Richmond City Council (Richmond, California)

Richmond City Council is the governing body for the city of Richmond, California.

Background

The council consists of the Mayor of Richmond and eight other city council members, one designated Vice Mayor. The council members are all elected from the whole city; no members are elected by district or ward. The council members are elected to four-year terms, as opposed to the previous six-year terms. They are not all elected at once.

The council members meet every first and third Tuesday of the month and, if necessary, hold special meetings on the remaining Tuesdays.

Presently, there are eight Democrats, one member of the Green Party, and no Republicans.

The city council has met at the Richmond Civic Center at City Hall for decades, but due to seismic instability the council has met at an alternative site in the Marina Bay neighborhood. Some of the council favor a permanent move to this site, which is newer and in one of the more affluent neighborhoods. However, the majority of the populace is against this action as it would move City Hall from a central location to a rather isolated one.

In the recent 2006 Richmond, California mayoral election, Gayle McLaughlin of the Green Party was elected mayor of Richmond after a close race with Democrats Irma Anderson and Gary Bell.

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin

Vice Mayor María Viramontes

First Latina on city council; first Latino and Latina appointed vice mayor

Council members

Nathanial "Nate" Bates

Tom Butt

Ludmyrna López

Lopez is also the city's planning commissioner and sits on the California Cities Community Services Policy Committee, West Contra Costa Unified School District Citizens' Oversight Committee, and Richmond General Plan Advisory Committee boards.

John E. Márquez

Jim Rogers

Rights activist; former lawyer (resigned from the State Bar of California with disciplinary charges pending)

Harpreet S. Sandhu

First Asian, Asian Indian, and Sikh council member in city, state and country.

Tony K. Thurmond

Tony Thurmond is an elected member of the Richmond City Council, in Richmond, California. In 2008 he is running as a candidate for California State Assembly, District 14, a seat being vacated by Loni Hancock as a result of term limits.

Thurmond faces three opponents for the seat that represents residents of the East Bay cities of Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Lafayette as well as unincorporated Kensington, Orinda and El Sobrante: Nancy Skinner and Kris Worthington and Dr. Phil Polakoff. Tony attended college in Pennsylvania where he earned a BA in Psychology from Temple University as well as masters degrees in Law and Social Policy (MLSP) and in Social Work (MSW) from Bryn Mawr College. Tony is married to Kristin Lee Thurmond and has two daughters: Maya (5) and Jaden (2).

Background: Tony Thurmond is a northern California native born in Monterey and raised in San Jose until the age of six. When Tony's mother Cecelia Dawson lost her battle to Cancer in 1974 Tony was adopted by his cousin Diana and her husband Donald Krajewski and moved to live with them in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Diana and Donald, who were both campus police officers for more than 20 years, taught their son the value of hard work, responsibility, and making sacrifices to get things accomplished.

Tony was introduced to politics and public service when elected Student Body President at Temple University. After receiving two masters degrees from Bryn Mawr College, and launching a successful career in the related fields of social work, education, and non- profit management, Tony and his wife Kristin returned to northern California in 1998. Tony and Kristin have settled with their two young daughters in the May Valley neighborhood of Richmond. Work Experience: In July 2005, at the age of 36, Tony was appointed to the Richmond City Council to fill a vacancy. In 2006 he was elected to a two-year seat on the council. Tony works full time as executive e director of Beyond Emancipation, a non-profit that provides oversight and mentoring to former foster youth as they transition into adulthood. He has raised more than $1 million to support emancipated youth in Alameda County. Tony has more than focused on education, mentoring, and other youth support programs. Tony is also a trained actor who has appeared in a national cable commercial and training videos for Bay Area corporations and non-profit organizations. Among his many contributions to the community, Tony helped to restore the City of Richmond's Summer Youth Program and helped to raise $300,000 to support the creation of 300 jobs for the city’s youth.

Public Service: Originally appointed to fill a vacancy on the Richmond City Council in 2005, Tony was elected to a two-year term in 2006. Tony currently serves the community as: Council liaison to the West Contra Costa County Unified School District; Member of the West Contra Costa County Education Fund; Member Family and Children's Trust Committee of Contra Costa County; and as Advisor, Richmond Youth Commission.

Personal Details: When he isn't working or attending to community issues, Tony enjoys watching and playing sports and spending time with family and friends. Tony loves music and as a singer has performed with his jazz musician brother Jerome Dawson (airjazzproductions.com), a pop-rock band, and the Glide Ensemble in San Francisco. Jerome currently resides in Encinitas, California, Tony’s sister Rena Dawson lives in New York City and sister Ayana Krajewski lives in Philadelphia. Tony’s brother Terence Thurmond of San Jose is deceased.

Controversies

After Gayle McLaughlin's victory in 2006 the council appointed Harpreet Sandhu who had been the city's Human Relations Director to her vacant city council person seat. The fact that public input was not considered and that the candidates were not revealed to the public outraged many in the community. This led to the passage of an ordinance allowing anyone who can obtain 20 registered voters to sign a petition in their favor to be able to register with the city for a vacant seat. The petition was added to get the vote of council member Nate Bates, who considered passing the law without such a requirement would turn the city council appointments into an "American Idol" style circus. Mayor McLaughlin voted against this measure since she thought the city needed to overhaul the process entirely to make it more democratic. Her campaign manager and vocal community activist Juan Reardon called the new ordinance a "travesty." [ [http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_5412730 Council shifts way it fills seats] , "Contra Costa Times", by Joshua Geluardi, March 11, 2007, retrieved May 25, 2007]

The council has been noted in the media for frivolous and unproductive bickering, especially between Tom Butt and María Viramontes. [http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6657612 Strife doesn't throw council off course: Despite setbacks, Richmond's leaders say, city has regained respect and its bond rating] , by John Geluardi, "Contra Costa Times", posted online August 18, 2007, retrieved August 23, 2007] The council has been noted for having two distinct and opposing factions consisting of: Viramontes, López, Sandhu and sometimes Bates which conflicts with the remaining fellowship of McGlaughlin, Butt, Thurmond, and sometimes Rogers.

External links

* [http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.asp?NID=29 Richmond City Council]

References