In April, Los Angeles City Council member Curren Price rallied workers on the steps of City Hall to demand higher pay for hotel workers and janitors who clean Los Angeles International Airport.

“The living wage movement is a social justice movement,” Price declared alongside union members in purple shirts before submitting a proposal to dramatically increase the wages of workers serving tourists.

the

moment distilled the causes on which Price has built his reputation in his decade on the city council: his advocacy of low wages and close ties to organized workers.

Price

The South LA council district includes some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods,

and the politician

has led to efforts to increase the income or employment opportunities of street vendors, hotel workers, formerly incarcerated people and others.

Price was first elected in 2013 to represent District 9 and is now a veteran of the 15-member City Council. He survived several

council

colleagues who have shared the horseshoe of the seats allotted to city councilors, some of whom have left in recent years, not only because of the loss of an election, but also because of a scandal resulting from resignation or indictment.

Now Price’s reputation is on the line following criminal charges of perjury,

conflict of interest

and embezzlement, filed Tuesday by the district attorney’s office.

The alderman was

accused

of having a financial interest in development projects he voted for, and falsely receiving medical benefits from the city for his now-wife while still married to another woman.

“Curren Price is a long-standing public servant who gave his life to the City of Los Angeles,”

said Price spokesperson Angelina Valencia, who added that their office had not seen the indictment as of Tuesday afternoon.

“He looks forward to defending himself once he has had a chance to address these allegations.”

In the short term, it’s unclear what will happen to Price’s position at City Hall. The criminal charges immediately shook up his positions at City Hall. Price was chairman

two powerful council committees, the Committee on Economic and Community Development and the Ad Hoc Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games

where he has advocated for marginalized communities

.

He announced on Tuesday that he is stepping down from all commission assignments and as chairman pro tempore.

His precinct represents several neighborhoods in South LA and the area around the downtown convention center.

USC and Exposition Park are also in his district, areas that have been invested in such as the BMO stadium and the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

District 9’s population is 78% Latino and 13% Black, but voters in the district have elected a black representative to the city council since the early 1960s. Price has won re-election twice, backed by a broad coalition that includes his colleagues on the city council and community leaders.

“He’s probably more aware than ever of the need for a coalition to keep his political seat,” said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State LA.

As Latinos have become a “significant majority” of his district, Regalado said:

“Hey Price

“It would have been foolish not to fully recognize what is at stake and get to grips with it,” including by adopting a diverse workforce.

He has also forged relationships with younger progressive members of the city council who also have close ties to organized workers.

After the audio leak of a tape in October showing the president of the city council

nuri

Martinez made racist remarks, the council decided to make City Councilman Paul Krekorian chairman of the council. At one point, it looked like Price would seek the position. Instead, he was elected president pro tempore.

In a moving speech delivered on the council floor in late October after his colleague voted for him, Price hailed his own ward as a “microcosm” of the city’s diverse population. He also talked about using his life experiences to bring the city together after widespread outrage over his peers’ ugly comments.

“As a 71-year-old black man, I’ve gained quite a bit of experience battling adversity,” Price said. “From Living in an Age of Segregation to the Social Justice Revolution.”

Price grew up in South Los Angeles, attended high school in Inglewood before attending Stanford University and University of Santa Clara, School of Law.

He spent several years on the Inglewood City Council representing much of the 9th District while serving in the state senate. He was also in the state assembly.

Last year, he easily defeated challenger Dulce Vasquez in the primary

for his third and final term

. He called the race a referendum on his progressive, positive, inclusive leadership.

On the City Council, he supported a $15 minimum wage for the entire city, helped legalize street vending and

pushed

a pilot program that gave no-obligation money to struggling families.

He also proposed a hero rewards program for supermarket employees who worked during the pandemic, a controversial move that prompted a supermarket chain to close stores.

And he led a campaign to change employment rules to make it easier for formerly incarcerated individuals to find work.

Price “has certainly been a champion for working-class Angelenos,” said Alberto Retana, president and CEO of Community Coalition, a nonprofit based in South LA. certainly an ally of organizations on the ground.”

In April, he joined members of Unite Here Local 11, Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West and Yvonne Wheeler, president of the LA County Federation of Labor, to unveil a plan to raise the minimum wage for workers in larger hotels and some LAX employees to $30 an hour by 2028.

Price argues the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics

Games

will help pump money into the economy and low-wage workers should benefit from this. The proposal is opposed by industry groups.

Labor groups have assisted Price, who regularly champions their cause. During the June 2022 city council race, unions spent more than $500,000 in support of Price’s campaign.

Price has also come under scrutiny for his personal and professional decisions: his marriage to Del

Richardson

became an issue during his 2017 re-election after CityWatch reported that Price had not finalized his divorce from his first wife. A spokesman told the Times that year, Price thought he and Richardson were legally married at the time.

In 2019, The Times reported that Price had repeatedly cast votes that influenced housing developers and other companies listed as clients of his wife’s consulting firm. Many of the voices identified by The Times related to housing projects:

The Times reported that Price voted on decisions involving at least 10 companies in the same years they were listed as sources of revenue of at least $10,000 to Del Richardson & Associates.

Price was also criticized for endorsing huge digital billboards on Washington Boulevard. Companies associated with the developer then funded a political committee that worked to get Price reelected.

Community leader Jorge Nuo, who lives in Historic South-Central and unsuccessfully stood up to Price six years ago, said that despite the headlines Price has made for his work on minimum wage and other issues, the district needs better leadership.

“There are certain topics of conversation that sound good, but are we increasing homeownership? Is our homelessness decreasing?” said Nuo. “I’m looking at the data. Our community continues to struggle.”

He called the allegations against Price “simply disheartening”.

“We just hope we get a better representation that will fight for the people,” he said.