Mark Ridley-"Republican?"

As the scandal-plagued Service Employees International Union(SEIU) launched its media campaign  last night wrongfully accusing Councilmember Bernard C. Parks of being against rent control and condemning his support by Republicans, questions remain as to why Parks’ opponent, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas,  purchased Republican slates for the primary election.  

The slates, which the Ridley-Thomas campaign purchased for thousands of dollarts, promote anti-rent control measures and “Continuing the Republican Revolution” with messages from late former President Ronald Reagan, presidential candidate Senator John McCain and former California Governor Pete Wilson– all Republicans.

During a debate that aired on KPFK(90.7 FM) radio station Sunday, October 5th at 1 P.M., Senator Ridley-Thomas at first denied his affiliation with the “Republican Revolution” until Parks provided the documents that left no doubt. Once cornered,  Ridley-Thomas  showed off  his super hero-like ability to ignore the issue. 

When asked by the Times about his candidate’s role in the “Republican Revolution”, Ridley-Thomas Campaign mouthpiece Fred MacFarlane clumsily stated,  "Well, I think, you know, we can appeal to Republican voters as the best choice for all the people in the 2nd District, notwithstanding any revolution."

Well said, Fred. 

While Councilmember Parks embraces his support from members of both parties, it is ironic that the  Ridley-Thomas campaign is sending out mixed messages about its candidate all while directly funding the presidential campaign of John McCain, the rival of the man Ridley-Thomas claims to support: Senator Barack Obama.

“This is just the latest about face pulled by the Ridley-Thomas campaign,”said Parks campaign spokesperson Jeannae Rouzan. “Ridley-Thomas has switched sides on everything from his support of Parks’ LAPD career to his support of Senator Gloria Romero’s bill on police disclosure to his new found love for the Los Angeles Police Protective League.”

In 2002, Ridley-Thomas penned an L.A. Times opinion piece entitled: "Parks Proved His Leadership". In it, Ridley-Thomas goes out of his way to praise Parks' accomplishments as Chief-- even mentioning that Parks deserved another five-year term at the helm of the department. The Ridley-Thomas-authored editorial seems to be in direct conflict with his sudden criticisms of Parks’ LAPD career.

 Below are some other excerpts from the opinion piec e written by Ridley-Thomas:

* "Parks has confronted the issues of objectionable police tactics and street crime head-on..."

*  "... his (Parks') work ethic is unmatched and his competence unparalleled." 

* "Without a doubt, Parks is a proven leader..."

* "Parks has continued to push forward to create a new and improved LAPD."

* "Parks has taken the difficult stance of remaining true to providing leadership for change."


In fact, Ridley-Thomas felt so strongly about Parks' leadership that he included the opinion piece in a campaign mailer he used to run for the State Assembly. In the mailer, he accuses the union that represents LAPD officers, the Police Protective League(PPL), of: “historically resenting reform" and  “engaging in a vicious attack campaign to fire our Chief Bernard Parks". Ironically, in Ridley-Thomas' mailers for his race for Supervisor, he trumpets the PPL's endorsement of his campaign, while making the same attacks against Parks that the union did in 2002.  

More recently, Ridley-Thomas signed on to a bill authored by Senator Romero that, if approved, would increase media access to disciplinary hearings and records involving LAPD officers. However, after receiving the endorsement from the PPL and the Association for L.A. Deputy Sheriffs(ALADS), his name mysteriously vanished from the legislation.

“It’s no coincidence,” Rouzan said. “Mark merely changed his vote in exchange for the endorsements. That’s how backroom deals work. And, if you’ve been reading the paper lately he and his labor boss buddies at SEIU are masters of the backroom deal.”