On the day in 2020 that Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was arrested by FBI agents, his colleagues rallied within hours to have him suspended and stripped of his duties before he had even entered a plea.

A year later, the City Council took the same action with Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, suspending him a week after he was indicted.

on his own set of

federal corruption charges.

Now that yet another colleague faces criminal charges, councilors are weighing their third vote for suspension in three years. But this time, they’re taking a more cautious approach to that decision.

Council President Paul Krekorian said on Wednesday he wants the council to consider a proposal to suspend Councilman Curren Price, who has been charged with embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest. But instead of calling for an immediate vote, he said councilors should let Price respond to the allegations first.

Councilors should also listen to the residents of Price’s South Los Angeles district and carefully weigh the “real world consequences” of a suspension for his voters before voting, Krekorian said.

“I think it’s important that we say from the start of all this that the presumption of innocence is not just a convenient slogan,” Krekorian said on Wednesday. “It is a fundamental principle of the United States of America and our Constitution and will be a fundamental principle in moving forward as a council.”

In a suit filed this week, the LA County District Attorneys office alleged that Price violated the state’s conflict of interest law by voting for affordable housing projects developed by companies that employed his wife, Del Richardson Price, as a consultant. Prosecutors also said Price committed perjury by failing to declare a portion of his wife’s income on his government financial disclosure forms.

Price has also been accused of receiving tens of thousands of dollars in city medical benefits for his current wife while still married to another woman.

In the wake of those allegations, Price resigned from each of his council committees and stepped down from his leadership position, serving as No. 2 under Krekorian. Price called the allegations “unwarranted” and said through a spokesman he will challenge them, but has not provided a more specific rebuttal.

According to the city charter, the municipality does not have the authority to remove Price. If he is convicted of a crime, he will be automatically removed from office. If he resigned, the council would have the power to call special elections.

The city charter gives the council the power to suspend any elected city official charged with a crime pending trial. But that move comes with its own political risks, a lesson city leaders have learned in the wake of the Ridley-Thomas indictment.

If Price is suspended, Krekorian could decide to appoint a non-voting janitor to fill the seat while Price’s case plays out. But then his district would have no voting member on the council. The council could instead vote to appoint a temporary voting member. But that would clear the way for an unelected representative to make decisions on behalf of Price’s voters.

Appearing before reporters on Wednesday, Krekorian made it clear he intends to go at a slower pace, demanding that any suspension vote receive a thorough vetting by the council’s rules committee, something that didn’t happen with Huizar and Ridley-Thomas.

“This will not be a rushed process, as has happened in the past,” he said.

Despite filing the motion to suspend Price, Krekorian declined to say whether he intends to vote to suspend Price. Others at City Hall said a suspension is warranted.

“It’s not my role to pass judgment here,” said Councilman Hugo Soto-Martnez, who represents Hollywood, Silver Lake and other nearby neighborhoods. “But when the time comes, I intend to vote with my colleagues to suspend Mr. Price from his role as councillor.”

Councilors Bob Blumenfield and Tim McOsker said they would vote to strip Price of his council duties.

“My position today is that suspension is the right course of action,” McOsker said. “But I’m also going to respect the process.”

Price, who began his third term in December, will not leave office until 2026.

If he is suspended and the council elects a temporary replacement for him, two of the council’s 15 members, both representing South LA, will be installed without an election.

The 10th district, whose voters elected Ridley-Thomas in 2020, has been without an elected representative since October 2021, when he was indicted.

At some point last year, council members appointed former council member Herb Wesson as a temporary voting representative for the district. But that decision was later blocked by a judge amid strong criticism from some residents of the district, who said they should

have been

those who elect their representative.

The council later tapped former legislative assistant Heather Hutt to serve as a temporary replacement for Ridley-Thomas. Some in the district resisted again, saying they had been disenfranchised. After a jury convicted Ridley-Thomas of

seven crimes

Hutt’s time in the chair was extended to December 2024.

(Ridley-Thomas has challenged the ruling and is

looking for a new trial.)

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, chairman of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, strongly opposed a suspension of Price.

He represents the poorest, most underserved, mostly black and Hispanic district on the city council, said Hutchinson, who lives in an unincorporated section of South LA.

Former Councilman Jan Perry, who represented Price’s district from 2001 to 2013, expressed similar concerns, saying a suspension would deprive residents of the 9th District of representation. The council should not repeat the “stumble” that took place at City Hall after the Ridley-Thomas charge, she said.

“Needless to say I’m pretty upset. The people who live in it [Price’s district] have already been through a lot on a daily basis,” she said. “And to add this to that is just infuriating.”

Adriana Cabrera, president of the Central Alameda Neighborhood Council, said she is too angry not only because of the criminal case against Price, but also about the general state of his district. But Cabrera, who ran as a write-in candidate against Price last year, said she doesn’t think a suspension vote is enough.

“We need him to step down,” she said.

The council will likely have to decide Price’s fate before the end of the month, when members go on three weeks of summer recess. Council member Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside, said she has already gone through the district attorney’s indictment document and felt the case was “pretty straightforward.”

“I’m angry, I’m sad and I’m tired of this happening,” she said. “We need stronger conflict of interest laws. They need to be enforced.”