NRDC Calls for the Resignation of Embroiled LA City Council members

LOS ANGELES - Controversial recordings of the LA City Council released on October 9th have sparked controversy and calls for resignations. 

The following is a statement from Ramya Sivasubramanian, Managing Director of Environmental Justice and Community Solutions at NRDC’s Environment, Equity and Justice Center: 

“NRDC stands with Black, brown, and Indigenous communities who are leading the call for the resignation of the LA City Council members whose abhorrent and racist remarks revealed they are unfit to serve their constituents. The communities attacked in these recordings have suffered the impacts of historic and ongoing systemic racism for too long, including the effects of environmental injustices.  

The recorded statements are driven by a misguided, zero-sum vision of politics that undermines the solidarity our communities have built and through which we can all thrive together. Los Angeles deserves leadership that prioritizes impacted communities, and that will repair these harms and unite in erasing racism from the halls of power to restore trust.”  

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.