Women and minority members of the Los Angeles City Council were disappointed Tuesday, July 1 when two white men were reelected to the council’s top positions. While the council unanimously chose the incumbent John Ferraro as its president, Joel Wachs became president pro tempore with a nine-to-six vote. Mike Hernandez, a liberal Latino who challenged Wachs, won votes from the council’s three Latino members, two white women, and one African-American. Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who supported Hernandez, said Wachs’ victory proves that the council does not reflect the increasingly diverse city. When speaking of the individuals who have held the top two positions of the council in the decade she has been on it, she said, “They are all white. They are all men. They are all from another era. The city is different now.”
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