Richmond, California Green City
Councilmember
Gayle McLaughlin was elected Mayor of Richmond yesterday. Richmond is located in northern California, in the East Bay county of Contra Costa.
McLauglin’s victory makes her Mayor of the largest U.S. city yet (pop. 103,000).
Previously the largest city to have a Green Mayor was Santa Monica, CA (pop. 90,000), where (yours truly) Mike Feinstein was Mayor from 2000-2002. However, Feinstein was appointed by the City Council,
whereas McLaughlin was directly elected.
Of the 31 U.S. Greens who have served as Mayors, nine have been directly elected and 22 appointed. Of those directly elected, all had previously come from small cities and towns, with the only city over 7,000 being
Websters Grove, MO (2000 pop. 23,000) where Terry Williams served between 1994-1997.
The first U.S. Green Mayor ever was Kelly Weaverling, Cordova, Alaska (1991-1993), who was directly elected in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, with Weaverling being an important activist involved in the post-spill clean-up.
The 22 that have been appointed have all came from California, where most cities have a City Manager/City Council form of government, with an appointed Mayor who serves various roles, but not as a chief executive,
nor with veto power over the Council.
Some California cities – mostly the larger ones like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco – have directly elected ‘strong mayors’ who serve as the chief executives of their cities. In
Richmond’s case, the Mayor is separately elected, but is not a ‘strong’ mayor in the traditional large-city sense.
According to the Richmond city government website:
“The Mayor is a member of the City Council and the chief elected
officer and ceremonial head of the City. The Mayor is also responsible
for:
For a complete list of U.S. Green Mayors since 1991, see:
http://www.feinstein.org/greenparty/greenmayors.html
__Gayle McGlaughlin, Richmond, California 2006-2010 (elected)
__Jason West, Village of New Paltz, New York 2003-2007 (elected)
__Elaine Fleming, Cass Lake, Minnesota 2003-2006 (elected)
__Beth Ingalls, Truckee, California 2005-2006 (appointed)
__Karl Warkomski, Aliso Viejo 2004-2006 (appointed)
__Larry Barnett, Sonoma, California 2004-2005 (appointed)
__Larry Robinson, Sebastopol, California 2004-2005 (appointed)
__Lew Tremaine, Fairfax, California 2004-2005 (appointed)
__Arthur R. Palumbo, Windber Borough, Pennsylvania 2001-2005 (elected)
__Kent Rowe, Langton, Kansas 2004 (elected)
__Craig Litwin, Sebastopol, California 2002-2003 (appointed)
__Bob Ornelas, Arcata, California 2002-2003 (appointed)
__Steven M. Schmidt, Menlo Park, California 2002 (appointed)
__Mike Feinstein, Santa Monica, California 2000-2002 (appointed)
__Kerry Arnett, Nevada City, California 2000-2002 (appointed)
__Sam Spooner, Sebastopol, California 2001-2002 (appointed)
__Lew Tremaine, Fairfax, California 2001-2002 (appointed)
__Jerry Marshall, St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania 2001 (elected)
__Larry Barnett, Sonoma, California 2000-2001 (appointed)
__Larry Robinson, Sebastopol, California 2000-2001 (appointed)
__Tim Fitzmaurice, Santa Cruz, California 2000-2001 (appointed)
__Suza Francina, Ojai, California, 2000 (appointed)
__Bob Ornelas, Arcata, California 1999-2000 (appointed)
__Julie Partansky, Davis, California 1998-2000 (appointed)
__Leslie Dahlhoff, Point Arena, California 1998-2000 (appointed)
__Bruce Mast, Albany, California 1997-1998 (appointed)
__Steven M. Schmidt, Menlo Park, California 1996-1997 (appointed)
__David Sawyer, Sandoint, Idaho 1995-1999 (elected) 6800
__Terri Williams, Websters Grove, Missouri 1994-1997 (elected)
__Raven Earlygrow, Point Arena, California 1993-1998 (appointed)
__Kelly Weaverling, Cordova, Alaska 1991-1993 (elected)
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 
Less about Green Victory, more about politics
As a life long Richmond resident, which few people bother to ask about the “green victory” I can tell you that this race was not about a green victory. It was about divided constituencies,crime, race and gender.
I am Black and I voted for Ralph Nadar in the presidential election a few years ago. My affection for the party ended shortly after when I realized its white liberal elitism was no different than the democrats.
If the Greens really want to make a difference in communities of color, they should rethink the condecending rhetoric that debases them to “We want to save your poor little community,” and start inviting real debate, even on green principles and authentic Black leadership that isn’t about parroting some lofty ideal and is about problem solving. Then, maybe, we could have a real debate. Until then, the party will remain a West Wing spin off to the Friday night main event.
Otherwise it will become for people of color what it deplores– the lesser of two evils.