Rex Richardson

Rex Richardson (born August 18, 1983) is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Long Beach, California since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Richardson previously served as a member of the Long Beach City Council, representing the 9th District From 2014 until 2022.

Early life and career
Richardson was born on August 18, 1983, at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. His father was a member of the United States Air Force and his mother worked for General Motors as a welder on their assembly line. His parents divorced when he was three or four years old, and he and his siblings relocated with their mother, living in Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri before settling in Pickens County, Alabama, before moving to California when he was 11 years old. He graduated from Covina High School and enrolled at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He served as student body president, but dropped out of college without graduating to take a job as a community organizer for the Service Employees International Union Local 721.

In 2010, Steve Neal, the member of the Long Beach City Council for the ninth district, hired Richardson as his chief of staff and tasked him with organizing community groups in the district. In 2014, Neal ran for the California Assembly, and Richardson was elected to the city council to succeed him. In 2015, he rolled out the My Brother's Keeper Challenge to Long Beach. He was elected vice mayor of Long Beach in 2016. Richardson returned to college through remote learning in 2020, and completed his bachelor's degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Election
Richardson announced his candidacy for the mayoralty of Long Beach in January 2022, upon Robert Garcia's retirement to run for the United States House of Representatives. He received the endorsements of Senator Alex Padilla, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the outgoing Mayor Garcia.

In the June 7 primary election, Richardson and fellow councilor Suzie Price received the most votes, but since no candidate received a majority of the votes, the election advanced to a runoff. Richardson would win the runoff election on November 8, 2022, becoming the first Black mayor of Long Beach.

Tenure
Richardson was sworn in on December 20, 2022.

Appointments
The city of Long Beach, California uses a council-manager system. This means that policy-making authority lies within an elected governing body: the city council. Mayors can, however, make certain appointments.

In 2022, Long Beach voters approved the formation of a new Police Oversight Commission. To serve as its first commissioner, Richardson appointed former Sacramento County Inspector General Francine Kerridge. Her duties include investigating instances of unnecessary force and broader trends within the department.

Richardson cited increasing diversity as a major influencing factor in his appointment decisions. He has appointed 32 commissioners, 53% are women and 59% are members of racial minority groups.

Long Beach Housing Promise
The Long Beach Housing Promise was proposed by Rex Richardson and approved by City Council members in April 2023. Richardson launched the initiative to create more affordable housing opportunities for students and their families and to identify more opportunities for homeless prevention programs in Long Beach. In creating this program, Richardson worked directly with the president of California State University, Long Beach, the president and superintendent of Long Beach City College, and the superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District.

Grow Long Beach Initiative
The Grow Long Beach Initiative is a long-term plan to expand Long Beach's economy. The purpose of the initiative is to find alternative revenue sources in order to help reduce the city's long standing reliance on fossil fuels and oil. The initiative focuses mainly on two industries: tourism and aerospace and aviation. Even so, the city is exploring other highly profitable industries such as healthcare, the Port of Long Beach and its supply chain, education, hospitality, and the arts. One of the recent developments of this initiative is the construction of a Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Long Beach. On November 13, 2023, Richardson formally announced the Hard Rock Hotel project. Richardson said the project aligns directly with the Grow Long Beach Initiative, because the construction of the hotel will help to increase tourism and transform downtown Long Beach into a thriving entertainment district.

"Roadmap to Downtown Recovery" Initiative
On November 14, 2023, Richardson released a comprehensive three-phase plan to address public safety concerns in downtown Long Beach. The purpose of the initiative is to combat serious public safety issues facing downtown Long Beach, including trespassing, drug dealing and lewd behavior. The initiative places a strong emphasis on mental health issues. More specifically, the initiative includes the creation of the Neighborhood Safety Bike Team, increased patrol officers in downtown Long Beach, specialized drugs officers directed toward areas with high crime rates, and the establishment of enhanced Quality of life officers.

West Side Promise
The West Side Promise was introduced by Richardson in his 2024 budget reveal, in which he proposed a 10-year investment plan to identify ways to improve West Long Beach's housing supply and economy, while maintaining climate resiliency. West Long Beach has experienced some significant hardships in recent years, including a lack of basic necessities like banks, full-service grocery stores, and pharmacies. West Long Beach is also very close to Interstate 710 and the Port of Long Beach, which causes its residents to experience many health issues. In order to remedy these issues, Richardson's West Side Promise's plans to drive economic and equitable investments, increase open spaces, and work to decrease pollution in West Long Beach.

Budget Proposal 2024
Richardson has made many efforts to reshape Long Beach, California’s economy through his budget proposals leading up to 2024. To support this approach, Richardson has drafted his proposal for Long Beach revolving around Elevate 28, a billion-dollar plan to improve the Long Beach area. The $3.2 billion proposal focuses on helping the homeless and preparing the community for the 2028 Olympic Games. The final budget for this fiscal year was established and planned to begin on October 1. After many revisions, this budget was focused on allocating funds toward the upcoming Olympics, infrastructure, and more. More key motivations of this program were to upgrade the population’s quality of life - aiming to extend life expectancy and decrease homeless rates around the city by finding safe and supportive residences for the homeless. This budget also incorporates strategies to inject money into smaller locally owned businesses to improve the local community around Long Beach, the hope is to support small businesses and spur more tourism.

During the $3.2 billion budget proposal, Rex Richardson has advocated for a plan that is meant to supply more resources to the city. This 10-year plan is called the West Side Promise. This promise is meant to fight against the environmental racism that has plagued the city for years, and Richardson believes this will be a beneficial investment for the city. Some key attributes of this program include developing a new cultural center and new parks in the area. The hope for this program is to improve Long Beach's quality of life by providing them with basic necessities and resources. To make this program successful, the city would need funding from private and public industries to provide these resources for the city.

Personal life
Richardson and his wife, Nina, have two daughters. They live in North Long Beach.