Norm Rice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norm Rice

Norman B. Rice born May 4, 1943 in Denver, Colorado was the 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington. He served two terms, beginning on January 1, 1990. Rice was Seattle's first and only African-American mayor.

Rice was first elected to the Seattle City Council in 1978 (to fill a vacancy) and reelected in 1979, 1983 and 1987. Rice first ran for mayor in 1985, but lost to the popular Charles Royer. Rice ran again in 1989 amongst a crowded field after frontrunner city attorney Doug Jewett supported an anti-desegregation school busing initiative. Rice won handily against Jewett, 99,699 to 75,446. He held the job during the technology boom of the 1990s and was largely responsible for the rejuvenation of Seattle's downtown.

Rice easily won re-election in 1993. Rice ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor and was defeated by then-King County Executive Gary Locke in 1996. His term expired in 1997.

Rice made a guest appearance as himself on a 1997 episode of Frasier entitled "The 1000th Show."

After serving in Seattle City government for 19 years Rice served as president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle from 1998 to 2004. He is today Vice Chairman of Capital Access LLC, an investment bank specializing in municipal, energy and philanthropic finance. He is also a visiting professor at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Recently, many Seattleites including Mayor Greg Nickels have proposed that Rice be appointed superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools, but the school board has declined to offer him the position.

Rice is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.