In a move described as unprecedented, the Beverly Hills City Council passed a resolution of a vote of no confidence in new Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. Three of the Council’s five members, including Councilmember Lili Bosse, Councilmember Julian Gold, M.D. and Mayor Lester Friedman, argued that Gascón’s progressive policies had made the city less safe and hamstrung law enforcement. The dissenting voters, Councilmember John Mirisch and Vice Mayor Robert Wunderlich, both expressed concerns with the D.A., but had reservations over the outright sanction of a public official as opposed to their policies–a step that none could recall happening before. The move places Beverly Hills in league with the City of Santa Clarita, which passed a no-confidence vote in Gascón on March 9, citing many of the same reasons given by Beverly Hills.
“This is really, for me, a watershed moment,” Mayor Lester Friedman said at the March 16 Study Session. “The criminal element is just taking advantage of the fact that there is no enforcement of the laws that we have on the books.”
