Padilla elected Los Angeles City Council president; Ridley-Thomas chosen president pro tem

Alex Padilla was elected president of the Los Angeles City Council on the council's first legislative day, and Mark Ridley-Thomas was chosen president pro tem during the meeting at Los Angeles City Hall.

Padilla, who rose to the rostrum after a roll-call election, thanked colleagues and staff for their support. "I want to thank each and every one of you, whether you voted for me or not, for trusting me and having the confidence in me to serve you," he said, noting he would not allow the extra responsibilities to compromise services to his district.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was elected president pro tem after nominations and speeches from several members, said the newly configured council has an opportunity to work together under the city's new charter. "Given the fact that we have new leadership at the executive level, as well as the legislative level, we will have great opportunities to distinguish Los Angeles in ways that have yet to be seen," Ridley-Thomas said.

The council followed an atypical process for selecting leadership: members were allowed brief statements before the oral roll-call vote. Several members spoke publicly about the need to use the transition to transfer institutional knowledge to newer members and to prioritize committee reorganization and neighborhood engagement. Ruth Galanter, Jan Perry and others addressed colleagues during the period set aside for candidates to outline their priorities.

Council members emphasized the scale of turnover on the council and the need for continuity. "The most critical task of the coming two years is to make sure that as the rest of us depart, the new generation is as caught up as humanly possible," said Ruth Galanter in her remarks to colleagues. Other members urged civility and an emphasis on constructive committee work.

Procedural notes: the meeting opened with ceremonial remarks, public presentations and the required roll calls documenting a quorum. The transcript shows the oral roll-call votes and the verbal announcement by the clerk that Padilla had been chosen; the record includes multiple members announcing their individual votes aloud.

No formal ordinance, budget or contract resulted from these leadership elections; the actions were internal council elections. The transcript does not show a single unified numeric tally printed as a final roll-call sheet for the presidency in one consolidated line, but multiple members announced their votes during the roll call and the clerk confirmed Padilla as the new council president. Likewise, the clerk announced congratulations to Ridley-Thomas as president pro tem.