On Tuesday, the council formally welcomed 35-year-old Imelda Padilla as a voting member and certified her victory in the Sixth District special election. She will fill out the remainder of former Council President Nury Martinez's term, which ends in December 2024.
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Martinez resigned in October after she was caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly recorded and posted online.
Padilla is the 7th woman to serve on the current city council.
She took the oath of office Tuesday, joined by her family, saying the Sixth District is "ready to have a voting member'' and "to have someone advocate on their behalf.''
Padilla also took a moment to thank her mother for being her "ride or die'' in everything she does.
"As you will all see, we are a family of hustlers. My family works and I will be here to do what we do best in this capacity,'' Padilla said. "Just know that the things that I'm excited to be doing is be a coalition builder.''
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Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said she was "grateful'' for Padilla being "in this space with us.''
She also recognized that as Padilla takes her position, the council is now at "an even higher level of women'' and an "even bigger historic number.''
"I hope that starts translating to the rest of the body and to the leadership of this body because we can do it," said Hernandez.
Councilwoman Traci Park added to that sentiment saying, she is "incredibly proud" to have Padilla.
"There are going to be a lot of things we'll be working on together," said Park.
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Padilla will represent the Sixth District, which consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood.
The Council voted 12-0, with councilmen Curren Price, Tim McOsker and Paul Krekorian absent from the meeting at the time, to certify the results and welcome Padilla as a member.
"I want to bring infrastructure projects to the district that'll bring more jobs to my constituents," said Padilla.
City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.