Dear Friends:
Welcome to my 2010 Re-election Campaign
Website. It’s been such an incredible honor to
serve as your Mayor for the past 4 years. Together we have
made great strides, built upon our strengths, faced our challenges,
and continue to build, brick by brick, a better Richmond.
I invite you to explore my website.
You will find a sampling of the many, many positive steps
that we have accomplished together -- steps in economic
development, job creation, crime prevention, building cleaner
and healthier communities, promoting democratic participation
and transparency, and supporting education, culture, the
arts, and our youth. These improvements touch all aspects
of our local life, and renew the faith in our residents and
in their aspirations for a Better Richmond.
While the state of the City is sound,
there are many in the community who are suffering. In
the last few years we have faced a national economic storm
of unprecedented magnitude, an economic recession triggered
by irresponsible corporate bankers and speculators that imploded
our financial security and created the highest unemployment
rates since the Great Depression. Locally, this has been
compounded by thousands of home foreclosures, and the budget
crisis within West Contra Costa Unified School District. Joblessness
and economic despair among youth in our most impoverished
neighborhoods are a systemic cause of the chronic violence
that continues to plague our city.
Richmond voted massively in 2008 for
change in our national leadership, and today many
continue to hope and wait. We cannot wait forever. If change
is not coming from Washington, D.C., or Sacramento, we must,
as Mahatma Gandhi urged, “Be the change you want to see.” We
reaffirm the need to move towards a locally based, sustainable
economy, controlled by the people of Richmond.
I understand that my election to public office
represented a dramatic departure from “politics as usual” in
Richmond. During my campaigns in 2004 for city council and
for mayor in 2006, I refused to accept one dime of
corporate contributions to my campaign. I continue
this pledge today. For too long local elections had been won
and lost within the deep pockets of corporations, and I was
proud my campaigns demonstrated that Richmond voters would
choose a candidate based on the power of her values and ideas,
and not the power of special interests.
Our proud residents refuse to let any multinational
conglomerate decide what is fair, what is right for our local
community. We will continue to work hard for fair taxation –
so that Richmond families and small businesses are not carrying
the load for any powerful corporations that seek to avoid their
responsibilities through loopholes, special perks, and endless
litigation.
We have accomplished so much in the
last four years, and yet there remains much work to be done. We
face unprecedented challenges in the economy, the environment,
and public safety. I am asking for your support and
vote to be re-elected Mayor of Richmond for another four
years. As a candidate of change and hope I will
tell you what you already know:
The road to community, economic
and environmental health is long and hard, but we have proven
we can make change, adjust, redirect priorities, and re-invent
our City.
We have already taken some great steps
so far. Let’s keep walking on! |
