Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Bernard Parks And Mark Ridley-Thomas Go Head Up!
The hard-fought race for a rare open seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors looks like a traditional clash over a top perch of black political power in California.But the contest between L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) also foreshadows an uncertain future for African American black political leaders in Southern California.
Latinos outnumber African Americans now by nearly 2 to 1 in the county's vast 2nd Supervisorial District, an area of 2 million people that was predominantly black until the 1990s. At its core are Crenshaw, Watts and Baldwin Hills; around the edges are Marina del Rey, Culver City, Koreatown, Compton, Carson and Inglewood.
"The changing demographics make a lot of people a little uncomfortable, because many African Americans feel they're losing political power," said Kerman Maddox, a veteran advisor to candidates in the area. "After 12 years, is the next [supervisor] going to be African American? A lot of people aren't so sure."
Even now, Ridley-Thomas is relying heavily on organized labor -- the engine of Latino power in California -- to defeat Parks, who is backed by leaders of the black political establishment. Parks' supporters include incumbent Yvonne B. Burke, former Lakers star-turned-businessman Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), the leader of a mighty old-guard political machine. The seat is the only one on the board currently held by an African American.
Whatever the racial crosscurrents, the winner of the June 3 election -- or of a November runoff if neither wins more than 50% -- will hold a job with immense power over the lives of 10.3 million people crammed into the nation's most populous county.
Though often invisible to constituents, the five supervisors oversee a sprawling and, by many measures, failing healthcare system that determines how quickly county residents get emergency treatment -- if at all. They employ more than 100,000 people, including paramedics, firefighters, sheriff's deputies, beach lifeguards, social workers, librarians, restaurant inspectors, helicopter pilots and museum curators.
Millions -- among them abused and neglected children, victims of domestic violence, the homeless, the mentally ill, jail inmates, criminals on probation, drug addicts in rehabilitation centers and welfare recipients -- depend on the county's core social services. The county's performance has been chronically substandard in many of those areas.
Ridley-Thomas and Parks are vying with seven others for the 2nd District seat at a time of deep stress on the county's $22-billion budget. Beyond threatened state and federal cuts, a decline in home values portends a drop in property-tax revenue on which the county depends.The campaign's intensity, along with its rising acrimony, stems partly from the infrequency of vacancies on the board. The seat has turned over just once since Kenneth Hahn first captured it in 1952.
Burke, who is retiring, won it in 1992 after a fiercely contested race against Diane Watson with the Los Angeles riots as the backdrop. The race pitted two of the California Democratic Party's pioneering black women against each other. Burke became the first black supervisor. Watson, the first black woman in the state Senate, now serves in Congress.
During that campaign, Latinos were just surpassing African Americans in population share. Since then, the surge of Latinos has accelerated, but many are not citizens or have not registered to vote. As a result, blacks will still be the dominant force in next week's election, making up just over 40% of the voters, with whites perhaps 30% and Latinos roughly 25%, strategists estimate.
Nonetheless, the rapid population shifts suggest that black clout will wane further by 2020, when Parks or Ridley-Thomas, if still in office, would be barred from seeking a fourth term.
"This is probably the last African American-only election in that district," said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute, a think tank on Latino politics.
Both candidates are trying to extend their appeal beyond African Americans.
A former L.A. police chief, Parks has adopted a variation of the strategy that failed him in his 2005 run for mayor. Then, he tried to build a coalition of blacks and conservative whites. This time, he is highlighting his support from such white Republicans as former Mayor Richard Riordan and county Supervisor Mike Antonovich.
Parks is running as a fiscal conservative with support from business, notably the real estate industry. He has voiced doubts about rent control and opposed a council measure to boost the wages of hotel workers.
In an interview, Parks suggested that labor's alliance with Ridley-Thomas could spell trouble for the county.
"What do you do, just drive [the county] into bankruptcy because you have an allegiance to people who have given you thousands of dollars?" Parks asked.
