Supervisor candidates define three top issues

Nearly 400 people jammed a West Adams church hall Saturday to watch a rare event in local politics: a debate featuring three candidates for an unusual vacancy on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Healthcare, education and jobs took center stage as candidates for the 2nd District seat promised to fill the gap left by the closing of King-Harbor Medical Center, reduce school dropout rates and bolster job creation and training.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, a former L.A. police chief, stressed the importance of strengthening the economy of South Los Angeles and other areas of the district.

“We cannot continue to allow manufacturing jobs to leave the city and the county,” said Parks. He called for better public transit and noted his experience on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where, he said, he was one of only a handful of members to vote against the recent rate increase.

State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, the other well-known candidate in the race and a former city councilman, said that the county should direct more money into programs to prevent crime rather than entirely into law enforcement, which he called the “back end” of the process. Although officials may give lip service to that approach, he said, funding keeps going to hire more officers and build more jails.

“The smart money is on prevention and intervention,” Ridley-Thomas said.

The race promises to be the most dynamic in decades for the seat overseeing the sprawling, diverse 2nd District, which includes South Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Inglewood, Hawthorne and Carson. County supervisors seldom are challenged in office, but the upcoming retirement of long-time Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke is catalyzing a lively discussion about the district’s future.

Burke is expected to announce this coming week that she is endorsing Parks to replace her, according to John Shallman, Parks’ campaign consultant. Parks also has the endorsement of Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Ridley-Thomas is supported by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has called his election its top priority in 2008.

The Saturday event, sponsored by The Sentinel and KJLH-FM (102.3), was billed as a debate between Parks and Ridley-Thomas, both prominent Democratic local political leaders. But a third candidate, community activist Morris Griffin, livened up the discussion with pointed humor and a “time for change” theme reminiscent of the campaigning by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.

One of the debate’s questions dealt not with the upcoming vote but with Tuesday’s presidential primary. The candidates were asked how they would handle complaints about the balloting process.

More than 94,000 county nonpartisan ballots were not counted because voters failed to mark a bubble, prompting complaints that voting directions were unclear. Some supporters of Obama said they believe he lost votes because of the confusion, and the county’s acting registrar announced Thursday that ballots would be reviewed to determine exactly how many presidential primary votes went uncounted.

Ridley-Thomas said the matter should be investigated immediately, not after the June 3 balloting for the county post.

“This is not going to wait. The time is now,” he said, amid loud applause. “This isn’t Florida, this is California. We need to set the national standard.”

Parks said education is needed so residents understand how to operate voting machines, and he called for raising the stipends paid to poll workers.

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deborah.schoch@latimes.com

Times staff writer Jack Leonard contributed to this report.