Wattree's picture

    Mark Ridley-Thomas and Crony, Alex Johnson - An Insidious Virus Within the Black Community

    BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE


    Mark Ridley-Thomas and Crony, Alex Johnson: An Insidious Virus Within the Black Community

    Mark Ridley-Thomas, Alex Johnson

    Three of the most tenaciously destructive problems endemic to the Black community is political apathy, a lack of education, and the self-serving corruption of some of our politicians and so-called "community leaders;" and the race for District 1 of the Los Angeles Unified School District has revealed conclusively that County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and his new young crony, Alex Johnson, are the resulting embodiment of all three of those problems.
    .
    Subsequent to the sudden and untimely passing of longtime LAUSD board member, Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, a large coalition of parents, clergy, politicians, local activists, and groups within the education community came together to support the interim appointment of George McKenna to complete Ms. LaMotte’s term of office. That’s how such matters have been routinely handled in the past. 
    .
    McKenna is a lifelong educator with an illustrious background, a proven track record, and is highly respected - in fact, he is esteemed - within the educational community. He became nationally renowned after being portrayed by Denzel Washington in the movie, "Hard Lessons," chronicling McKenna’s stunning turnaround of George Washington Preparatory High School in South Central Los Angeles. McKenna enjoys the endorsement of the Democratic Party, the United Teachers Los Angeles, the LA Times, La Opinión, LA Sentinel and over 100 leaders in the education, ecumenical, political, civic community, and now, 4 of 5 of his former June 3rd opponents.
    .
    Yet, in spite of all of the support that George McKenna enjoys from within the community, and there's a regular election scheduled for March 3rd of next year, and by forcing a SPECIAL election the community was left without representation for months and it costs the district over $2.5 million that could have been used to educate our young people, Mark Ridley-Thomas completely ignored all of that and used all of the political influence that he could muster to force a special election.  So why did he thumb his nose at what was clearly in the best interest of the community? It's simple - so he could deny George McKenna the advantage of incumbency and promote the candidacy of a political crony, Alex Johnson, one of his deputies on educational affairs.
    .
    It was a clear case of giving the political consolidation of power priority over the best interest of the people.  Again, it was a blatant act of cronyism - or, to be more specific, an act of promoting friends and associates to positions of authority without proper regard for their qualifications, or lack thereof, in direct opposition to the interest of the people. So let this be a teaching moment - White folks don't corner the market on undermining the Black community for political gain.  It is very important that we learn that lesson as a community.
    .
    But of course, Johnson/Thomas supporters might ask, how do we know that Supervisor Ridley-Thomas doesn’t simply feel that Alex Johnson is the better man?
    .
    That’s a very simple question to answer - the tone of the Johnson/Thomas campaign. Whenever you have a candidate whose primary concern is to better the plight and conditions of the people, that’s what their campaign will focus upon. Such a politician will generally come to the people with an agenda, tell the people what he or she hopes to accomplish, and then begin to explain why they think they’re the better candidate. But that certainly doesn’t describe the Johnson/Thomas campaign. They came out slinging mud and feces everywhere.
    .
    Alex Johnson and Ridley-Thomas have taken a page right of the Republican play book. They’re using the EXACT same tactics against George McKenna as the GOP has been using against President Obama - "never mind what's in the best interest of the people; what's right is what's best for me" - and that fact alone should tell us that these two individuals, and ALL politicians of their ilk, are bad news for the Black community. 
    .
