Public Forum with Mayor of Richmond
Human Agenda is pleased to announce that Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, California, will be coming to San Jose April 9 to share her city’s experiences in fighting foreclosures, unemployment, and urban blight.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin has led Richmond in a progressive direction that has kept city workers in jobs and city services in place, schools and health services open, even in these hard economic times.
The Mayor's Work
Mayor McLaughlin’s focus on environmental justice and creating a healthy environment has moved the city forward greatly with community gardens, bike paths, bay trail construction, and park renovations in neighborhoods throughout the city. This has included advancing solar installation, and creating a model green job training program that has graduated hundreds of Richmond residents who are now working in the green economy—something we in the South Bay could benefit from.
As one of the areas hit hardest by foreclosures, South Bay residents can also benefit from learning how the Mayor of Richmond has advocated for residents evicted by bank speculators by approving policies to hold banks accountable. Mayor McLaughlin is proud to be leading Richmond in standing up to Wall Street and for her community with the Richmond CARES (Community Action to Restore Equity and Stability) program. This is a foreclosure prevention program that is seeking to acquire severely underwater mortgages in Richmond from the banks (either through voluntarily sales or through eminent domain) so the City can refinance the loans for the homeowners with reduced principals in line with current home values. Fixing the foreclosure crisis and restoring home equity will help the entire city of Richmond and the region by protecting the local economy, neighborhoods and home values –something all South Bay cities and residents could benefit from as well.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin has worked successfully on behalf of her city’s schools, and she has been in the forefront of defending the civil rights of Richmond’s immigrant population. Her support for immigrant rights included a recently approved municipal ID for all Richmond residents, so everyone, including immigrant residents, can access services such as bank accounts.
All of these and more are efforts we would hope to emulate here in San Jose and the South Bay.
We hope community leaders and activists, and all those concerned with having our cities move in a positive direction, will come to hear what Richmond has been doing and talk with Mayor McLaughlin about how we can emulate their efforts on behalf of all the people.