1. A Senator Ridley-Thomas Op-Ed, “The 2nd District has Waited Too Long for Safe Neighborhoods, Jobs and Healthcare,” is posted at City Watch:

I’m running for Supervisor to represent the people of the 2nd District because county services have declined in the past eight years. 2nd District residents have waited too long for changes that will improve their quality of life. They don’t want more of the same. They want change. They want safe neighborhoods. They want jobs. They want healthcare.

We must provide families in the 2nd District with access to quality health services. We must give residents access to life-saving emergency medical care that is close-to-home, not across town. I plan to reopen Martin Luther King Hospital as a revitalized and competent medical center by January 2010.

We must launch effective crime prevention and gang intervention programs. I will forge partnerships with communities and law enforcement that will make every 2nd District city, community and neighborhood safer than they are today.

I have a 17-year record of bringing diverse communities together to bring about change in government through solid, forward-looking public policies driven by community empowerment. I bring activism to the job of Supervisor. That is what the people of the 2nd District want. I’m prepared to deliver.

Read the entire Op-Ed.

2. The Westside Progressives endorse Mark Ridley-Thomas for L.A. County Supervisor.

3. Who’s Who Publishing released its inaugural edition of “Who’s Who In Black Los Angeles” yesterday. The new book “chronicles prominent Living Legends” and “Interesting Personalities, including Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, Speaker Karen Bass, Tavis Smiley, Isaiah Washington and Mablean Ephriam, to name a few.”

4. Senator Ridley-Thomas is “Taking face time with voters” according to a Los Angeles Wave headline. The article notes that “Ridley-Thomas ramped up his campaign Tuesday night with the opening of an office in Inglewood, an event attended by around 50 supporters.”

5. The Front Page Online posted an amusing and informative article titled, “Go Take a Hike, Sen. Ridley-Thomas and Others Were Advised. They Did, and They Had Fun”:

With the Sierra Club providing the impetus, with Tito’s Tacos providing a mountain of nutrition, with state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Culver City) providing the star power, and with nature providing the terrific backdrop of woodsy, romantically adventurous Kenny Hahn State Park, a grand social experiment , a one-mile hike, was about to take flight.

The senator, who is running against L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks for a seat on the County Board of Supervisors, did not just happen into the park.

For being a loyal friend of the environment, said Bill Vanderberg, of the Sierra Club, the best known environmemtal group in America has endorsed him in the Nov. 4 election.

6. Fred MacFarlane has a tongue in cheek reaction on The Front Page Online to a new Bernard Parks video posted on his website:

“All in all, I’d have to say Mr. Parks’ video message sets a new standard. It is, without a doubt, the ultimate video equivalent of Sominex. That’s a feat that’s hard to achieve, but boy, did they ever do it.”

7. A Fix Expo statement before the L.A. City Council was harshly critical of Bernard Parks. It concluded:

And so we will begin coming to this Council meeting more regularly to submit to you the documents and concerns they’ve ignored, in part, because we have no other option. Parks and Perry have refused to listen; they have refused to lead.

UPCOMING EVENTS

8. Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and The Empowerment Congress are hosting a very special and intriguing discussion on “Your Genes: Choice or Chance?” at the California Science Center, 700 State Drive, L.A., CA 90037. Register online.

9. Senator Ridley-Thomas is helping sponsor a free disaster preparedness fair — “Prepare Today - Survive Tomorrow” — at the California African American Museum (CAAM) on Saturday, October 25, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

10. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Please call Shauna at (323) 733-2002 to lend your support:

A. Be a Paperboy/Papergirl this Saturday. We’ll have more 10,000 Dems in Faith newspapers to distribute to churches across LA County.

B. Manual Arts Homecoming Parade Saturday at 11 a.m. Help pass out campaign literature while Senator Ridley-Thomas is honored as Grand Marshal.

C. Coffee, phone banking and precinct walking at campaign headquarters tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 10:20 am and is filed under Mark Ridley-Thomas, Morning Links. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.