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Richmond mayor to run for council; member of progressive alliance hopes to succeed her
By Robert Rogers
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/13/2014 02:58:36 PM PST | Updated: 3 days ago
RICHMOND -- Mayor Gayle McLaughlin will run for a City Council seat in November, and the editor of her political organization's newsletter will run to replace her as the city's mayor, according to a Richmond Progressive Alliance announcement Thursday.
The RPA also announced it will support the candidacies of incumbent Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles and Eduardo Martinez, who narrowly lost a race for council in 2010, saying the four-person slate dubbed "Team Richmond" is committed to "Richmond's remarkable transformation during a decade of progressive policies spearheaded by McLaughlin."
Five of seven City Council seats are up for election in 2014, spelling a potential seismic shift in the composition of city government, which since 2010 has been dominated by RPA leaders and their progressive-leaning allies, a coalition that has helped pass a ban on plastic bags, open new marijuana dispensaries, sue Chevron for the 2012 refinery fire, quash casino-development plans and advance a broad progressive agenda in the historically industry-dominated town.
"Every election is a big deal," said Councilman Tom Butt, one of two members not facing re-election. "But this one is going to feature some tough races, and we'll see where we are when the dust settles."
Mike Parker enters a potentially tight three-way battle for mayor with West Contra Costa school board President Charles Ramsey and City Councilman Nat Bates. Incumbents Beckles, Jael Myrick, Jim Rogers and Corky Boozé are all expected to run for re-election. Council seats held by Bates and Tom Butt are not up for re-election.
Parker was born in Cleveland but has been a force in Richmond grass-roots organizing for years. Known as a fierce and loquacious advocate for RPA causes, Parker routinely speaks at public meetings in a booming voice and sometimes caustic style toward more conservative council members such as Boozé and Bates. He also pens lengthy news articles and essays on the RPA website and in e-letters to subscribers.
In recent years, he has been a prominent voice opposing casino-development proposals at Point Molate and supporting controversial measures such as the failed local ballot measure to tax sugar-sweetened beverages.
Asked why he chose to run, Parker said he wants to continue the city's progressive direction, which he called "an example to the whole country."
Parker's critics say he is an ideologue who is too irascible and inexperienced to lead the city.
"I'm shocked that this guy is running," said Boozé, who has had numerous clashes with Parker in recent years. "This guy can't work with anybody who doesn't see things his way."
Parker disagreed, saying his work as a political organizer makes him well-suited for office.
"I've spent most of my life organizing people to participate in politics," Parker said. "You work with people who are close to you and finding ways to work with people who are further away on issues on which you agree."
Parker, 73, has never run for political office before. He moved to Point Richmond in 2007 after a career as an electrician for Ford, Chrysler and other companies linked to the auto industry.
He holds degrees in political science from the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley, where he earned a master's degree in 1965.
McLaughlin said he is the man to lead the city and continue the course she helped set.
"Running for office was the last thing on my mind before I first ran 10 years ago," McLaughlin said. "When it becomes clear that your voice and skills are needed in the arena, there are those of us that are willing to step up, and Mike is ready."
McLaughlin, 61, has served two terms of often-tumultuous times as the city's mayor thanks to narrow victories in three-way races in 2006 and 2010. McLaughlin's surprising victory in 2006 -- when she defeated incumbent Irma Anderson -- made Richmond the largest city in the country to be run by a Green Party mayor and made her the first Green to be elected mayor in California.
McLaughlin said she leaned toward retiring from public office until recent weeks, and that Chevron, a major spender in local politics and McLaughlin's longtime foil, helped convince her to come back by buying up billboard advertisements all over the city.
"It's clear that Chevron wants to take back our gains, and I have been committed to Richmond for too long to let it happen," McLaughlin said.
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726. Follow him at Twitter.com/sfbaynewsrogers.
East Bay Express
Richmond Progressives Announce 2014 Political Candidates; Mayor McLaughlin to Run for City Council
Breaking News / Politics John Geluardi — Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 3:09 PM
There has been a great deal of speculation about who will be running for the Richmond City Council in November, and on Thursday, the Richmond Progressive Alliance, which has been the strongest political force on the council in recent years, announced the names of four candidates who will be running in what promises to be a series of hotly contested races against large corporate interests, labor unions, and well-funded candidates.
The RPA refuses all corporate contributions, and in past elections has been remarkably successful in running bare-bones campaigns that rely on grassroots organizing. The RPA-dominated council also has been bold in challenging corporate interests who have large amounts of money to defeat the RPA members and their causes at the polls. In 2012, Chevron and the soda industry outspent the RPA 28 to 1 by throwing a record $4.2 million at political action committees, candidates, nonprofits, and top shelf political consultants who mobilized to defeat RPA candidates and the RPA’s Measure N, which would have levied a one cent tax on sugary drinks (total RPA spending for candidates and Measure N was $148,000). Measure N and RPA's candidates lost in that in election.
The coming election cycle promises to be just a difficult for the RPA with national real estate interests and major banks expected to oppose RPA council candidates over a controversial proposal to relieve struggling homeowners by taking over underwater mortgages through eminent domain. With five seats open on the seven-member council, there is an opportunity for Chevron and other corporate interests to regain control of the council and they will likely spare no expense in winning as many seats as they can.
The RPA’s candidate for mayor is Mike Parker, a newcomer to politics who is running his first campaign for public office. Parker is an author and retired industrial electrician for the Chrysler Group. He served as a national delegate for the United Auto Workers and currently works as an electrical instructor and Los Medanos Community College. Parker said his focus will be on job training. “It’s the issue that speaks to the needs of Richmond resident,” he said. “Better job training will attract better jobs.”
While the deadline for officially announcing is not until August 8th, Parker is expected to be running against at least three candidates, including longtime West Contra Costa County school board member Charles Ramsey who has been steadily collecting labor endorsements and money for the past year. As of the end of December, Ramsey has already collected nearly $100,000 in contributions — mostly from unions. Also expected to run are Councilmember Nat Bates, a veteran of Richmond politics who is a staunch supporter of Chevron, and Uche Uwahemu, the CEO of a local business consulting firm.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, a RPA founder and perhaps the organization’s most popular elected official, will be termed out of the mayor’s office in 2014, though she has announced that she will seek another term as councilmember. McLaughlin has led the council by challenging the Chevron refinery — which exerted unchecked influence over city politics for decades before the RPA began winning council seats in 2004 — over issues such safety (particularly in relation to a 2012 refinery explosion and fire), underpaid taxes and an environmentally problematic refinery upgrade. McLaughlin also caught the attention of the national media when she championed a plan to deter blight and help homeowners by taking over underwater mortgages through eminent domain.
Running for reelection is Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles who has been a strong advocate for reintegrating ex-offenders into the workforce. She was the author of legislation that prevents the city from disregarding municipal job applicants due to previous incarceration. Beckles, a lesbian, also was the target of homophobic taunts and harassment during a council meeting by a nonprofit group closely associated with pro-Chevron Councilmember Corky Boozé. Boozé has since publicly renounced the verbal attacks.
Rounding out the RPA slate is Richmond Planning Commissioner Eduardo Martinez, a retired elementary school teacher who narrowly lost a bid for city council in 2012.
Other candidates who have unofficially announced their intention to run for council this year are Councilmember Corky Boozé, who for decades had been a combative gadfly who was finally elected to the council in 2010 after nine failed campaigns, and Councilmember Jael Myrick, who was appointed to the council after Councilmember-elect Gary Bell became seriously ill and
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