The Daily Breeze Endorses Bernard C. Parks for Supervisor

The endorsements keep rolling in! This morning The Daily Breeze has endorsed me, Bernard C. Parks for Supervisor of the 2^nd District. Below you will find the editorial in which the endorsement was announced.

Bernard Parks for Supervisor

Article Launched: 05/28/2008 09:54:46 PM PDT

Like most of those who have analyzed the nine-person race to succeed Second District Supervisor Yvonne Burke, we view the race as a duel between former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks and State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Both candidates have valuable experience and are well-versed on issues facing the county's Second District, which includes Carson, Gardena, Lawndale and Inglewood. What voters need to do is decide whose background is the better fit for the position of supervisor.

Ridley-Thomas, as a state legislator and former L.A. city councilman, certainly understands role of crafting legislation. As a former teacher and civil rights leader, he is skilled at bringing people together.

That said, however, our nod goes to Parks, who as a second-term L.A. city councilman has chaired the Budget and Finance Committee and the Coliseum Commission. The role of supervisor is not only to set policy in the county, but to oversee a massive bureaucracy populated by thousands of public employees. As L.A.'s former police chief, Parks has the experience of administering an agency of 13,000 people. Through his service as an elected leader, he has worked in tandem with organizations such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, National League of Cities and Southern California Association of Governments.

We're also persuaded that Parks would take a consistent and balanced view when dealing with labor-management issues. Ridley-Thomas has benefited from strong financial support from organized labor, while Parks draws support from businesses and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce. Parks, who opposed the city of L.A.'s effort to impose a living wage ordinance on hotels near Los Angeles International Airport, wants to be fair to employee unions in contract talks but rejects all-or-nothing approaches.

Like Ridley-Thomas, Parks favors new approaches for the county health care system and, in particular, returning King-Harbor Medical Center to a full-service hospital. Parks is open to the idea of an independent county health authority or an elected county surgeon general to manage the system.

On the subject of economic development, Parks would work to attract more market-rate housing and businesses other than fast food and auto-related enterprises.

And while Parks certainly has law-enforcement credentials, he would push for more youth services such as recreation, after-school and literacy programs to break the cycle of gang crime.

Parks' endorsements include elected officials from South Bay cities as well as outgoing Supervisor Yvonne Burke, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan and L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. We urge residents in the Second District to cast their ballots for Bernard Parks on Tuesday.