Second in a series
Re “Dad to Dad, Parks ‘Is Tasteless, Classless,’ Says Ridley-Thomas”
[img]1979|left|Mark Ridley-Thomas||no_popup[/img]The simultaneously celebrated and maligned father of Christopher Armenta’s opponent in Tuesday’s special election for the state Assembly said he is revising a longstanding favorable evaluation of his onetime backer.
“I had thought differently about Chris, but I guess I was incorrect,” said County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, vilified for months by Mr. Armenta as a stealthy, unethical manipulator of his son’s successful first campaign for office.
“He is engaging in low-brow politics. We don’t have to go there in order to win. One thing Sebastian has learned is to play hard but fair. He is not going to embarrass himself with politics of another era that cannot be defended.”
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas also blistered his old foe Bernard Parks, former LAPD chief-turned-Los Angeles City Councilman, for prominently contributing to the “vitriol” of the Armenta campaign.
“It is well established that Parks is a vindictive personality, consumed with himself,” the Supervisor charged. “He can’t quite figure out how not to act unreasonably. It is a self-destructive orientation. I don’t know how you can expect to be respected when you attack someone’s family. He has been a wreck since leaving the LAPD.”
The Supervisor said Mr. Parks took his lopsided loss in the 2008 race “very hard. He is not a person who can stand to lose.”
After revisiting hit mail sent out by the Armenta campaign, Mr. Ridley-Thomas the elder said Mr. Armenta’s credibility and former good-guy image have been severely wounded. “Even a number of Chris’s supporters are shocked by his behavior,” said the Supervisor.
A Price for His Tactics?
[img]1987|right|Sebastian Ridley-Thomas||no_popup[/img]Down to the final 96 hours, by all accounts Mr. Armenta is trailing Sebastian Ridley-Thomas by a considerable margin.
“If I have a prediction to make,” said Mr. Ridley-Thomas the elder, “it is that Chris’s behavior will not be rewarded.”
Five years ago when Mr. Ridley-Thomas was leaving the state Legislature and running for the County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Armenta, then a City Councilman in Culver City, was enthusiastically pro-Ridley-Thomas.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Sebastian Ridley-Thomas – whose age, background and steady ascension jointly gall Mr. Armenta – has assumed a diplomatic stance.
For pure contrast, he has stayed positive. At every stop, he has underlined his comfortable familiarity with Culver City’s most sensitive issues.
“Sebastian, throughout his campaign, has shown considerable restraint, though there is the capacity to do otherwise,” his father said.
[img]2289|left|Bernard Parks||no_popup[/img]At this month’s endorsement meeting of the Culver City Democratic Club, when members went 45-11 for Mr. Armenta, Mr. Ridley-Thomas remained firmly positive and upbeat. By contrast, Mr. Armenta went after him like a roaring fireplace.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said he was disappointed to learn his old foe, Councilman Parks, has been making robocalls on behalf of Mr. Armenta.
“One of the unwritten rules of the political process is hands off of family.
“Parks does little to make himself look reasonable or good when he elects to attack someone’s son. It says more about accuser than about anyone else.
“Parks continues to reveal himself in a way that caused him to be an embarrassment. He lost big five years ago, and he never has gotten over it.”
