Thomas King Butt is an American politician and architect serving as the sixth mayor of

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

. He was vice-mayor in 2002 and 2012 and a member of the Richmond City Council for over 20 years before being elected mayor. He is the longest continuously serving council member in Richmond's history.

Early life and education

Butt was born in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

and raised in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

. His father, Thomas F. Butt, served in the United States Army during World War II and later became a judge in Arkansas. Butt's mother was a librarian in the

Fayetteville Public Library The Fayetteville Public Library (also Blair Library and FPL) is a library in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver-certified library was named "Library of the Year" in 2005 ...

. Butt earned a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arkansas, followed by a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

As an undergraduate, Butt spent summers working for the United States Forest Service in Montana, Hawaii, and San Francisco. Butt joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 and was deployed to Vietnam shortly after. He served until 1970. After leaving the Army, Butt married his wife, Shirley, in 1971. They lived in

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

before moving to

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, ...

in 1973. Butt is the president of Interactive Resources, a local architectural firm. He is also a contractor and former real estate broker. Butt founded and is the president of the East Brother Light Station, Inc., a non-profit organization focused on maintaining the historic

East Brother Island Lighthouse East Brother Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on East Brother Island in San Rafael Bay, near the tip of Point San Pablo in Richmond, California. It marks the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay. Built in 1874 and aut ...

on East Brother Island, a

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. Butt founded and remains a board member of Rosie the Riveter Trust (named for Rosie the Riveter), the non-profit partner of Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park located in Richmond.

Politics

He won the Richmond mayoral election of 2014 and succeeded

Gayle McLaughlin Gayle McLaughlin (born 1952) is an American politician from Richmond, California. She was first elected to the Richmond City Council in 2004 when she was a member of the Green Party of California. She won two consecutive four-year terms as the ...

as mayor. He was sworn in by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, January 13, 2015. His relationships with other city leaders deteriorated over time, and in 2021, he said "I’m pretty much a lame duck" and indicated that he would exit political life.

References

External links

Tom Butt
official site
Interactive Resources

Tom Butt
city of Richmond profile
SmartVoter
Tom Butt profile Living people Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Richmond City Council members (California) Architects from California Mayors of Richmond, California 21st-century American politicians 1944 births {{California-mayor-stub University of Arkansas alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni People from Fayetteville, Arkansas