LA City Council appoints Heather Hutt to serve as interim council member for 10th District
Hutt will be filling in for the suspended Mark Ridley-Thomas.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Heather Hutt, a Los Angeles native, was sworn in Friday as the city's newest council member for District 10, which hasn't had a voting member for almost a year.
"To understand the needs of the people of CD10 and knowing they have a voting member is the way to have their needs met," Hutt said.
This all began after Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was indicted on allegations that when he was county supervisor, he guided county contracts to USC in exchange for a professorship for his son.
The council then selected former L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson to take over on an interim basis.
But after challenges, a judge stopped him from any official duties.
On Friday, people asked for representation.
"We have a right to have a vote, it's been too long," one speaker said.
Then, the city council voted to appoint Hutt. Some in the district, however, are concerned that voters were ignored.
Diane Lawrence, who's the editor of The Neighborhood News, lives in District 10 called the events "a circus"
"That's why we're here today and it's taken so long. Now this person, Heather Hutt, has been pushed on us, literally pushed on us," said Lawrence.
Attorney Grace Yoo came in second in the election with Ridley-Thomas.
She received more than 36,000 votes and feels she should have been considered.
"The city council ignores me because I'm an outsider," she said. "City council members shared with me that I would not be able to be appointed even though I would be a natural since I was a runner-up because it would give an unfair advantage to me if I decide to run."
Hutt would serve through the end of Thomas' term unless he is acquitted or charges dismissed.
His trial is set to begin in November.
