美国国家公共电台 NPR--A look at the salaries of 2 LA City Council members involved in racist conversation

A look at the salaries of 2 LA City Council members involved in racist¹ conversation

Transcript²

The implosion³ of the Los Angeles City Council this month, after three of its members were secretly recorded talking in racist terms, has thrown the political machinery⁴ of one of America's largest cities into crisis.

As of now, there is one empty seat on the 15-member body after one of the three recorded members resigned, and the remaining members who weren't part of the racist conversation have all publicly demanded that the two others resign, going as far as stripping them of nearly all their committee assignments. And on Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is "looking forward" to an announcement of the two council members' departures soon.

But despite the outcry, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León refuse to quit, expecting they can wait out the storm of fallout for their participation⁵ in a racist conversation in which they and former City Council President Nury Martinez disparaged⁶ a white colleague's adopted 2-year-old Black son and discussed strategies to consolidate⁷ their power at the expense of Black leadership. Martinez stepped down days after the audio was leaked.

Their insistence⁸ to stay on means both men will continue to draw from their hefty salaries at the expense of irate⁹ taxpayers¹⁰, even as they skip out on City Council meetings where the public continues to demand their ouster.

In 2021, LA City Council members took home roughly $218,000 in pay, according to the California State Controller's Office, which gets its information from the city's W-2 tax forms. And there's more than just their base salaries — as city employees, they get about $66,000 a year toward their pensions. Taxpayers are also footing the bill for a car for each member, as well as meal and travel expenses.

Taking away the extras, the average member's base salary is about $70,000 higher than those of council members in San Francisco and New York. It's also about $35,000 a year more than the governor of California's pay, which was about $183,000 in 2021.

The discrepancy¹¹ between what council members are paid and what many of their constituents¹² make is even greater, especially when zeroing in on the incomes of people who live in pockets of de León's and Cedillo's districts. In Boyle Heights, a largely Latino working-class neighborhood in de León's district, for example, the median household income, according to the latest Census¹³ Bureau figures available, is about $44,000. And about 26% of people are living in poverty. In Chinatown, which is in Cedillo's district, the median household income is just under $50,000.

As of now, there's no indication that either de León or Cedillo plans to step down, short of a recall election.

De León went on English- and Spanish-language television last week to apologize for his role in the inflammatory conversation and to clarify that he is not resigning.

"I have to do the hard work to repair the ties with my brothers and with my sisters in our African American community," he said, insisting that stepping down would be the easy way out.

And a spokesman for Cedillo said that the veteran Latino leader remains¹⁴ at "a place of reflection."

Meanwhile, Cedillo and de León have avoided council meetings in recent days. De León has been removed as head of the Homelessness and Poverty Committee as well as the Budget and Finance Committee. Cedillo was also removed as chair of the Housing Committee and a committee that reviews major development projects.

If de León manages to out the remaining two years of his term, taxpayers will be paying him about $568,000 in combined salary and pension. The tab for Cedillo, whose term ends in December, will be a lot less, though at roughly $18,000 a month in salary, it adds up to a minimum of $36,000 that he will have been paid since the scandal broke.

1 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

4 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 disparaged   

v.轻视( disparage的过去式和过去分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• French-Canadian fur trappers and Sioux disparaged such country as "bad lands. " 法语的加拿大毛皮捕兽器和苏人的贬低国家作为“坏土地”。 来自互联网
• She disparaged her student's efforts. 她轻视她的学生做出的努力。 来自互联网

7 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

8 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

9 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

10 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

11 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

12 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。