*It’s a new year and hopefully a new day when it comes to the Los Angeles government better known as City Hall and the City Council. Doing their part to effect change in the wake of that explosive and damaging racist recording by Latino members, a group of activists, and civic and community leaders have written an open letter to Council President Paul Krekorian to adopt the “Tom Bradley Rule.” Read on to learn why.
The Honorable Paul Krekorian
City Council President
Los Angeles City Hall
200 N. Main Street, Room 435
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Council President Krekorian:
On behalf of a coalition of leading Los Angeles civil rights, civic, and community organizations, we wish to congratulate you on being elected as the Los Angeles City Council’s President. This is a well-deserved honor bestowed upon you based on the trust in your leadership by your colleagues.
As Council President, you have a responsibility to set the standards of fairness, equity, and decorum that should be followed by your elected colleagues. The racist recording that was publicly released last October that included several prominent Latino leaders, including former and current Councilmembers was very disturbing and troubling. It could have divided and torn our city apart. Fortunately, racist comments that some of the members expressed were acknowledged and condemned by a host of leaders and residents citywide and nationwide, including the President of the United States.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Civil Rights Leader Ben Jealous is on a Mission to Heal America with New Book
As we start a new year with a new council, our coalition of African American leaders is calling for the implementation by the City Council of the “Tom Bradley Rule”. As Council President, we call for you to introduce it. This rule would mandate that African Americans have an opportunity to be interviewed by all Councilmembers, the City Attorney, and Controller’s office for employment in their respective offices.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley not only made history as the first African American Mayor but his tenure as Mayor (1973 to 1993) was also highlighted by the diversity in hiring in his office. As we celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this past week, it was hard not to notice that the King Parade was attended by many Council members, who in a tremendous demonstration of racial unity, rode on the same float together. Unfortunately, several of these same city leaders who rode in the King Parade and who have publicly denounced all the individuals on last year’s recording currently have no African Americans on staff.
That’s why we’re calling for the resolution and implementation of the “Bradley Rule”. We can’t allow city leaders to speak out against racism by other colleagues and yet fail to apply equity and representation by having African Americans on their own staff. To his credit, Councilmember Kevin DeLeon does have African American staff, particularly in leadership roles, and he has a long record of diverse representation.
The proposed Bradley Rule is not a call for affirmative action or a quota system to be used by the Councilmembers. Like the Rooney Rule in the National Football League which requires every team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching positions, the application of the Bradley Rule would simply seek to ensure equity in hiring practices by city leaders.
We look forward to further discussing this proposal and ways we can expand equity in our city. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Coalition Members:
Najee Ali, President Muslim Democratic Club of Southern California.
Robert Sausedo, President and CEO of Community Build Inc.
Michael Lawson, CEO of Los Angeles Urban League
Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, President of NAACP San Pedro Chapter
Diane Robertson, Esq.
Donald Bakeer, Board President of Project Islamic Hope
Lori Condinus, President of National Action Network of Los Angeles
Pastor K.W.Tulloss, President of Baptist Ministers Conference of Los Angeles
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
