| Gayle McLaughlin | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Richmond | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 9, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Irma A. Anderson |
| Succeeded by | N/A |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 Chicago, Illinois |
| Political party | Green Party |
| Profession | Postal clerk, elderly caregiver, teacher, LD-tutor/clinician, activist |
Gayle McLaughlin ( /məˈklɔːflɨn/; born 1952 in Chicago, Illinois) is a California politician. She is a member of the Green Party and, since 2006, the mayor of Richmond, California and a member of Richmond's City Council. McLaughlin was elected on November 7, 2006 by a 279-vote[1] margin over incumbent mayor Irma A. Anderson.[2] Richmond is, as of 2009, the largest city in the country with a Green Party mayor.[3]
McLaughlin is a social activist who has participated in the peace, social justice, civil rights, and environmental movements. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, with graduate study in psychology and education.
McLaughlin is currently an elected member of the Richmond Greens Steering Committee and has served on the Green Party County Council of Contra Costa County. Her term as council member expired on November 21, 2006.[4] She was elected to the City Council in 2004, winning one of five open seats, with 11,191 votes or 10% in 2004.[5] She has lived in Richmond since 2001.[6] McLaughlin has declared her desire to introduce instant run-off voting, term limits, and district council members.[7]
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McLaughlin was born into a working class union family. She is the middle child of five daughters born to a unionized carpenter and a housewife.
During the 1980s, McLaughlin was an activist with the Central American solidarity movement and a steering committee member of CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). She also played an active role in the North Star Network, a national networking effort to unite progressives, and in coalition-building efforts with Rainbow/PUSH.
McLaughlin graduated summa cum laude from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. She continued her education with two years of graduate study in psychology at Rhode Island College, with additional graduate study in education at U.C. Berkeley Extension.
McLaughlin has worked as a postal clerk, teacher, caregiver for the elderly, and tutor/clinician for children with learning disabilities. She has also worked in the capacity of support staff for various not-for-profit health and educational organizations.
According to published reports, McLaughlin filed for bankruptcy in 2003 to avoid paying more than $100,000 in student loans and other forms of debt.
On November 2, 2004, McLaughlin was elected to the city council of Richmond, California, on the Green Party ticket. She has been involved with the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), a non-partisan liberal group in western Contra Costa County, composed mostly of Green Party members, as well as left-leaning and progressive independents and Democrats.
In Richmond, as a Richmond Green, McLaughlin's lifelong activism has found her in many local struggles. She has opposed the Patriot Act, and the toxic impact of ChevronTexaco on the environment. She has also been involved in an ongoing effort to stop development on the North Richmond shoreline, and is supporting the current battle by the Service Employees International Union against job and salary cutbacks.
In 2003, McLaughlin was the first Green Party candidate ever to win a seat on Richmond, California's City Council. In 2006, she decided to challenge incumbent African-American mayor Irma Anderson, whom she defeated by 279 votes.
Mayor McLaughlin is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,[8] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.
In 2008, McLaughlin's Chief of Staff was implicated in a scheme to steal more than $50,000 from the City of Richmond by creating phony contributions to charitable organizations. According to published reports, McLaughlin approved some of the phony contributions.
McLaughlin won a second term in office in the 2010 municipal election.[9] She managed to sustain a verbal offensive by local police and firefighter unions during the election campaign. She was sworn into office on January 11, 2011.
On Veteran's Day 2011, Fox News bashed the mayor, making an issue McLaughlin attending an occupy rally "as a strong supporter of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Vets Against the War" not to attend a Veteran's Day ship-launching at the Richmond Shipyards. The report focused entirely on it being "disrespectful" that the may did not do what two residents wanted her to. It also made unsubstantiated claims of this being highly controversial and that the mayor is "known for controversy", but these where not specified. The activities of McLaughlin were then used to attack the Occupy movement instead without any representation of a dissenting viewpoint.[10]
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