Here we go again.

Los Angeles City Hall, which has been tossed from scandal to scandal in recent years, has been hit by yet another elected official accused of corruption. City councilor Curren Price was charged with embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest on Tuesday for allegedly having a financial interest in projects he voted on.

Price is now the fourth city council member to face corruption charges and is accused of using public office for personal gain. The fourth in three years!

And that doesn’t include the political scandals that have damaged public confidence, including allegations that former mayor Eric Garcetti ignored sexual harassment by a top aide, and the secret recording of three councilors and the district’s top labor official making racist remarks about colleagues and voters. as they plot to retain power.

This goes beyond mere coincidence or a few bad apples. The series of criminal complaints and scandals is a flashing neon sign above City Hall

to show

that the political culture of Los Angeles is rotten and needs a complete overhaul. The question at the moment is whether the town hall is capable of reforming itself.

As for Price, he announced on Tuesday that he would step down of the council leadership, he was named second-in-command following the leaked audio scandal last fall and his committee assignments, while defending himself in court.

That is not enough. Price must resign

of the council.

While he is presumed innocent and has the right to defend himself in court, the reality is that he cannot be an effective public servant while he is accused of corruption.

Council chairman Paul Krekorian said yes on Tuesday evening

move to suspend price.

If Price doesn’t step down,

his voters

would be left

without voting rights, unless the Board appoints an interim member. Price, who represents downtown and south Los Angeles, won reelection last year

to a

Term ending in 2026.

The charges against Price concern his wife, Del Richardson, who owns a consulting firm.

According to the

The Los Angeles County District Attorney

criminal complaint, Price had voted to approve the projects of developers who had paid Richardson.

Councilors are not allowed to vote on projects in which they have a financial interest. Price is also accused of failing to disclose all payments to his wife on financial disclosure forms.

Price allegedly voted on projects after the developers paid his wife multiple times, including after a 2019 Times investigation revealed the potential conflicts of interest.

He is also charged with misappropriation of public funds because Richardson received city-funded medical assistance

insurance

Bounties between 2013 and 2017, even though she and Price were not legally married. According to the complaint, Price only divorced his first wife in 2018 and married Richardson.

For a few months, it seemed like Los Angeles was done with corruption cases and scandals. Former Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted in March on federal bribery and conspiracy charges for sending district contracts to USC in exchange for allowing his son to

a

graduate program with a full scholarship and paid professorship. Ridley-Thomas is appealing the conviction.

Former council members Mitch Englander and Jose Huizar were charged as part of a separate federal investigation into pay-to-play corruption in real estate development. Englander pleaded guilty in 2020 and has since served his time and has been released from federal prison. Huizar pleaded guilty in January, admitting to extorting at least $1.5 million in bribes from real estate developers. His sentencing has been postponed to September.

The public outcry following the corruption cases and the leaked audio scandal spurred city council leaders to begin developing a major reform measure for next year’s vote. Under Krekorian’s leadership, the ad hoc city government reform committee is studying how to implement independent redistribution and whether the 15-member city council should be expanded.

She

should

put ethics reform on the agenda. The complaint against Price again underscores the need for an independent, competent Ethics Committee to monitor city-elected leaders. The commission now relies on the city council for funding and to legislate, which is a problem. The regulator would not need the consent of the regulated

party

to do his job.

With so

a lot of misbehavior at city hall,

there is a real risk that Angelenos will reject or lose trust in their local government, which would only reduce public participation

and further allowing the personal interests of city officials to shape LA’s key decisions.

What gives us hope, however, is that good government groups, philanthropists, academics and

even a few

be city leaders

start moving

implement long-awaited reforms that could help restore confidence.