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Gayle McLaughlin’s Speech
Announcing her Candidacy for Mayor

Presented on March 5, 2006,
in the Catalina Room of the
Richmond Auditorium.

To everyone here today, I want to thank you for taking time from your busy Sunday to share this important moment with me.

Today is a very special day for me. Today I’ll be putting forward an additional and very heartfelt commitment to the people of Richmond. I appreciate that you are here to witness this moment.

A long journey has brought me here today.

My last few years in Richmond have been among the sweetest and among the most meaningful days of my life (and they certainly haven’t been without their share of sweat and tears). What has made these years especially wonderful, in addition to my election to the RCC, is having been part of a movement of progressive neighbors and friends with whom I walk, work, struggle, envision and hope.

I am proud to belong to this wonderful grassroots movement for a Better Richmond. I am grateful for the strength and support I receive from it. I am humbled by the beautiful unpredictability of life that has placed me here in such great company with such loving pursuits. We have definitely found sweetness and strength among each other in our grassroots movement, but . . . our city remains in very, very serious trouble.

In 2004, Richmond had an “earthquake” of a deficit; its magnitude was 35 million dollars. It was the result of years and years of inappropriate and ineffective governance building up pressure against the common good…until finally the pressure burst. The Tsunami that followed washed away our public services, our libraries, our education opportunities, our recreation programs and both public and private jobs.

The city was at the brink of bankruptcy. Services, jobs, hopes were drowned. Although some of the city’s management has been replaced, one can still find some of those responsible in positions of power, making decisions affecting us all.

In the meantime, the people of Richmond continue to suffer the consequences; violent crime, inadequate & non-existent services, and preferential treatment for big industry continue.

I love this city and its people, and I will continue to work very hard to make Richmond Better. Today I am pursuing a new challenge; one that I profoundly believe is needed to finally set the course for Richmond to become the city we want and need.

Today I am happy and honored to announce my candidacy for Mayor of the City of Richmond.

I am running for Mayor not just to OPPOSE the incumbent or others. I don’t question their good intentions. I am running to PROPOSE to you and to all the people of Richmond that we can build a Better Richmond under Better Leadership.

I am running not just to OPPOSE the hopelessness, the despair, the frustration of 25 years of violent street crime and homicides. I am running to PROPOSE that there are institutional causes of this violence. I contend that we must address the problem from its roots and that we HAVE the capacity to obtain the sorely needed funds for the many solutions that are known to work.

Toward that end, my running for Mayor is not just to OPPOSE the longstanding attitude of permissiveness and accommodation that allowed Chevron to self-permit, self-inspect, self-determine what it would pay in fees and taxes. I am running to PROPOSE that Chevron pay its fair share of taxes, and that every household and business in Richmond, including Chevron, must pay the same amount of taxes per unit of utilities used.

I also want to clarify that I’m not running just to OPPOSE sales tax hikes or hikes in regressively designed utility use tax rates; I’m running to PROPOSE that the city needs to use WISELY every dollar collected from the taxpayers and collect every penny that is due the general fund, while diversifying to a greater extent our economic base. Above all, I’m PROPOSING that all investments must contribute to the common good.

And . . . I’m not running just to OPPOSE the old “Richmond Way” that allows irresponsible development on toxic properties, rubber-stamping plans with no consideration for the health and well-being of the families, children, the vulnerable and the elderly. I’m running to PROPOSE to you that our neighborhoods should receive priority for improvements and development rather than the city rushing to allow the elimination of our opens shorelines for a quick return.

Let me also say that when it comes to a democratically-run city, I am not only OPPOSING violations of the Brown Act and lack of government transparency. I am PROPOSING the end of the unethical and undemocratic influence of big money over the city’s decisions and within electoral campaigns. This is not only possible, but it is imperative if we are going to put people first and build a Better Richmond. Just as my campaign for City Council accepted no corporate funds, so too my campaign for Mayor will not accept a single corporate dollar. I am also calling on other progressives to step forward this election year and run for City Council, leading with your progressive values. I PROPOSE to you that someday soon we will have a progressive majority on the Richmond City Council!

Hopefully I am being clear in that I am really running more “to PROPOSE” than “to OPPOSE.”

Let me elaborate.

