SOUTH OF THE 10 - I urge the City Council to immediately suspend Councilmember Ridley-Thomas just as they did after the arrest of former Councilmember Jose Huizar last year.
Council President Nury Martinez took the necessary action on Huizar in an effort to restore trust in our Council, when Huizar was indicted. The Council is talking about doing the same with Ridley-Thomas. It is my hope that the Council will act swiftly here.
Yesterday, Ridley-Thomas was indicted on federal corruption charges. The investigation has lasted three long years and the people of Los Angeles should not have to wait another day to have honest leadership. Yesterday was a sad day for the people of Los Angeles, but Ridley-Thomas can do the right thing and put us on a path of constituent-focused leadership by resigning.
During Ridley-Thomas’ 30 years in various political offices, he has avoided rules, skirted the law, exploited legal loopholes, and broken the law. He has used his political power to enrich himself, his family, and friends for decades. His actions have not all been legal, nor always illegal; however exploiting loopholes in the law is still highly unethical. It harms the people he represents along with adding to the distrust people have in elected leaders.
Last year, I ran for LA City Council against Ridley-Thomas and my supporters exposed numerous ethical and legal violations made by Ridley-Thomas and his political pals. We published the information online and in mailers, however, Ridley-Thomas spent millions of dollars in false and misleading advertising so the voters were not able to determine the truth.
Pay-to-play must end and we need to root out corruption in order to bring effective representation to the people of L.A. I hope today ushers in a new era of honesty and a focus on public service that the people of Los Angeles deserve.
Grace Yoo
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