My recommendation-- Vote June 3rd

Let's talk about the Supervisor's race between Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and Councilman Bernard Parks. This campaign has really ripped apart our community at the seams...reminding me of the bitter race between Yvonne Burke and Diane Watson 16 years ago. Do you remember how divisive that was?

But here we are...Bernard Parks, the man many of us fought for most recently because we did not like the way the LAPD brass was treating him, versus Mark Ridley-Thomas, the man who has been so consistently successful in office, his innovations--the Empowerment Congress and neighborhood councils--have been copied all over the country because he gives the constituents a voice.

Mark and I have known each other since he was at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 1970's. He later became the executive director and hired me to do PR for the organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King. I thought I was going to ease into the position but from day one I hit the ground running.

Mark was always sought-after, busy, tech savvy, and committed, and was a fair boss. And all these years later for us to be on good terms with a former boss is saying something.

I once took my youngest son Jaaye, then 2 years old, to his house to see him and his equally intelligent wife, Avis. Mark always laughs remembering how my kid started knocking on the refrigerator door so he could get some food. Mark was tickled about my boys, then went on to have two of his own sons...the twins.

And Jaaye, who is now 25, is still knocking on doors, but this time he is knocking for Mark, elbow deep in his campaign for supervisor.

At the beginning of their campaigning season, the week after the hype of the California Primary in which we got the chance to vote for (or against) a black man--Senator Barack Obama, I moderated a campaign forum between Senator Ridley-Thomas, Councilman Bernard Parks and "Big Money Griff" Morris Griffin. KJLH's Jacquie Stephens fell ill and called me that morning at 6 a.m. to pinch hit for her, which I normally would do. Holman United Methodist Church was packed with hundreds of people and despite some technical broadcast difficulties, it went well-- or so I thought.

I kept the response time equal, and received many compliments for fairness. Having covered this community for decades and having moderated candidates forums before, you tend to know all of the players. I could have shown Mark favoritism, but I did not. I respected all three candidates. However, for a myriad of reasons, that was my last day at the station.

Since I am no longer saddled with having to be fair and balanced anymore, I can pick a candidate. To bolster my research, I attended a debate at the Foundation for the Junior Blind and I have seen growth in Mark as a candidate from that first debate. The biggest criticism he receives is that he is aloof and somewhat pompous. To that I say two things. First, to know him is to love him. Mark has a great sense of humor but he takes his work and his word seriously. If he says he will do something, he will do it. As for the big words (hence the pompousness)it comes with the territory of being a scholar and a Ph.D. But is he a great public servant? Yes. He really is, and he is very well connected, across the cultural divide. Is he a wonderful husband and father? No other politician I know exudes so much love, dedication and inclusion for his family --Avis and Sebastian and Sinclair--as Mark. If he comes off any other way, take the time to get to read up on him and see how he fights for his constituents and is very accessible. Mark is younger and that seat is a long term, and powerful seat. We need someone in there with consistency, people power and staying power.

As for Parks, to his credit, he too is popular and he and our family go way back as well. We supported him when we thought he was being abused by the LAPD powers that be. If you want to vote for him after you have done your research, fine. I think our community needs to get beyond mentally murdering people because we vote for different candidates.

The ugliness of this race is really not between the candidates as much as it is in their supporters--their camp directors-- who go overboard to smear the names of their favorites and try to wield power to ruin professional relationships. Doing that through the media is foul. Doing it through media you own is taking us to a new low. As a journalist, I take balanced reporting seriously and our media owes it to us to provide both sides and let the readers make up their minds.

Unfortunately, as Barack Obama shows us, your supporters can kill your efforts. So, as voters, we need to look a little deeper, but time is running out. Sometimes, you gotta take a recommendation from someone you trust. If you trust me, my recommendation is vote for Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas for 2nd District Supervisor, Tuesday, June 3.

The photo above of Jaaye (left) and Kwaku (right) was taken by Leroy Hamilton. To see more of Leroy's work which captures Mark's political life, click here: http://www.photographybyhamilton.com/mrt.htm . To support him, visit: www.markridleythomas.com