July 01--Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said Wednesday he has not dismissed the notion of a bid for mayor in 2017, raising the possibility of a major challenge to the incumbent, Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Ridley-Thomas, who represents a swath of south Los Angeles County, made his statement in response to a question from The Times following an appearance at City Hall.
The county supervisor would not say when he will make a decision on a possible candidacy. Asked whether he had ruled out a mayoral run in 2017, the county supervisor gave a one-word answer: "No."
He declined to answer follow-up questions. "I'm not prepared to go beyond that at this point," he said.
Ridley-Thomas is a political veteran who has served in the state Legislature, on the City Council, and since 2008, on the county Board of Supervisors. Two years ago, he endorsed Garcetti's opponent, then-City Controller Wendy Greuel, in the race for mayor. During that campaign, he served as a critic of Garcetti's record.
Garcetti, who already has begun raising money for his reelection, said he was not worried by Ridley-Thomas' statement. He described the county supervisor as a friend and ally on the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
"I get along great with him. We've worked wonderfully together, and I look forward to winning his support," he said.
Wednesday marked the halfway point in Garcetti's four-year mayoral term. The election is in March 2017, and if no one receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held two months later.
Ridley-Thomas' district takes in stretches of South Los Angeles, including some heavily African American neighborhoods. Garcetti, for his part, struggled in recent weeks to respond to complaints from activists with Black Lives Matter, who say he left town instead of meeting with them to address their concerns about the police killing of people of color.
Garcetti and Ridley-Thomas both appeared Wednesday at a swearing-in ceremony for newly installed Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson. During his remarks, the county supervisor rattled off a list of issues he said the city is facing.
"We ought to be unsatisfied about homelessness in Los Angeles," he told the crowd. "I think we ought to be unsatisfied about excessive use of force in Los Angeles. I believe we ought to do what we need to do to work on income inequality in Los Angeles. I think we have a lot of work to do."
Times staff writer Angel Jennings contributed to this report.