I’m PROPOSING that we reduce street violence by 50% by the year 2010. How can we do that? Well, for starters, we can establish a Richmond Community Youth Corps and create 1,000 part-time, year-round jobs that employ youth from the areas of our city hardest hit by street crime. Hands engaged in jobs are hands NOT holding guns. And I PROPOSE that we fund this program with the millions in added revenue that will come from the removal of the utility tax exemption given to Chevron 20 years ago and maintained in place administration after administration. I will have Chevron pay its fare share of taxes even if I have to go directly to the voters!

I’m also PROPOSING we support community-based, after-school programs in EACH of our city neighborhoods, that we find ways to reduce BY HALF the high school drop-out rate and that we DOUBLE the number of Richmond residents graduating high school and enrolling in college by 2010.

Toward that end, let’s not forget that our libraries are among the greatest resources in our city. I PROPOSE that we not only reopen the West Side and Bayview library branches,
but that we expand our library services throughout the city. In line with that, I want to see us build two new branches of the Richmond Public Library in neighborhoods most affected by street violence.

And speaking of expansion, I want to see growth in this city that is sustainable. What would that look like? I envision a Richmond that’s bicycle-friendly, pedestrian friendly, with a strong public transportation system, an accessible open shoreline — I PROPOSE a Richmond that stewards, restores, preserves and defends the natural beauty of our bay and our hills, and that sustains a healthy environment.

And while we’re on the subject of sustainability, I’m PROPOSING we support and promote the generation of electricity through solar and other alternative means. I want to see a Richmond that not only achieves but surpasses the goals our wonderful local organization, Solar Richmond, who has set the goal of 5 megawatts of locally-generated solar electricity by the year 2010.

Furthermore, I can’t emphasize enough that a sustainable Richmond is one that is friendly and supportive to our responsible small businesses, awarding contracts to Richmond-based companies who will stimulate our local economy by keeping money circulating in our city.

Yes, I am PROPOSING that we develop a locally-owned Richmond by utilizing the many skills and talents OF our Richmond residents to enhance and revitalize the quality of life for our Richmond residents.

I PROPOSE that we place our focus on the geographic interior of our city and revitalize our neglected neighborhoods with infill housing and infill businesses rather than implanting new housing developments on the periphery of the city. I want to see a responsible redevelopment model, one that directly addresses our most disadvantaged areas.

I envision new opportunities for our residents for home ownership. I PROPOSE we support and invest in land trust initiatives and cooperative efforts by families and communities seeking to achieve home ownership. And for the over 50% of Richmond residents that rent, I want to see Just Cause Eviction and Fair Rent laws that protects both good tenants and good landlords.

On another housing matter, I say it is wrong to criminalize the homeless in our community. The best solution for homelessness is a “home”. I PROPOSE that we build homes for the homeless as other cities have done.

And hand in hand with housing needs and responsible development and redevelopment, I PROPOSE we work with Contra Costa County and private medical providers to make health care access better for all the people in our city.

I also want to say that I’m running to PROPOSE a welcoming message to all the people of Richmond who are newcomers, who are not citizens yet, who don’t cast votes, and to say to them: We welcome you to our city and we appreciate your contributions and your hard work. Let us all remember that one in four Richmond residents is foreign born.

Lastly, any serious-minded prospectus that does not address our crumbling streets and our failing sewer system would be incomplete. I PROPOSE that the city needs to focus on fixing our streets and sewer system rather than taking a defensive attitude. It’s time to stop defending an indefensible situation and start pro-actively fixing the problem.

So, yes, I am PROPOSING all these positive changes and more.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that we remember that the lives we build for ourselves in Richmond are not isolated from our state, our nation and our world. We are part of the big picture and every suffering out there is ours, with every bomb dropped in unjustifiable foreign wars of aggression leaving us also with casualties and suffering right here on our city streets. While higher bodies of government continue to commit atrocities in our names, we must demonstrate a better way right here and now.

With that in mind, I PROPOSE to you the end of the old Richmond, the end of a Richmond filled with corruption, pollution, crime, isolation, and hopelessness….but also the beginning, the beginning of a Richmond filled with healthy families, vibrant neighborhoods, flourishing opportunities and sustainable growth.

I’m running for Mayor to PROPOSE to you that a Better Richmond is Possible!

I’m running for this Better Richmond and I need you to run with me!

Thank you very much.

Gayle McLaughlin
Richmond City Council Member