The son of Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson says he and his wife have reimbursed the city for $2,768 in security services provided at their wedding, it was reported this week.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that the Los Angeles Police Department, at taxpayer expense, assigned four officers and a sergeant to the wedding of Justin Wesson and Alexis Marin, a staffer for Councilwoman Nury Martinez.
An LAPD spokesman said at the time that the city was not reimbursed for 38 hours of wedding security provided at the Sept. 9 event. But on Monday, after a series of inquiries from The Times, Wesson’s office sent a statement from Justin Wesson saying he has decided to cover the security costs.
“While we had no control over the LAPD’s decision to assign officers to protect city leaders at our wedding, we want to remove even the hint that there was any special consideration for our event, so we have reimbursed LAPD,’’ he said in an statement emailed to The Times.
Justin Wesson, who is viewed as a possible council candidate in the 2020 election, did not say in his statement what day the payment was made and did not respond when The Times asked. He has been an aide to his father since 2011 and currently earns $103,188 annually, said a spokesman for the personnel department.
Marin, his wife, earns a reported $90,376 a year as the legislative director for Martinez.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who attended the wedding but not the reception, had his own two-person LAPD security detail with him at the event, said a mayoral spokesman.
Last week, former Police Chief Charlie Beck defended the decision to send officers to the Wesson-Marin wedding, saying the department provides security for events with “high-profile people who are at elevated risk.’’
