Disassembling the 47th

Lawyer Rickey Ivie has been frequently painted as Bass’ political opposite — a moderate, pro-business Democrat with close ties to the old-line black political establishment, which includes First AME pastor Cecil Murray and Wesson himself. But Ivie says the division is false; the more complicated picture is that he and Bass are both community-oriented candidates steeped in social-justice issues who differ sharply on a few campaign points, chief among them airport expansion and workers’-compensation reform. Ivie, a partner in one of the city’s few black-owned law firms and a founder of the UCLA Black Alumni Association, also invokes coalition-building as the way of the future. “A legislator must look at both sides, compromise, and ultimately do what’s best for all,” says Ivie, a product of South L.A.’s Fremont High. “You’ve got to mature from being a community activist to being an active legislator. That doesn’t mean you sacrifice ideals.” Ivie adds, “Groper’s argument of whites taking back a seat that’s rightfully theirs isn’t getting any traction.”

That leaves any harsher sentiments to 74-year-old Nate Holden, the recently termed-out city councilman who can apparently no more consider retirement from politics than consider changing his confrontational style. Holden bluntly calls Groper’s campaign “racist.” But he adds that the most important thing, the whole reason that he jumped back into the fray, is to stand up to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his steamrolling over capital lawmakers who are still hesitant about taking on the Terminator’s administration. “I’ll twist his arm,” declares Holden. “And when I finish with that, I’ll kick the whole me-too legislature in the ass.” That might be a coalition of one, but in the 47th District these days, anything is possible.