Ridley-Thomas says he has ‘no intention of resigning’ following indictment

In his archetypal nationalist connection pursuing his indictment connected national corruption charges, Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said connected Friday, Oct. 15, that helium has “no volition of resigning” his spot and is focused connected warring the allegations.

“When I ran for City Council, I made it wide that my highest precedence would beryllium addressing the city’s stateless and lodging crises, and that remains the case. There is nary contented that matters much to Angelenos and to me,” Ridley-Thomas said successful a prepared statement.

“That said, I person nary volition of resigning my spot connected the City Council oregon neglecting my duties. Doing truthful would beryllium to the detriment of the radical I serve, and I person nary volition of leaving my constituents without a dependable connected matters that straight impact their well-being.

“Going forward, I mean to bash 2 things: disprove the allegations leveled astatine maine and proceed the enactment I was elected to bash — astir importantly, addressing the stateless and lodging crisis.”

The 66-year-old Ridley-Thomas is simply a elephantine fig successful section politics, antecedently serving connected the Los Angeles City Council from 1991-2002, past serving successful the authorities Assembly and authorities Senate earlier helium was elected to the almighty region Board of Supervisors successful 2008, serving until 2020 erstwhile helium returned to the City Council.

The 20-count indictment filed successful Los Angeles national tribunal connected Wednesday alleges that Ridley-Thomas conspired with Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83, erstwhile dean of USC’s School of Social Work, who prosecutors assertion agreed to supply Ridley-Thomas’ lad with postgraduate schoolhouse admission, a full-tuition assistance and a paid professorship astatine the university. She besides allegedly arranged to funnel a $100,000 donation from Ridley-Thomas’ run funds done the assemblage to a nonprofit to beryllium operated by his son.

In exchange, the indictment alleges, Ridley-Thomas, who was astatine the clip a Los Angeles County Supervisor, supported contracts involving the School of Social Work, including contracts to supply services to the region Department of Children and Family Services and Probation Department, arsenic good arsenic an amendment to a declaration with the Department of Mental Health that would bring the schoolhouse millions of dollars successful caller revenue.

Ridley-Thomas is scheduled to beryllium arraigned Wednesday day successful downtown Los Angeles. Flynn’s arraignment was acceptable for Oct. 25.

Attorneys for some person denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Ridley-Thomas’ attorney, Michael J. Proctor, said Thursday the councilman “was shocked by the national allegations leveled against him, and with bully reason. They are wrong, and we look guardant to disproving them.”

Proctor said that astatine nary constituent successful Ridley-Thomas’ governmental career, “not arsenic a subordinate of the City Council, the authorities Legislature oregon the Board of Supervisors has helium abused his presumption for idiosyncratic gain. Mark Ridley-Thomas has been successful nationalist work for 30 years, and his actions person been unfastened to nationalist scrutiny for a afloat 3 decades. Over those 30 years, helium has demonstrated the prime of his character.”

“We inquire you to let owed process to instrumentality its course,” the lawyer said.

Flynn’s attorney, Vicki I. Podberesky, said, “Marilyn Flynn has devoted her full nonrecreational beingness to the tract of societal work. She has spent implicit 45 years successful academia and has worked tirelessly for the betterment and betterment of the societal payment web successful Los Angeles and astir the country. Ms. Flynn has not committed immoderate transgression and we judge that the grounds successful this lawsuit volition yet enactment this conclusion.”

Ridley-Thomas is the 3rd L.A. City Councilman to beryllium indicted successful the past mates of years. Jose Huizar pleaded not blameworthy successful December to bribery and different national charges successful a racketeering indictment, and Mitchell Englander was sentenced successful January to 14 months down bars for lying to national authorities astir his dealings with a businessman who provided him $15,000 successful concealed currency payments and a nighttime successful Las Vegas.

On Friday, Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson raised concerns astir the wide contented of corruption wrong municipal government.

“I’ve been connected the assembly six years, there’s not been 1 twelvemonth I’ve been connected the assembly wherever 1 of my colleagues oregon much person not been either nether investigation, indicted, oregon successful the lawsuit of 1 subordinate past twelvemonth really incarcerated and sits successful jailhouse astatine this moment,” Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson told KCRW. “I deliberation determination needs to beryllium greater transparency astir what each of america are doing.”

Harris-Dawson noted the daze of the allegations against Ridley-Thomas, idiosyncratic who has been a person successful L.A. authorities for astir Harris-Dawson’s full big life.

“To spot these charges travel guardant against idiosyncratic who holds a Ph.D. successful societal morals is rather jarring,” Harris-Dawson added.

Civil rights activists who person agelong lauded Ridley-Thomas’ work to the assemblage person urged against a unreserved to judgement successful the case. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said the handling of the lawsuit could person semipermanent consequences for Ridley-Thomas’ 10th Council District, which includes areas specified arsenic Arlington Heights, Koreatown, Leimert Park, Gramercy Park, Mid-City, Wilshire Center and Baldwin Village.

“The national charges against Thomas are serious,” Hutchinson said. “However, Thomas’ constituents indispensable beryllium the ones to determine his fate. There indispensable beryllium nary unreserved to judgement connected his aboriginal connected the assembly and successful the territory helium represents. This would beryllium a gross disservice to his constituents.”

Hutchinson’s comments followed Councilman Joe Buscaino’s telephone for Ridley-Thomas to beryllium surrender his assembly seat. City Council President Nury Martinez, meanwhile, said the assembly “will request to instrumentality due action” against Ridley-Thomas, though she did not supply specifics.

When Huizar was arrested past twelvemonth successful transportation with his corruption case, the assembly voted to suspend him, leaving his unit to service arsenic caretakers for the district. Such a determination against Ridley-Thomas could person longer-range consequences, leaving the 10th District without an elected typical astatine a clip erstwhile the metropolis is successful the midst of redrawing assembly territory lines.

Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who sits connected the Homelessness and Poverty Committee, called connected Ridley-Thomas to astatine slightest measurement down arsenic president of the committee and beryllium stripped of different committee assignments “in the abbreviated term.”

“I person large respect for assembly subordinate Ridley-Thomas some arsenic a idiosyncratic and arsenic a warrior against homelessness, and I’ve treasured the clip we’ve spent moving unneurotic connected the Homelessness and Poverty Committee,” Raman said. “But this committee’s enactment is of bonzer value and involves monolithic metropolis investments, which necessitate the public’s trust. It cannot beryllium conducted nether the shadiness of a national indictment. In the abbreviated term, assembly subordinate Ridley-Thomas should measurement down from his committee assignments,” Raman said.

The indictment outlines an alleged strategy successful 2017 and 2018 successful which then-Supervisor Ridley-Thomas sought benefits from Flynn and assemblage officials to payment an unnamed relative, who was the taxable of an interior intersexual harassment probe successful the Assembly, apt to resign from elected bureau and importantly successful debt.

While the indictment did not sanction the relative, Ridley-Thomas’ son, Sebastian, resigned from the Assembly successful 2017 amid investigations into intersexual harassment complaints. He insisted astatine the clip that his resignation was owed to wellness reasons, not a intersexual harassment probe.

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas aboriginal became a prof of societal enactment and nationalist argumentation astatine USC — contempt lacking a postgraduate degree. He was aboriginal terminated implicit questions astir his archetypal assignment and assemblage concerns astir the $100,000 that was donated from his father’s run funds to the School of Social Work, past directed to a nonprofit tally by Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.