Laura Richardson

Infobox_Congressman
name=Laura Richardson


date of birth=Birth date and age|1962|4|14|mf=y
place of birth=Los Angeles, California
state=California
district=37th
term_start=September 4 2007
preceded=Juanita Millender-McDonald
succeeded=Incumbent
district_2=55th
term_start_2=December 2006
preceded_2=Jenny Oropeza
succeeded_2=Warren Furutani
party=Democratic
religion=Methodist
spouse=divorced
residence = Long Beach, California
alma_mater= UCLA, University of Southern California
occupation= printing executive

Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962 in Los Angeles, California) is a Democratic Representative in the United States Congress. She represented California's 55th Assembly District for the 2007 term until she was elected to the House of Representatives for ushr|California|37 in a special election on August 21 to fill the vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald. The district encompasses the inland section of Long Beach, Carson, Compton and Signal Hill, as well as parts of other municipalities.

Background

Richardson was raised by a single father who belonged to the Teamsters labor union. [Mitchell, John L. "Racial issues take a back seat in 37th, 'Multiracial support has Laura Richardson poised to represent a largely Latino district. Her take: `We are a new America, very diverse.'" "Los Angeles Times". July 3, 2007. Accessed July 16, 2007.] Her father was African American, while her mother was Caucasian. Richardson has said that racism against their mixed-race family was "what got me since the age of about six of wanting to be a public servant." [cite web|url=http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/08/early_brush_with_racism_set_re.html|title=Early Brush With Racism Set Rep.-Elect Richardson on Political Path|first=Rachel|last=Kapochunas|accessdate=2007-08-24]

Richardson graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984. In 1987, she joined Xerox Corporation where she worked for 14 years. In 1996, Laura received her MBA from the University of Southern California. She often credits her studies in China at Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai as significantly expanding her educational experience.

Long Beach City Council

Richardson served on the Long Beach City Council from 2000 to 2006. In 2004, Richardson won a second term outright on the first ballot. As a councilwoman, she made statements that her priorities included neighborhood improvement, public safety, attracting jobs and businesses to the cities’ central corridors, job training programs for adults, after-school programs for youth and expanding senior programs.

Richardson established the Sixth District Master Plan, a strategic guideline for development in the area. Other significant accomplishments during her council tenure include securing the first funding for alley maintenance by the city of Long Beach, initiating the planning process for a Senior Transportation Program in the Central Area of Long Beach.

While serving on the city council, Richardson joined the staff of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and served as his Southern California director for five years.

California Assembly

Richardson served as the assistant speaker pro tempore in the Assembly. Richardson was the first African-American and South Bay representative to achieve this position. Additionally, Richardson was appointed to serve on the Budget, Human Services, Utilities & Commerce, Government Organization, and Joint Legislative Budget committees. She was chair of the Select Committee on Proposition 209-Equal Opportunity.

Election to Congress

Richardson defeated State Senator Jenny Oropeza and 9 other Democrats in the June 26 primary election to win her party's nomination. On August 21, Richardson won more than 65% of the vote in a four-way race against the nominees of the Republican Party, Green Party, and Libertarian Party.

Real estate controversies

Richardson purchased a home in Sacramento with no money down [cite news |first=Peter |last=Viles |title=Report: California Congresswoman walked away from $578K mortgage |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/05/report-californ.html |work=L.A. Land |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=May 21, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-21 Richardson borrowed the $15,000 for the closing costs from the seller.] and a subprime mortgage. Washington Mutual alleged that she later walked away from her Sacramento home and the mortgage within two years of receiving the $578,000 mortgage and stopped making payments on the home and the mortgage. Washington Mutual foreclosed on the house and the final amount owed by Richardson was $578,000 which was $40,000 more than the home was worth. [cite news |first=Peter |last=Viles |title=Report: California Congresswoman walked away from $578K mortgage |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/05/report-californ.html |work=L.A. Land |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=May 21, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-21 ] According to county records, Richardson received a default notice and Notice of Trustee's Sale in late 2007. In December 2007, Richardson was behind in payments by more than $18,000. [ [http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_adctlid=v%7Cjq2q43wvsl855o%7Cx4qkjhxlldwn8k&issueId=x48gnuowgqsg6o&xid=x4ptlrmv0w0r6x Capitol Weekly: The Newspaper of California State Government and Politics] ] According to the couple that sold the home to Richardson, Richardson was not maintaining the home. Sharon Helmar has stated: "The neighbors are extremely unhappy with her. She didn't mow the lawn or take out the garbage while she was there. We lived there for a long time, 30 years, and we had to hide our heads whenever we came back to the neighborhood." [cite news |first=Anthony |last=York |title=Foreclosure tale shows that nobody is immune from crisis |url=http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_adctlid=v%7Cjq2q43wvsl855o%7Cx4qkjhxlldwn8k&issueId=x48gnuowgqsg6o&xid=x4ptlrmv0w0r6x |work=Capitol Weekly |publisher=Capitol Weekly Group
date=May 20, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-22 ]

