Editing Richmond, California (section)

==Government==
{{Main|Richmond, California, City Council}}
[[File:Point Richmond Historic District-11 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The Richmond Municipal Natatorium, commonly known as [[The Plunge]], is a public swimming center.]]
The Richmond city government operates under a [[Council-manager government|council-manager system]] with seven members (including mayor and vice mayor) elected to alternating four-year terms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richmond Government |publisher=City of Richmond |url=http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.asp?NID=27 |access-date=June 27, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623072717/http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.asp?NID=27 |archive-date=June 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Politically, the city is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] stronghold. By the early 1990s, not a single [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] remained on the council. The city council has four African Americans, four whites and two Latinos.

The position of Mayor rotated between members of the Richmond City Council until 1981, when the office became an elected position.<ref name=sfc>{{cite news |first=Carolyn |last=Jones |title=George Livingston, Richmond's 1st black elected mayor |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/10/BALF1MNF43.DTL |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=January 11, 2012 |access-date=January 20, 2012}}</ref> [[George Carroll (judge)|George D. Carroll]], who was voted by the City Council to become Mayor on July 6, 1964, was described at the time as "the first Negro mayor in California and first in America with the exception of small, scattered all-Negro communities in the Deep South,".<ref>"Negro Councilman Elevated to Richmond Mayor's Post", ''Oakland Tribune'', July 7, 1964, p19.</ref> [[George Livingston]] Sr. was the first elected African American mayor. He served from 1985 to 1993. [[Rosemary Corbin]] served as the mayor from 1993 to 2001. The current mayor [[Eduardo Martinez (politician)|Eduardo Martinez]] was elected Mayor of Richmond in 2022, winning 39% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/contracosta |title=2024 Contra Costa Election Results: Elected Leaders & Measures Passed &#124; KQED }}</ref> Prior to winning the mayoral election, he had served on the Richmond City Council since 2014. Martinez, a former primary school teacher, is Richmond's first Latino mayor and a vocal critic of Chevron.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11933240/a-progressive-vision-for-richmond-mayor-elect-eduardo-martinez-talks-about-what-lies-ahead |title=A Progressive Vision for Richmond: Mayor-Elect Eduardo Martinez Talks About What Lies Ahead &#124; KQED |date=November 27, 2022 }}</ref>

Years of political domination by the local firefighters union subsided after an [[FBI]] corruption investigation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hallissy|first1=Erin|title='TeflonDon' Faces FBI Probe in Richmond|url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Teflon-Don-Faces-FBI-Probe-In-Richmond-Union-2890668.php|access-date=February 19, 2015|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=December 13, 1999}}</ref> In the early 2000s [[Gayle McLaughlin]] was the first Green elected to the council, with the support of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), a coalition of liberal Democrats, progressive independents, and Greens. In November 2006, McLaughlin was elected mayor, defeating incumbent first-term Mayor [[Irma Anderson]]. During McLaughlin's mayoralty (2007–2015), Richmond was the nation's largest city with a [[Green Party of the United States|Green Party]] mayor.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Jason B. |date=January 10, 2007 |title=Green Party mayor takes the reins |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/10/BAGPQNG56H1.DTL |access-date=June 26, 2007 |archive-date=February 7, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207151910/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/10/BAGPQNG56H1.DTL |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2006, the city implemented a computer program that it had ordered from a German firm that provides the city with statistical interactive maps. These maps cover such areas as signage locations, streets, crime hot-spots, and zoning information.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Esri News &ndash; ArcNews Winter 2002/2003 Issue &ndash; The City of Richmond, California, Implements Enterprise Framework|url=https://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/winter0203articles/city-of-richmond.html|access-date=February 23, 2023|website=esri.com}}</ref> In 2007 the city won a contest in which its previously substandard website was upgraded and improved to make it more modern and functional. The prize includes two years of free webmastering.<ref>[http://www.civicplus.com/Archive.asp?ADID=189 Grand Prize-Winning "Extreme Makeover" Website Is Unveiled!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101238/http://www.civicplus.com/Archive.asp?ADID=189 |date=September 28, 2007 }}, CivicPlus, January 5, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.</ref>

Mayor McLaughlin and Councilperson Butt opposed Chevron's Renewal Project that would replace their 1950s era Hydrogen Manufacturing plant with a newer more efficient plant and would increase pollution by using dirtier, thicker, but cheaper crude oil.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Chip |title=California city questions Chevron's refinery upgrade |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/24005 |access-date=June 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928152052/http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/24005 |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The city of Richmond has eight community centers which are located within city parks.<ref name="infosys"/> Many of the city's community centers were closed in the early 2000s following budget miscalculations and financial difficulties. In the 2006 city elections many candidates ran on platforms promising to reopen these community centers, most of which had been closed due to budget cuts. That election also featured a city sales tax increase, Measure Q, which failed.

There are 53 voting precincts in Richmond. Richmond has formerly been home to black culture and activist movements, most notably the [[Black Panther Party]].

Richmond became the first city in the United States to pass a [[Municipal resolutions for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war|resolution for a ceasefire]] in the [[Gaza war]] on October 25, 2023, eighteen days after the outbreak of hostilities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alvarez |first=Amaray |date=October 25, 2023 |title=Richmond City Council passes controversial resolution supporting Gaza that draws hundreds to meeting |url=https://richmondconfidential.org/2023/10/25/richmond-city-council-passes-controversial-resolution-supporting-gaza-that-draws-hundreds-to-meeting/ |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Richmond Confidential |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Cannabis===
The city has eight [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] dispensaries, and although the city has passed legislation approving them and has legalized their presence, city management does not accept their legality. In fact, the city had sued to close them. It is trying to enforce an injunction that would suspend their operating licenses.<ref name="pot">{{cite news |url=http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/2010/07/22/will-richmond-close-its-pot-clubs-before-its-new-law-goes-into-effect |title=Will Richmond close its pot clubs before its new law goes into effect? |work=East Bay Express |first=Alex |last=Weber |date=July 22, 2010}}</ref> Although the city council has passed an ordinance permitting the dispensaries, city management refuses to cooperate with the spirit of the law because it has yet to take effect.<ref name="pot"/> The question remains whether the clubs will be closed before the law allowing them to open takes effect.<ref name="pot"/>

In 2019 the city approved "Power Plant Park" a marijuana farm consisting of 45 greenhouses on 18 acres north of North Richmond near [[Breuner Marsh]] and a solar farm. It is expected the create 500 new jobs and become a major economic contributor to the city.<ref>{{Cite web|title='PowerPlant Park' Could Make Richmond The Cannabis Capital Of Contra Costa County|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/powerplant-park-could-make-richmond-the-cannabis-capital-of-contra-costa-county/|access-date=February 23, 2023|publisher=CBS News |date=May 5, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=PowerPlant Park Project |website=Richmond, CA Official Website|url=https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3670/PowerPlant-Park-Project|access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref>

===Political party affiliation===
According to the [[Secretary of State of California|California Secretary of State]], as of February 10, 2019, Richmond has 52,364 registered voters. Of those, 33,166 (63.3%) are registered [[California Democratic Party|Democrats]], 2,979 (5.7%) are registered [[California Republican Party|Republicans]], 14,108 (26.9%) have [[Decline to State|declined to state]] a political party, and 4.1% are registered members of a third party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/ror-odd-year-2019/politicalsub.pdf|title=CA Secretary of State – Report of Registration – February 10, 2019|website=ca.gov|access-date=March 12, 2019}}</ref>