Rosemary Corbin is a longstanding Democratic public figure and former mayor of
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a city council.
. Chevron Access Needed for Richmond Bay Trail Link by Geneviève Duboscq, ''
The Berkeley Daily Planet
The ''Berkeley Daily Planet'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Berkeley, California, which continues today as an internet-based news publication.
The ''Daily Planet'' is politically progressive movement, progressive, and offers endorsem ...
'', 27-03-2007, access date 06-04-2009
Overview
Corbin served on the Richmond City Council from 1985 to 1993, and then as the mayor from 1993 to 2001.http://www.rosietheriveter.org/trustbd.htm Rosie the Riveter In 1993, Corbin defeated
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
Richmond Mayor
George Livingston
George Livingston (c. 1933 – January 7, 2012) was an American politician who served as the first elected African American Mayor of Richmond, California, from 1985 to 1993. Livingston was appointed Mayor in 1985 by the city council. He won ele ...
, who was seeking re-election.
Corbin was the first directly elected female mayor of the city. She ran unopposed in 1997, while in 2001 she ran up against term limits as mayor and was succeeded by her vice mayor
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 ...
. In 1999 she had to fight the Chevron Richmond Refinery from lowering its property tax contributions and argue against the company insisting the city survive on a leaner budget.Richmond reluctant to pressure Chevron Benjamin Pimentel, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 09-04-1999, access date 23-03-2012
Corbin is still involved in local politics and campaigned against Indian casinos and in support of the failed Measure T.
Corbin studied at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...
for her BA and at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
for her Master of library science degree.
She serves as a docent at the Rosie the Riveter/WW II Home Front National Historical Park Rosie the Riveter/Homefront World War II National Historic Park a project she spearheaded as mayor. She was also involved with the largely successful Main Street Project, which has resulted in remodeling
MacDonald Avenue
Macdonald Avenue is the main east-to-west artery in Richmond, California.Richmond Transit Village and Richmond Shopping Center, and the resurrection of the MacDonald 80 Shopping Center. She is the Chair of the City of Richmond's Historical Preservation Commission, and she is the president of the board of Ujima, a substance abuse treatment program for women and their children.
She has described the relationship between the city and Chevron Corporation that operates as the community's largest employer Chevron Richmond Refinery as "complicated".