L.A. ELECTIONS / 8TH COUNCIL DISTRICT : Ridley-Thomas, Rivals Disagree on Gains, Style

City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, despite the persistently tough living conditions in his south Los Angeles district, is confident that his dogged push for public safety and better neighborhoods will pave the way for his reelection Tuesday.

“I think it will be appreciated that we will have made a substantial dent,” Ridley-Thomas said. “The problems are far greater than any single individual can be held responsible for.”

But that is the core of the dispute in his campaign for a second four-year term representing the 8th District, a 17-square-mile area that includes Baldwin Hills, Leimert Park, University Park, Vermont Knolls and South-Central.

Addie Miller, one of two challengers, recently walked along Western Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles pointing out decay. A hole in the broken sidewalk near 46th Street was filled with garbage--cans, bottles and wrappers mostly. Several buildings had smashed windows. A lot sat vacant except for broken glass.

“It’s like this all over,” said Miller, 45. “He hasn’t done anything.”

Miller, a community activist, and Ridley-Thomas’ other challenger, Cal Burton, a longtime television broadcaster and businessman, believe there are plenty of residents who are unimpressed with the incumbent’s first term.

Both challengers acknowledge that Ridley-Thomas is far better known and financed than they are. But they say he has an arrogant style that, coupled with what they contend is his failure to improve basic services, alienates him from many struggling constituents.

“Something is wrong. Some people call him Little Caesar,” said Burton, 49. “Our current leadership is not reaching out to the people.”

To Ridley-Thomas, 40, and his supporters, such criticism is ridiculous.

The councilman said the district is seeing more revitalization than it has in years, with about $30 million in development projects under way. Devastated by the riots three years ago, the neighborhoods are steadily improving despite years of blight, he said.

His other efforts to improve the district have included vigorous pressure on the Los Angeles Police Department to improve community policing and safety in neighborhoods. He also has encouraged residents to help him identify problems and seek solutions, and he has pushed for fewer liquor stores in the district and the opening of more supermarkets.

“I feel good about the fact that we’ve taken an aggressive approach,” said Ridley-Thomas, who lives in Leimert Park with his wife and the couple’s 7-year-old twin sons.

To many observers, Ridley-Thomas appears tough to beat. His fund-raising advantage is daunting--according to the most recent campaign finance reports, he has amassed $249,516, while Miller and Burton have each raised less than $3,500.

The challengers are hoping that discontent among residents will cause Ridley-Thomas to win less than 50% of Tuesday’s vote, forcing a runoff with one of them.

Burton said residents continue to be handicapped by a lack of jobs, little affordable housing, limited business opportunities, poor neighborhood maintenance and gang violence.

“We have a district that is fragmented. I’m about revitalizing with a partnership,” said Burton, a Baldwin Hills resident who is a divorced father of three daughters. “We’re in the entertainment capital of the world and we’re not working with them to make things better.”

Miller, a South-Central resident who has worked with nonprofit and volunteer groups focusing on children and senior citizens, said she was orphaned at an early age and knows what it means to struggle through hard times. As a council member, she would strive to help improve conditions for youths and poor residents, she said.

“People don’t want a whole lot,” she said. “They want to be treated like people and not like a herd.”