| ► LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; scofflaw, arrogant, ethical gremlin |
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LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; scofflaw, arrogant, ethical gremlin   From 2003 through 2008 Mark Ridley-Thomas represented the 48th Assembly District and 26th Senate District in Los Angeles respectively.
After his election in Nov. 2008 to the LA County Board of Supervisors, Mark Ridley-Thomas cemented his status as an arrogant Whatchmakallit and ethical leper-con by ordering $707,000 in renovations to his office. Subsequently, Mark Ridley-Thomas was properly skewered by the local media in LA and elsewhere for this obscene waste of taxpayer funds.
In defending his actions, Mark Ridley-Thomas had the chutzpah to say, “I do not think we should do anything extravagant, nor have I over the many years I have been in public office.” (LA Times, Molly Hennessy-Fiske – 12/22/09)
 Mark Ridley-Thomas has spent the vast majority of his adult life porking out at the public trough. The evidence below clearly indicates that Mark Ridley-Thomas’ statement to reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske as aforementioned can best be defined as hyperbole (BS). In fact, after reviewing the facts below, anyone who would believe Ridley-Thomas’ statement would also likely believe that President George H.W. Bush nominated the late Jeffrey Dahmer to be the official caterer for the Whitehouse.
Mark Ridley-Thomas illegally bills taxpayers for LA County Supervisor election
On October 25, 2007, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas announced that he would be running for the Second District seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Therefore, it cannot be disputed that Ridley-Thomas was involved in a full-throttle election campaign for the 2nd District seat from November 2007 through the election in November 2008.
In his run for County Supervisor, Mark Ridley-Thomas found it acceptable to force taxpayers from Orange County, etc. to fund his campaign expenses even though they were prohibited from casting a vote. Ridley-Thomas’s use of a taxpayer funded 2006 Chrysler 300 and fuel for 2007 and 2008 are as follows: (see text box at end of article)
How does Mark Ridley-Thomas explain and/or justify driving 30,000 miles in 2008 on official state senate business when he was allegedly able to perform the same state duties in 2008 while driving a mere 11,400 miles?
Given the horrible traffic in LA, Mark Ridley-Thomas would have done well if he averaged 25 miles per hour while driving in and around Burbank and Inglewood. Therefore, he would have spent about 1,136 hours on the road in 2008 in LA. Discounting the days he was in Sacramento; on vacation and/or out-of-state, Mark would have to have spent about 6 hours or more every day driving in LA.
In addition, State Senate Journals disclose that Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas was excused from daily sessions for allegedly engaging in “legislative business” in 2007 and 2008 as follows:
Mental giants need not apply to understand that the 55 legislative sessions that Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas missed were likely dedicated to campaigning for County Supervisor. Despite missing 55 days of legislative sessions in 2008, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas accepted $9,350 in per diem payments at $170 per day. Do you really believe that Mark Ridley-Thomas was lawfully involved in performing state business on each and every one of the 55 days he was absent?
Moreover, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas spent $8,523.20 for In-State travel in 2008 compared to $3,594.81 in 2007. Wonder why?
To be fair to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, he’s not the only so-called public servant who has found it acceptable to fund an election in this manner. In fact, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did the same thing in 2000. To view the facts regarding Villaraigosa go to the URL listed below the article titled below.
Is LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa a scofflaw; and ethically indigent?
http://tinyurl.com/yea8vqx
Tax Liability for Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
IRS Publication 15 B requires that any employee (state or otherwise) provided with a vehicle must pay taxes for personal use of an employer provided vehicle and fuel under the Lease Value Rule.
Assuming that 30% of the use of the state’s vehicle and fuel involved legitimate state business, Mark Ridley-Thomas’ tax bill for 2008 would be as follows:
Ridley-Thomas Tax Liability 2003-2007
Conclusion
Based on the facts above, all of which were obtained via a review of public records, it is patently clear to me that Mark Ridley-Thomas is in all likelihood a serial tax scofflaw in addition to being arrogant. Moreover, it is obvious that he used a state car and fuel for campaign purposes in 2008 while running for County Supervisor. Put simply, Mark Ridley-Thomas believed taxpayers who did not reside in LA County were responsible for funding his campaign.
Not only is Mark Ridley-Thomas extremely arrogant, he’s an ingrate in that since at least 2003 he has been provided a free-ride at taxpayer expense. In addition to the nearly $150,000 he now earns as a County Supervisor his wife likely earns about $150,000 a year as the administrator of the Dispute Resolution Center in the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney.
Over the years, the vast majority of Mark Ridley-Thomas’ constituents were low income persons. Despite this fact, he found it acceptable to spend tens-of-thousands to provide himself with cars of his choosing and then piled on by demanding $707,000 to refurbish his office.
If Mark Ridley-Thomas was truly concerned about his constituents in his district, he might consider providing each of them with a 50% off coupon for their next purchase of Preparation H.
2006 Chrysler 300 – 12/16/04 = $35,692.24
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