Ridley-Thomas’s Empowerment Congress: Saturday in Hawthorne

The annual “Budget Summit: We Are the Second District, Empowered for Change,” will be held from 9 a.m. until noon at the Hawthorne Memorial Center, 3901 W. El Segundo Blvd.

For 17 years, the Empowerment Congress has educated, engaged, and empowered constituents to take action in their communities.

I introduced the successful concept of community participation while serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council and then expanded the Empowerment Congress to the state level when I served in the Assembly and in the Senate.

The Summit is designed to continue this effort by educating community members on the major provisions of the state budget, providing an opportunity for leaders to voice their concerns and priorities, and providing a venue for citizen involvement in the State Budget process.

The Budget Summit is a critically important occasion to gain an unfiltered view of the concerns of community leaders, experts and other elected officials about this budget.

Saturday morning also will be an excellent opportunity to engage them in the formulation of budget priorities that will reflect both fiscal responsibility and economic justice for all Californians. All are welcome and we hope you will join us.

Meanwhile, I would like to thank Culver City for its overwhelming support during the hotly contested race for County Supervisor in November. We are ready to work like never before on behalf of the Second Supervisorial District, and Culver City is most assuredly in the mix.

My priorities on the Board include healthcare, jobs and public safety. Specifically, I intend to reopen Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital for the residents of the Second District. And I fully expect my colleagues on the board to look to me for leadership on this matter.