    Yes, this is a story local to Los Angeles, but it has national implications. It is incumbent upon the Black community to get rid of these kind of political buzzards all across the country. If we fail to do so, we're literally VOTING for second-class citizenship. We have enough on our plate without having to fight to get a fair shake and justice from "own." 
    .
    These people have no sense of integrity. Just like the GOP, they hope to benefit from anger, animosity, and turmoil rather than competence and integrity. That accounts for why they're slinging mud instead of an agenda, because they clearly don’t have a viable agenda to present. 
    .
    They don’t want that seat because they want to help the people. They couldn’t care less about the people. They want that office - or ANY office - because it helps to consolidate the PERSONAL political power of Mark Ridley-Thomas. Period.   
    .
    Ridley-Thomas’ behavior seems to indicate that he sees himself as the big city version of "Boss Hog"(no pun intended) - and this sort of thing has been going on for quite some time with him. In the 2010 article, "L.A. County supervisor gives his side of the story," that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez writes:
    .
    "L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas greeted me warmly Monday afternoon, even though I'd come to hear him explain why he used $25,000 in taxpayer money to buy a place in "Who's Who in Black Los Angeles." I wanted to ask him whether his decision to buy the spread had anything to do with the fact that the book's associate publisher has made campaign donations to the supervisor and is a longtime ally.
    .
    "But first Ridley-Thomas wanted to give me a tour of his office, which he had intended to refurbish at a cost of $707,000 — until the project made the news . . ."
    .
    In the same article, Lopez gives Ridley-Thomas’ explanation as to why he paid $25,000 of the taxpayer’s money to be featured in "Who’s Who in Black Los Angeles":
    .
    " Ridley-Thomas told me it was worth honoring those county employees because many in the African American community ‘don't know’ there are black people ‘in positions of leadership’ in the county. I thought he must be kidding, but he said he wasn't. I suggested that it might be cheaper to use his newsletter to break the news, rather than "Who's Who," especially since I don't think anybody's buying the book unless they're featured in it.
    .
    "I wasn't all that surprised to learn that the associate publisher of "Who's Who," Anthony Samad, happens to be a longtime friend of Ridley-Thomas. But I was a little rattled to discover when I looked up campaign contributions that Samad donated $1,250 to Ridley-Thomas' campaign in 2007 and 2008. And that's not all. I also laid my hands on a document showing that Samad had been awarded a $24,999 consulting contract in 2002 by the city of Los Angeles, at the behest of then-Councilman Ridley-Thomas."
    .
    Now, I suppose if one is a logical contortionist, one could say that by funneling that money to Anthony Samad, it COULD be considered funneling it back into the community. But I’m not a contortionist, so it looks to me like cronyism - especially considering the fact that Samad is one of Ridley-Thomas’ longtime friends and political contributors. But I’m not going to past judgment on whether this kind of palm-greasing is improper or not. While it looks highly suspect to me, I’m going to leave it to the readers to make that determination for themselves.
    .
    But it does make one thing irrefutably clear, however - Mark Ridley-Thomas feels absolutely no reluctance in using his office to promote his own interest and benefit friends, and that’s exactly what he’s doing in this race for District 1 of the LAUSD. But this time it's a little different from greasing a friend’s palm. This time around, by supporting his friend, the eminently inexperienced Alex Johnson over the renowned George McKenna, he’s clearly demonstrating that his loyalty to self, friends, and cronies is given a much higher priority than you and your children, and that represents a fatal flaw in a politician. 
    .
    So the bottom line is this - with all the adversity that we're already forced to face in the Black community, can we afford to also have politicians in office who place their needs before our own?  I don't think so - and we need to keep that thought in mind, not only in the coming election, but also, when Mark Ridley-Thomas himself faces the voters again. 
    .
    When a politician becomes so comfortable in his position that he begins to think that HE'S more important than the people, it's time to get rid of him.

