Gayle McLaughlin
She has led an ongoing effort to restrict the municipal influence of Richmond's largest employer, the Chevron Corporation, and to refashion its environmental obligations.
She has also been involved in an ongoing effort to stop development on the North Richmond shoreline and supports the Service Employees International Union.
[11] She was a strong proponent of Measure N, a proposed municipal soda tax that was met by determined, well-funded resistance from the American Beverage Association and other business interests.
[14] McLaughlin was criticized for attending an Occupy rally on Veterans Day of 2011 instead of a symbolic ship-launching portrayal at the former Richmond Shipyards.
The city, in partnership with a private financing company, would seek to purchase mortgages from banks at fair market value and then allow the homeowners to refinance for a minimal fee.
[2][19] Defending the plan, McLaughlin said mortgage seizures were necessary to alleviate "an unjust set of circumstances" facing homeowners after the Great Recession, and the use of eminent domain would be justified for the common good by preventing urban blight caused by abandoned foreclosed homes.
[17] The city thus has a right and duty to prevent foreclosures, as well as a legal necessity to protect its citizens: "People were tricked.
[19] Arguing that it was an illegal use of eminent domain, the banks also warned that it would severely damage the U.S. mortgage industry by encouraging other municipalities to do the same.
[2][17] Other cities, including Newark, North Las Vegas, and Seattle were all said to be considering mortgage seizure, although only Richmond publicly pursued the plan.
[24] The multinational energy corporation maintains a massive, century-old oil refinery in Richmond, and it has long dominated the city's economy and politics.
[25] After the RPA took root, however, the shift in government caused friction with Chevron, particularly after the McLaughlin administration fought it in court over the payment of various taxes.
[25] A major fire at the refinery in August 2012 led to another hotly contested lawsuit, this time for "willful and conscious disregard of public safety".
[28] She was nonetheless elected to the City Council in 2014 and served in this role until July 18, 2017, when she resigned to seek a higher political office.
[1][29] McLaughlin is not without critics such as the East Bay Times, which referred to her and the RPA in a 2016 editorial as "the biggest deniers of the city's fiscal crisis.
"[30] She and her fellow RPA candidates Eduardo Martinez and Jovanka Beckles all won by wide margins in 2014 despite having been heavily outspent by their opposition.