The two rivals have taken markedly different career paths. Following the model of Tom Bradley, L.A.'s first black mayor, Parks, 64, rose through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department, becoming chief in 1997. His ouster in 2002 engineered by a white mayor, James K. Hahn, transformed Parks into a political icon for many black voters, and he won a seat on the City Council in 2003.
CONTINUE...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Bernard Parks, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Mervyn Dymally, Rod Wright And Karen Bass: Welcome To The World Of LA's Black Politics
According to a poll released last week by San Francisco-based David Binder Research, the five-point advantage Los Angeles 8th District Councilman Bernard Parks has in name recognition over California State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, in their race for the 2nd District supervisorial seat, is blown away as soon as voters hear the positives and negatives of both candidates.In a simulated campaign conducted in mid-March, the Binder firm found that among 804 likely voters, Ridley-Thomas took a strong 22-point lead over Parks once they saw the difference between the two candidates and learned something about them other than their names.
Read The Compelling Our Weekly Article On Both Candidates
According to the poll, which was commissioned by labor unions and conducted independently of the Ridley-Thomas campaign, the senator leads the councilman, 45 percent to 23 percent, and improves his position substantially among Democrats, the largest group of voters in the 2nd District.
In other developments in that race, Ridley-Thomas recently added United Teachers Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Teachers Assn., the United Farm Workers of America, the Sierra Club, and the unanimous endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party to his list of endorsements.
In addition to getting the powerhouse endorsement of Congresswoman Maxine Waters as well as sitting supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Parks got the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, the new group of business owners formed to counteract the effectiveness of organized labor. Parks is far ahead in fundraising and name recognition as the former Los Angeles Chief of Police as well as being named as People Magazine's Most Beautiful People.
Meanwhile Mervyn Dymally and Rod Wright, both candidates for the 25th state Senate District race, are duking it out as well. While my Kappa brother Dymally has raised more money and currently serves as an assemblmen, Wright has secured the endorsement of the California Teachers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Linda Harris-Forster, candidate for Dymally's seat and daughter of the legendary Sweet Alice of Compton, won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party at its convention last weekend, as well as the endorsement of that endorsin’ machine Sheriff Lee Baca. Deborah Sims LeBlanc, also running for the 52nd Assembly District, has been endorsed by the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California — South Bay.
And it looks like Fabian Wesson, wife of LA City Councilman and former California Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, may be taking a stab at her husband's old seat after Karen Bass is termed out in 2010.
Bass, who will be sworn as the first African American female Speaker of the California Assembly on May 15th, currently represents the 47th District. We have much love for Fabian and we think she would pack quite a wallop in Sacramento. Who knows, Wesson could end up replacing Bass in more ways than one!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
BLACK POLITICAL POWER IN LOS ANGELES: SUPERVISOR YVONNE BURKE ENDORSES FORMER LA POLICE CHIEF BERNARD PARKS
Political Rumble On The West Coast Is On & Crackin
Former Black Congresswoman and current LA County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke has endorsed City Councilman Bernard Parks as the next County District 2 supervisor.
Parks, once named as People Magazine's "Most Beautiful People" said he is “honored” to have Burke’s endorsement. “It would give my candidacy a major boost and I would look forward to continuing her legacy on the board,” the one-time mayoral candidate and former police chief of Los Angeles said.
Public hospital closures, a housing crisis, budget cuts and a financial strain on social services make this a critical race Burke told reporters last year. “I am proud to endorse Councilmember Parks as the next Supervisor of the 2nd District. I know he will work tirelessly to make this district a better place for our children and families. He will continue the fight for King Drew Medical Center, improve our schools, and fight gang and youth violence on our streets. We need his leadership on the Board of Supervisors...”
Burke is retiring this year, choosing Parks over State Senator Mark Ridley Thomas as her successor. Next to Barack Obama, this race is shaping up to be the most exciting combats in local Black politics in years. And trust us, it will not be pretty.Playing nice for now, Ridley Thomas had this to say about the endorsement “I met with Supervisor Burke and she was very cordial and respectful and said she was supporting Parks.”