Herb Wesson resigns from LA City Council after judge rules reappointment violated a term limit law

Herb Wesson has resigned as the interim replacement for indicted Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas after a judge ruled his reappointment by the council violated a term limit law.

Wesson, who represented the 10th District from 2005 through 2020 and served as council president from 2012 to 2020, has already served three terms, so he has maxed out his time on the council.

The Los Angeles City Council had voted for Wesson to represent the 10th District again on Feb. 22. The district stretches from Koreatown to Leimert Park in South Los Angeles. But the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California challenged the legality of the appointment, and Wesson was unable to cast votes while the judge considered the challenge.

Wesson was supposed to hold the position through Dec. 31 unless Ridley-Thomas was acquitted or the charges against him were dropped.

Ridley-Thomas was suspended from the council last October, after he and Marilyn Flynn, a former dean of the USC School of Social Work, were charged in a 20-count indictment alleging a secret deal in which he agreed to steer county money to the university in return for his son's admittance into graduate school with full tuition and a professor's job. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal corruption charges.

District 10 is currently represented by an appointed caretaker, Heather Hutt, who also cannot cast votes as part of the council.