Sebastian Ridley-Thomas sworn in at community ceremony

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was sworn in as a state assemblyman Sunday in front of a crowd of hundreds, including the state’s
attorney general and UCLA’s chancellor.

Ridley-Thomas, a Democrat who represents UCLA and Westwood in the state assembly, attended a community ceremony Sunday held in the auditorium of West Los Angeles College. He was formally sworn into office on Jan. 10. Ridley-Thomas said he wants to create internships in his office for UCLA students and move state funds toward expanding UCLA student housing and parking.

“We don’t want to be a ‘one-note Johnny,’ but part of a chorus of folks who says UCLA deserves a force, the cultivation and the like,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Chancellor Gene Block, who was a speaker at the ceremony, said he spoke with Ridley-Thomas about how to make the university affordable and expand its infrastructure.

In the 55 days after his election into office, Ridley-Thomas said he has worked on building a staff and started reviewing the state budget, since he is a member of the assembly’s Committee on Appropriations.

“I look forward toSebastian’s role as a champion of public higher education,” Block said. “I hope the productive meeting is just one of many to come.”

Ridley-Thomas said he is also working toward establishing a satellite location for his own office in Westwood and seeking an increase in merit-based grants for the next state budget and more capital projects for UCLA.

He added that he will work toward diverting state reserve funds to the Metro Purple Line, which will connect Westwood to Downtown Los Angeles through an extension that is planned to be completed by 2035. His office may conduct an updated traffic study around Westwood and UCLA as soon as the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project is completed by mid-2014.

Attendees of the ceremony praised Ridley-Thomas, the youngest elected official in the state’s legislature, and his youth.

Ridley-Thomas, 26, graduated from Morehouse College in 2009. He worked as a public policy director for former state senator and current L.A. city councilmember Curren Price.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who spoke at Sunday’s ceremony, said Ridley-Thomas represents the young, energetic generation aspiring to make a change.

“(He will be) believing the dream and fighting for the dream by doing what he has done for the entire career: by being awake,” Harris said.

Songhai Miguda-Armstad, an alumna of the UCLA School of Law who attended Sunday’s ceremony, worked with Ridley-Thomas’ mother. She said she hopes Ridley-Thomas can help the university get more funding from the state so it can fund more scholarships for students.

Some attendees voiced Ridley-Thomas’ need to be distinguished from his father Mark Ridley-Thomas, a current member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors who helped his son with his campaign.

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas’ partial term will end in December of this year unless he is re-elected to his office in November.