Armenian
News Network / Groong
Conversations on Groong: The LA City Council Scandal
Hello
and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Groong,
I’m Asbed Bedrossian.
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This
episode was recorded on October 19 and 20th, 2022.
Over the past
month Los Angeles politics were wracked by a scandal that followed the Los Angeles Times leaking a
secretly recorded audio tape of a meeting between LA City council members,
during which a few of them made racist comments aimed at various LA
communities. The paywalled LA Times article is here. Armenian-related parts of the audio are here, but you should listen to the whole thing.
So to get a sense of how this scandal is echoing
inside the Armenian community, and also their thoughts about the politics
around Armenia in the South Caucasus, first we’re going to talk with:
|
Ardashes
‘Ardy’ Kassakhian who is a Glendale City Councilman, and the
current mayor of Glendale. |
|
|
And then we’ll talk with |
|
|
California
State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian from the 46th District,
representing the San Fernando Valley. |
|
Glendale city councilman
and current mayor of Glendale, Ardy Kassakhian.
Recorded on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
California State
Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian from the 46th District,
representing the San Fernando Valley.
Recorded on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
In the last few weeks,
we’ve had a political storm coursing through Los Angeles since the LA Times
broke a story and leaked a secretly recorded audio of racist comments which
targeted various LA communities by some members of the LA city council. Since
then, Council president Nury Martinez has resigned;
and two others, Kevin De León
and Gil Cedillo are also under pressure to resign.
Earlier this week
Councilman Paul Krekorian was voted to take the presidency of the LA City
Council, so hopefully we’re on a better path at this point.
● What are your views on how we, in Los Angeles,
move forward from this mess that tore through LA politics in the past few
weeks?
● Your thoughts about Paul Krekorian taking the
lead of the LA City Council?
● Why do you think it took the LA Times breaking
this story, for this issue to come to public view? Shouldn’t others who were
present at that meeting a year ago, have come forward and defended the LA
community?
A year ago, when
the decennial post-census redistricting process took place, many communities
complained, and I think the Armenian community was also not pleased with the
results.
● First, can you talk a little bit about how the
Armenian community leaders felt about the outcome of last year’s redistricting,
and why?
● Do you think those results will be revisited,
now that we know that the process was maybe compromised by racist undertones,
or objectives?
● How does this entire episode affect the LA
mayoral race? Does it tip the balance in either direction, and is this council
ready to work with either new mayor, whether it is Karen Bass
or Rick Caruso?
For Mayor Kassakhian:
● Here in Glendale, we’re our own incorporated
city inside LA County, with our separate local government from Los Angeles
City. How do these events look from inside our city?
● How has this affected the Glendale city council?
● How do you rate the Glendale city council’s
atmosphere?
For
Assemblymember Nazarian:
● You did not re-run for your Assembly seat in the
primaries this year. What are your plans for public service, going forward?
Let’s briefly
turn our attention to the international scene:
In the context of
developments in the South Caucasus, how can we, in Los Angeles, support a fair
outcome for Armenia?
We’re referring
to a context where:
● What are your views of the so-called “peace
negotiations” between Armenia and Azerbaijan under the auspices of the EU?
● Is a “Normalization” with Turkey possible under
current circumstances?
That
was our show and we hope you found it helpful. We invite
your feedback and your suggestions. You can find
us on most social
media and podcast platforms, or our website Groong.org. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel on
YouTube, Follow us on Twitter, and Like our Facebook page.
Thanks
to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts. On behalf of everyone in this
episode, we thank you for listening. Stay well, we’ll be back next week.
Ardashes Ardy Kassakhian, Adrin Nazarian, Paul
Krekorian, Los Angeles, LA City Council Scandal, Nury
Martinez, Kevin De Leon, Gil Cedillo, Ron Johnson, Karen Bass, Rick Caruso, LA
Mayor, Mayoral Race, LA Times, Armenia, Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan,
War Crimes, South Caucasus, Turkish-Armenian Normalization,
