ELECTIONS ’95 : Ridley-Thomas Stands by His First-Term Council Record : 8th District: Challengers Addie Miller and Cal Burton take councilman to task for ‘arrogance.’

To his supporters, City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ strong will is vital to improving lives in depressed south Los Angeles.

To his critics, Ridley-Thomas is stubborn, almost dictatorial, and is failing to address the needs of many residents in District 8, a 17-square-mile area that includes Baldwin Hills, Leimert Park, University Park, Vermont Knolls and South-Central Los Angeles.

Cal Burton and Addie Miller, the two first-time candidates challenging Ridley-Thomas in the April 11 primary, are among those taking issue with his performance.

“We were in better shape before Mark Ridley-Thomas,” Burton, 49, said at his Crenshaw Boulevard headquarters. “There is an arrogance of power now.”

Miller, 45, a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, said she is running because of frustration over the area’s lack of basic services and youth programs--but abundance of gang activity. Ridley-Thomas, moreover, has lost touch with a fair number of his constituents in only his first term because he treats residents as though only he knows what is best for them, she said.

If the incumbent is reelected, said Miller, “You’re going to get four more years of the same old mess.”

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For his part, Ridley-Thomas, 40, said that his first term as a City Council member has been highly productive, helping to generate about $30 million in new development projects. Such revitalization has not been seen in the troubled district for years, he said.

And the area, which was devastated by the riots three years ago, is steadily improving despite years of decay due to neglect and abuse, he said.

To many observers, Ridley-Thomas appears tough to beat. He has been endorsed by much of the local political Establishment and enjoys a strong foundation of support from local churches. Even his challengers acknowledge that they cannot compete with Ridley-Thomas when it comes to the tens of thousands of dollars he has raised for his campaign.

Since his election in 1991, Ridley-Thomas said, his efforts have included vigorous pressure on the Los Angeles Police Department to improve community-based policing and safety in neighborhoods.

In addition, he has encouraged residents to be more involved in the area’s growth--15 neighborhood councils help him identify problems and seek solutions--and pushed for the opening of more supermarkets and fewer liquor stores in the district, he said.

“I’ve sustained a regular and very high profile,” Ridley-Thomas said during a campaign stop at his Vermont Avenue headquarters. “I think it will be appreciated that we will have made a substantial dent.

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“The problems are far greater than any single individual can be held responsible for. No single individual controls the state of the economy, for example,” he said. “My job is to help change that (negative) impression.”

But Burton, of Baldwin Hills, and Miller, of South-Central, said their devotion to local residents is more sincere than Ridley-Thomas’.

Their lack of experience as politicians will not keep them from pushing issues like the need for more jobs and affordable housing, they said.

Burton, a longtime TV broadcaster and business executive, said he entered the campaign because so many of the people he knows are upset with Ridley-Thomas.