    Eric L. Wattree
    Http://wattree.blogspot.com
    [email protected]
    Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
    .
    Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

    Comments

    Wow, could this piece possibly be even more one-sided? Not all teachers are as wild about McKenna's leadership as this piece would have you believe. Here's a sample why:
    http://fremontwatch.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/selling-out-and-moving-up-where-does-that-leave-teachers/


    Well, Bill,

    Let's put it this way.  My position seems to be the general consensus of the people in the community. With 45% of the vote, George McKenna received twice the number of votes that Alex Johnson did, and the only reason that McKenna didn't win outright was because the field was so crowded. And since the June 3rd primaries 4 of McKenna's 5 opponents have come out to endorse him. In addition, he's also been endorsed by 3 of the 6 board members, the teacher's union, the Democratic Party, and the the District's police department. In fact, as a direct result of this stunt pulled by Mark Ridley-Thomas, I was informed last night that a recall movement is being formed against him. So I think I'm standing on pretty firm ground.


    So someone passed on a rumor to you about a recall effort and now you're repeating that rumor on a message board -- the ground can't get any shakier than that. If McKenna has been endorsed by 3 of the 6 board members, or if these are just more rumors, if anything, that may be a good reason not to support him. 


    Bill,

    I thought I’d take the time to visit your link, and it was nothing more than a rant by a person who describes himself in the following terms:

    "I am also grateful to help to write a small part of a plan for one of the potential small schools, however the "thinness" of the UTLA contract may preclude me from even considering a position there, not that they would want such a rabble rouser as me."

    And the only mention of George Mckenna is in a quote. One of the people who commented on the rant said, "Ah, I forgot, Dr. McKenna has stated on more than one occasion that teaching is easy, that all you have to do is open the book and teach."

    While I do recognize that teachers have many legitimate complaints that need to be addressed, overall, I think Dr. Mckenna’s position represents a pretty good assessment of the bottom line.


    Wattree, 

    You engaged in a little selective reading. Right after the quote you cited, it also states,

    "Since everything is supposed to be data-driven, I wonder what data is driving

    Dr. McKenna? Perhaps he’d like to share what these educational researchers have
    uncovered. Just a suggestion. It would make the whole process seem at least
    slightly palatable. Or is the intent to make a class of professionals whom Dr.
    McKenna clearly despises gag on the bitterness he’d serve up?

    And since Gompers, the school which was being visited by Secretary Arne Duncan
    when Superintendent Cortines humiliated the staff at Fremont, is part of the
    Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, why is Dr. McKenna even there in the first
    place?"

    I don't think many teachers who had their careers ruined at Fremont would feel reassured by your passing interest. 


    Bill,

    I'm not engaged in selective reading; I just didn't get your point. What you quoted was a rant by ONE person. Is your point that you found a person who doesn't support George McKenna?  If it is, I'll conceded that point.  It's evident by the fact that Alex Johnson even has a campaign at all.  But the fact remains that McKenna received 45% of the vote in a field of six, and with the exception of Johnson himself, all of the other candidates who ran against him on June 3rd have thrown their support behind Mckenna. So again, what's your point?


    Eric, I have told you several times before that I am just a white guy who is in love with the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the United  States Constitution.

    And as you well know, there were so many statutes passed following the passage of those Amendments, eg. 1981, 1982, 1983....

    The folks who passed those Amendments and these Statutes, were radicals! So radical that a majority of the US Supreme Court, found ways around the Amendments as well as these Statutes decades later!

    But damn, in 2014 I see My President out there arguing in favor of these old laws and Amendments and The Media (what the hell does that mean anyway?) and folks from the left whether they are white or black or brown or whatever, constantly ask:

    WHY DOES NOT HE SAY ANYTHING?

     

    I do not know what more he can do

    He sets ;up the oratory with all these folks hand picked behind him; he does the O'Reilly thing by underlining that Black Fathers must be present; he speaks about the Minorities and their .

    challenge and the POSSIBILITIES.

    Yeah, fine.

    Attack from THE LEFT?

    i DO NOT GET IT!

    I just saw him today, again. Following yesterday and the day before.

    I dunnno.

    I really like this guy.

    And he brings me hope.

    And I do not think for a minute that those folks standing behind him and in the audience do not feel this hope.

    I certainly do.WE CAN DO BETTER.

    the end


    I agree, Richard,

    I've come to the conclusion that President Obama's biggest problem with both the media, and some people on the left, is a direct result of the brutal assault that has taken place on our educational system over the past thirty years. We no longer have the independent and insightful thinkers that we once did in this country. Many people simply follow the person with the biggest megaphone, and the President is not predisposed to screaming.


    Latest Comments