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By Brian Hews
Publisher | Follow X
March 12, 2026
Los Cerritos Community News has learned that the Cudahy City Council is preparing to publicly censure Councilmember Martin Fuentes after an outside investigation sustained two allegations of misconduct.
Sources have told LCCN that this has been going on since May 2025 and teh City Council is “just now taking action.”
The proposed action places the small Southeast Los Angeles County city back under a familiar spotlight—another internal misconduct investigation involving an elected official in a city that has spent years trying to shake a reputation for corruption and controversy.
According to the city’s staff report, officials retained an independent investigator after receiving a complaint alleging misconduct by Fuentes. The investigator interviewed witnesses, reviewed evidence, and spoke directly with the councilmember before issuing written findings.
The investigator determined that two of the allegations were supported by sufficient evidence.
City officials say the investigation was reviewed by the council in closed session. However, the investigative report itself has not been released publicly because the city says it is protected under attorney-client privilege.
While the city has not disclosed the details of the allegations, one of the individuals involved in the complaint provided an exclusive statement to Los Cerritos Community News describing the conduct that led to the investigation.
“I witnessed and was personally subjected to repeated inappropriate behavior by Councilmember Fuentes,” the individual told Los Cerritos Community News. “His behavior was sexually inappropriate. He is not fit to serve in public office.”
The individual said the behavior occurred over multiple encounters and was serious enough that it was reported to city officials, triggering the outside investigation.
If the council adopts the proposed resolution, Fuentes would face a series of sanctions beyond a formal public reprimand.
The proposed discipline would prohibit Fuentes from holding one-on-one meetings with city employees other than the city manager and city clerk, require him to complete training, and direct him not to retaliate against anyone involved in the complaint or investigation.
The resolution would also remove Fuentes from certain committee or delegate assignments and eliminate reimbursement for conferences, travel and lodging for the remainder of his council term.
While censure does not remove an elected official from office, it is the most severe formal discipline a city council can impose without a resignation or recall election.
The controversy comes as the city once again finds itself dealing with misconduct allegations involving its leadership.
More than a decade ago, Cudahy became a statewide symbol of municipal corruption after federal investigators arrested the city’s mayor and vice mayor in a bribery sting tied to a marijuana dispensary operator. Both officials later pleaded guilty and served prison sentences.
That scandal erupted amid national headlines over unusually high salaries paid to part-time city councilmembers—controversies that forced reforms and left the city struggling to rebuild public trust.
Now the council is again confronting allegations involving one of its own members.
The upcoming public hearing will allow residents to comment before the council decides whether to adopt the censure resolution, modify the proposed sanctions, or take no action.
For residents watching the situation unfold, the hearing may provide the first opportunity to hear councilmembers discuss the investigation publicly—though it remains unclear whether additional details about the sustained allegations will be disclosed.
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