John Gioia is an American politician. He has served on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors in

Contra Costa County, California ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

since 1998 and was re-elected three times. He served as chair in 2002, 2006 and 2010. John Gioia is a Democrat. Contra Costa supervisorial seats are non-partisan.

History

John Gioia was first elected to the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors in 1998, after successfully challenging incumbent

Jim Rogers James Beeland Rogers Jr. (born October 19, 1942) is an American investor and financial commentator based in Singapore. Rogers is the chairman of Beeland Interests, Inc. He was the co-founder of the Quantum Fund and Soros Fund Management. He wa ...

, and was re-elected three times. He served as chair due to the regular rotation of the role amongst the Supervisors in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Gioia represents 210,000 residents in the westernmost urban area of the county including El Cerrito,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, San Pablo,

Pinole Pinole, also called pinol or pinolillo, is roasted ground maize, which is then mixed with a combination of cocoa, agave, cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make d ...

, and the unincorporated communities of El Sobrante, Kensington, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond, East Richmond Heights, Rollingwood and Tara Hills. Gioia is a recognized leader in Bay Area regional government on air quality issues. He was appointed by Governor Brown to serve on the

California Air Resources Board The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is the "clean air agency" of the government of California. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Moto ...

in 2012 and has served on the

Bay Area Air Quality Management District The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is a public agency that regulates the stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Sa ...

Board since 2006 (serving as chair in 2012). Gioia advocates on behalf of county government as the President of the California State Association of Counties. He chairs the Bay Area Joint Policy Committee (which coordinates the planning for the four regional government agencies), and serves as vice-chair of the

San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority The San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (SFBRA) is a government agency dedicated to preserving and restoring San Francisco Bay and its shoreline. SFBRA was created by the California legislature in 2008. It is headquartered in Oakland. In 201 ...

and previously served on the Doctors Medical Center governing board before its demise. Gioia also serves on the California Cities Counties Schools Partnership Board,

Association of Bay Area Governments The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is a regional planning agency incorporating various local governments in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. It encompasses nine counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay. Those counties are ...

executive board, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Bay Area Regional Airport Planning Committee, RYSE Youth Center Board, El Sobrante Boys and Girls Club Advisory Board, and the Bay Area Social Equity Caucus Steering Committee. Gioia was first elected to public office in 1988 as a Director of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) serving for 10 years and was EBMUD's youngest ever President in 1995. He joined congressman then George Miller, Richmond city councilman

Nat Bates Nathaniel Bates is a former mayor and eight-term city councilman of Richmond, California in addition to being a former professional baseball player in the Canadian League in his earlier years. History He arrived in Richmond in 1942 by train f ...

and others in protesting the eviction of a popular pastor in 2010. In 2016 he opposed development in landslide prone areas of rural and unincorporated El Sobrante Valley. In 2017 he was involved in a feud with the county sheriff over expansion of West County Detention Center in Richmond, which he opposed, in the end he ended up creating a re-entry program for justice involved people that the sheriff also opposed. He also supported more affordable housing supported by 15 bills signed into law by Jerry Brown this year. In 2018 he helped launch a deportation defense hotline for illegal aliens living in the area to help them with available resources. Similar to the issue in 2010 in 2019 alongside congressman

Mark DeSaulnier Mark James DeSaulnier ( ; born March 31, 1952) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 11th congressional district since 2015. The district includes most of Contra Costa County, a suburban county ...

he urged a retirement home in San Pablo and its landlord to extend the stay for its many elderly residents. Also in 2019 he criticized the NuStar refinery in

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...

for taking 48-minutes to call 911 emergency for a major out of control fire at its facility. He also supports Kensington remaining unincorporated citing its minor tax base but supporting its limited self-governance.

Indian gaming

Gioia is largely opposed to the expansion of urban gaming proposed by Native American Indian gaming interests. These projects include the failed billion dollar Point Molate proposal, Casino San Pablo upgrades from card club to full scale, and the successful

Sugar Bowl Casino Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

by the Guideville, Lytton, and

Scotts Valley Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles (48 km) south of downtown San Jose and six miles (10 km) north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mount ...

bands of Pomo Indians respectively.Richmond rejects tribe's plans for casino resort
Carolyn Jones. San Francisco Chronicle. 07-04-2011. Retrieved 07-04-2011.

Political career

In 1999 he voiced criticism of four refineries in the county particularly the Chevron Richmond Refinery for not having written policies on disaster response including the accidental release of contaminants. In 2003 Gioia joined

Loni Hancock Loni Hancock (born Ilona Harrington; April 10, 1940) is an American politician and a former member of the California State Senate. A Democrat, she represented the 9th Senate District, which encompasses the northern East Bay. Hancock has bee ...

Irma Anderson Irma L. Anderson was the elected mayor of the city of Richmond, California serving between 2001 and 2006. She ran for re-election as the incumbent Democrat in the 2006 mayoral race and lost to Green Party challenger councilperson Gayle McLaughl ...

, and other area residents and politicians to protest and oppose the entry of

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

into

Hilltop Mall Hilltop Horizon, formerly known as Hilltop Mall, East Bay Science and Technology Center and The Shops At Hilltop, was a regional shopping center in the Hilltop neighborhood of Richmond, California. Hilltop is managed and co-owned by Prologis ...

, however this was eventually unsuccessful. In 2005 he proposed banning new Indian Reservations and gambling institutions in the county and also approved a measure to fine each supervisor $1 for every instance of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo. In 2017, the

California Fair Political Practices Commission The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) of California is a five-member independent nonpartisan commission that has primary responsibility for the impartial and effective administration of the Political Reform Act of 1974. The Commission's ...

recommended a $14,000 fine for Gioia, levied for missed deadlines in filing multiple documents related to campaign contributions and expenditures. In 2018, Gioia travelled out of the country on a refinery junket to visit petroleum tar sands as a guest of oil companies.

Personal life

He is an alumnus of

El Cerrito High School El Cerrito High School is a four-year public high school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. It is located on Ashbury Avenue in El Cerrito, California, United States and serves students from El Cerrito, a portion of eastern Richm ...

and Cal Berkeley where he received a bachelor's degree in political science. This was followed by a J.D. degree from

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

and a working career in business and land use law in his hometown and San Francisco. In 2002, Gioia married Jennifer Peck, who served as his treasurer before their legal separation in 2013 and divorce in 2016. Gioia lives in Richmond and is the parent of Christopher, a student at U.C. Berkeley, and Emilia, who attends a local public school.

Notes

External links

Official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gioa, John County supervisors in California Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Politicians from Richmond, California UC Berkeley School of Law alumni People from El Cerrito, California