 2024.
The council voted to hold a special election rather than appoint a fill-in council member for the remainder of Martinez’s term.