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The president of the Board of Public Works, one of the few full-time commission jobs at City Hall, announced today she will resign the $130,000 post effective next week. She has been on leave since November, shortly after it was revealed that she left her 11-year-old daughter alone in City Hall to go drinking at a Little Tokyo hotel. At the time she went on paid leave, Alarcon said she was entering some kind of unspecified "treatment." She had previously been arrested in San Bernardino County on suspicion of DUI and child endangerment, since her daughter was in the car.
In her statement today, Alarcon apologized and referred to the "gravity of my actions," without hinting at what those were.
I understand and have prayed deeply on the gravity of my actions. I have profound regret for the missteps of my past and apologize to the Mayor, Council, Department of Public Works, the city family and the residents of Los Angeles.
I am grateful for the difficult lessons that I have learned and am now healthier and stronger. Through this experience, I have been reminded of my most important job -- being a mom. I look forward to the next chapter in my life dedicated to my family and my daughter. I ask that our privacy be respected as we continue to heal. It has been an honor and privilege to serve this great city.
Her father, Councilman Richard Alarcon, said he supported her decision to resign and focus on sobriety. From the LA Times:
"The important thing is that she is maintaining her sobriety and she is on a path to recovery,'' the veteran San Fernando Valley politician said. "She’s not specifically in a facility, but she is definitely going through a recovery process."[He] said getting out of City Hall's "glass house" would help his 33-year-old daughter focus on getting healthy.
"Everybody in the public eye has to come to a decision at some point, when negative things happen, if you want to continue down a road where you are subject to public scrutiny and criticism, or if you want to get out of the public eye and focus on your family and everything else,'' he said. "I think she made that decision."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa accepted Andrea Alarcon's resignation and wished her well. "I am encouraged by her commitment to addressing personal issues that have surfaced in recent months and know that she is already on a good path forward," the mayor said in a statement.
