What LA's many recent political scandals should teach us in Phoenix

Not that long ago, Arizona looked to the vast city to our west with envy. Phoenix was rapidly growing, but compared to Los Angeles, it was a cowtown.

Unlike our dusty little burg, LA was flush with celebrity, wealth, glamour and a curious lack of 113-degree summer temperatures.

Today, Phoenicians look at Angelenos with pity. And, for their leaders, contempt.

In the City of Angels, the infrastructure crumbles, tent cities mar the cityscape and the gulf between rich and poor keeps growing. Perhaps the mayor and City Council would improve things if they weren’t mired in their own corruption, coverups and hateful infighting.

This is the despicable state of LA politics

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported on a year-old recording of City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, and a local labor leader slinging racist abuse at colleagues and plotting a redistricting scheme to protect themselves and punish their enemies.

Martinez compared a white progressive councilmember’s Black son to a “monkey” and said the child “needs a beatdown.” She also blasted District Attorney George Gascón with an expletive, adding “he’s with the Blacks.” She apparently thought that was an insult.

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This ugliness is par for the course in recent city politics.

One former Los Angeles city councilmember was sent to federal prison last year for obstructing a corruption probe. The year before that, another councilmember was indicted on bribery charges. Most recently, councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was expelled for a separate corruption indictment.

On that last scandal, Martinez said Controller Ron Galperin will decide if Ridley-Thomas still gets a paycheck. “You need to go talk to that white guy,” she says. “It’s not us. It’s the white members on this council that will [expletive] you in a heartbeat.”

Martinez is hardly the only source of dysfunction

Martinez also insulted LA's Indigenous Oaxacan, Jewish and Armenian communities. She’s an equal opportunity hater.

Numerous city leaders demanded everyone on the call resign; even Joe Biden weighed in. Martinez stepped down on Wednesday while Cedillo and de León remain.

The City Council isn’t the only dysfunctional game in Los Angeles. Outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti has watched his nomination to be Biden’s ambassador to India held up due to sexual misconduct allegations against a top aide.

Before you ask, “what’s in the water over there,” the head of LA’s Department of Water and Power was recently sentenced to six years in federal prison.

Longtime Angelenos shook their heads at the 1930s-era corruption captured in the film “Chinatown.” This current group is making that look like the good old days.

What Phoenix can learn from this

It is, however, a lesson Phoenix can learn from. A structural flaw in the LA City Council has helped enable the corruption.

With a population of about 3.85 million residents, each of LA’s council members represents about 256,000 people. Compare that to New York City, where each council member represents about 167,000 residents. In Chicago, it’s one council representative for every 54,000 people.

Representation in Phoenix is closer to LA than we’d like to admit. Arizona’s largest city, and the fifth-largest in the nation, only has eight council districts. With a population of about 1.66 million, that means each council member represents 207,000 residents.

Placing that much power in so few hands is a recipe for abuse. Phoenix would have to add 22 more council members to reach parity with Chicago.

An expanded council would ensure that each of Phoenix’s diverse communities and neighborhoods received better representation and prevent any one council representative from gaining too much power.

As for Los Angeles, a glimmer of hope remains. Local businessman Rick Caruso is running for mayor on an anti-corruption platform. His opponent, Rep. Karen Bass, leads in the polls, but the latest scandal in this once-great city might lead voters to choose radical change.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: LA city council comments, other scandals offer lesson for Phoenix