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South Gate council member calls out what she described as false recall claims, urges focus on governing
Summary
During public comment and council remarks, a council member defended colleagues against allegations of corruption tied to campaign donations and recall signage; vice mayor and other council members urged adherence to process and noted the personal impacts of the attacks.
Council member Hurtado defended herself, fellow council members and city staff on May 27, saying repeated public attacks and online claims about taking money from a tow company were false and damaging.
"If they were true, it would be one thing, but they're not true," Council member Hurtado said, adding that campaign donation records she and others filed showed legal receipts and that some critics selectively named a few people while leaving out others. "We get money from people who wanna believe in us and elect us. There's nothing criminal about it."
Vice Mayor Baron, speaking during council remarks, thanked staff and the city attorney for their work on a recent difficult decision and said he was saddened to see attendees in the chamber holding signs that urged a recall of "corrupt" council members. Baron said he and the other council members had previously campaigned against corruption in the city and described the current signs and public accusations as discouraging.
Baron recounted an interaction in which an individual who had been cited by code enforcement later joined sign-holders at a council meeting and asked that the council intervene. He said staff extended compliance timelines in that case and reiterated that the city's code enforcement process is intended to gain compliance, not to punish. "Our goal is to make them compliant, to make them good neighbors to their residents," Baron said.
Another speaker in the meeting, who identified themself as a recipient of the negative attention and said they had served a cease-and-desist letter and retained legal counsel, asked Hurtado to stop including them in remarks about the controversy and warned of harm to their family if the allegations continued.
The exchanges took place during public comment and the council's general remarks; no formal disciplinary or investigatory action was taken at the meeting. Council members and staff repeatedly asked that questions about alleged wrongdoing be routed through appropriate legal channels rather than public accusations at the dais or on social media.
Ending: The council moved on to its consent calendar after the public comment period and the mayor opened discussion on routine agenda items.