The real estate broker who bought Rep. Laura Richardson's Sacramento house at a foreclosure sale last month is accusing her of receiving preferential treatment because her lender has issued a notice to rescind the sale. James York, owner of Red Rock Mortgage, said he would file a lawsuit against Richardson and her lender, Washington Mutual, by the end of the week, and has every intention of keeping the house. York bought the Sacramento home at a foreclosure auction on May 7 for $388,000. Richardson had not been making payments on the property for nearly a year, and had also gone into default on her two other houses in Long Beach and San Pedro. Richardson, D-Long Beach, has said that the auction should never have been held, because she had worked out a loan modification agreement with her lender beforehand and had begun making payments. [cite news |first=Gene |last=Maddaus |title=WaMu giving Richardson a break? |url=http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_9536078 |work=Daily Breeze |publisher= Los Angeles Newspaper group
date=June 9, 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-09 ] Washington Mutual has since settled with York. Experts interviewed in relation to the foreclosure and recision have claimed that Washington Mutual's actions in Richardson's favor have been nearly unprecedented. "It seems to me it has nothing to do with the law, but it has to do with [Washington Mutual] trying to be deferential to a congresswoman," said Grant Nelson, the William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law at Pepperdine University. [cite news |first=Jeff |last=Gottlieb |title=Rep. Richardson's Sacramento home declared 'public nuisance' |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-richardson15-2008aug15,0,912962.story?page=1 |Work=LA Times
date=August 15, 2008 |accessdate=2008-08-15 ]

According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Richardson had also defaulted on payments for her primary home in Long Beach and an additional property she owns in San Pedro. Although she has worked out an agreement with her lender for the Long Beach property, the San Pedro home is still in default and faces foreclosure. [Maddaus, Gene. [http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_9366009 "Housing woes mount for Rep. Laura Richardson"] , "Long Beach Post-Telegram", May 23, 2008.]

She also initially did not disclose a loan from a strip club owner when a on the City Council, public records show. [cite news |first=John |last=Canalis |title=Representative late revealing two loans for homes |url=http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9582385 |Work=Press Telegram
date=June 14, 2008 |accessdate=2008-07-09 ]

Rep. Richardson's Sacramento home has been declared a 'public nuisance', as reported by the LA Times. The Code Enforcement Department in Sacramento has declared her home a "public nuisance" and threatened up to $5,000 a month fine if she does fix up the property. The city action was prompted when police were called twice to investigate reports of a suspicious person in or around the house. Officers called the Code Enforcement Department, which boarded up a broken door. In July inspectors visited the house twice and found "junk and debris" in the driveway and "rotting fruit on the ground in the rear yard which creates rodent harborage." [cite news |first=Jeff |last=Gottlieb |title=Rep. Richardson's Sacramento home declared 'public nuisance' |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-richardson15-2008aug15,0,912962.story?page=1 |Work=LA Times
date=August 15, 2008 |accessdate=2008-08-15 ]

upport from labor unions

Richardson has the backing of several large unions, including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which provided significant volunteer support during the special primary election.

Political positions

;Iraq WarIn 2003, Richardson said she believed the inspectors should be allowed to continue their work, and that she did not favor an invasion at that time. She was asked by anti-war groups to support a Long Beach City Council resolution declaring the city's opposition to the Iraq War. She did not support this resolution, but cosponsored a resolution declaring support for local members of the National Guard. She said she believed once hostilities began, it was important to support the troops. Her position today is that once Saddam Hussein was caught and executed, American troops should have come home. She supports a withdrawal plan beginning in six months, according to her mailers, which often contain pictures of President George W. Bush with a slash mark through his image, indicating her opposition to Bush's policies. She pledged to oppose any new spending for war in Iraq if elected to Congress.

;Same-sex marriageRichardson has previously been critical of the gay lifestyle and those who promote it. More recently, she co-wrote the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California.

;PrisonsRichardson supported AB 900 to create 40,000 more prison beds in California at the cost of $7.4 billion dollars.

;EnvironmentRichardson has faced some harsh scrutiny for not co-sponsoring Rep. Henry Waxman's global warming legislation. As a result, Greenpeace has mounted a public awareness campaign about her position. [Puente, Kelly. [http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_7673341 "Lukewarm response to Safe Climate Act"] , "Long Beach Post-Telegram", December 8, 2007.]

;ImmigrationRichardson does not support building a border fence. She does support some path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants.

;2008 presidential raceLaura Richardson endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. Although her district voted for 54.2% to 43.5% in favor of Barack Obama [ [http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_primary/demcd.pdf demcd.xls ] ] .

;FISA Amendments Act Richardson voted in favor of a controversial update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on June 20, 2008. As part of the bill, telecommunications companies that have allegedly acted illegally in allowing the Bush Administration to spy on customers will be protected from prosecution. The administration's surveillance of U.S. citizens and residents is part of the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy.

External links

* [http://richardson.house.gov/ U.S. Congresswoman Laura Richardson] official House site
* [http://www.laurarichardsonforcongress.com/ Laura Richardson for Congress] official campaign site
*CongBio|R000581
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Laura_Richardson SourceWatch Congresspedia — Laura Richardson] profile
* [http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/6454 Laura Richardson Political History]
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Laura_Richardson.htm On the Issues — Laura Richardson] issue positions and quotes
* [http://charleslaurenfilms.blogspot.com/2007/11/congressional-biography.html Biography Video of her time spent in Long Beach]
* [http://charleslauren.com/blog/richardson.html Public Swearing In Video September 2007]
* [http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a55/bio.aspx California Assembly bio]
* [http://www.lbreport.com Long Beach Report] with local discussions about Richardson

References