Margaret Clark
Encyclopedia
Margaret Clark is the former mayor of Rosemead, California. Having previously served five terms, she now serves on the Rosemead city council.
When she was re-elected mayor in 2009, she stated: "I'll look at each project that comes before us individually," she said. "The council sets policy... We hire people to implement our visions. I will hire people that have vision, that have the expertise and we will look at what they are recommending, but I am not a micromanager." "My vision is to keep Rosemead a bedroom community, with places to shop and eat and enjoy."

Political career

Margaret Clark was first elected to the Rosemead City Council in March 1991. In the March 3, 2009 election, she was the frontrunner of the six candidates vying for three city council seats. Clark, with campaign pledges to bring in more mainstream retail businesses, improve public safety and improve relations among residents of the city's diverse population, reportedly swept the election. Three days after her re-election to the council, Clark recorded a video requesting that the State of California balance their own budget and no longer borrow from the City of Rosemead's coffers; the video was released on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

.

In addition to her mayoral and council service, Clark previously served on the Rosemead's planning commission for three years. Clark has also been an active leader in national, state and regional organizations and agencies and has been elected by 88 cities to serve as president of the Los Angeles County Division of the League of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...


Cities. Clark is also a member of the California Contract Cities Association board. Currently, Clark represents the City of Rosemead on the board of the San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...

 Council of Governments and serves as a founding board member on the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 Rivers and Mountain Conservancy. In addition, she has been on the Board of Directors of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority since its establishment in 1992. She also serves on the board of the National League of Cities Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Clark also serves on the governing board of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watershed Council. as well as on The League of California Cities.

Controversy

In March 2005, Rosemead's city council election became quite contentious due to citywide anti-Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 sentiment. Clark, who supported the addition of a Wal-Mart to the city, came in third in the election behind challengers John Tran
John Tran
John Tran is an American politician who served on the Rosemead, California city council as that city's first Asian-American mayor...

 and John Nunez.

While serving on Rosemead's city council in May 2008, Clark supported the censure of a city councilman who was accused of sexually harassing a former city employee. The suit brought by the former employee was settled out of court for $330,000 - to be paid by the City of Rosemead's liability insurance. Clark, who opposed any settlement that would find the City of Rosemead liable, criticized the statement saying, "I think it's just outrageous what he did, and that there are no consequences for him." Although the councilman had written a letter of apology to all city employees except city council members, Clark stated that "he should do the honorable thing and resign." She also stated "This letter does not apologize for anything" and said she believed that the letter was a "ploy" in preparation for the 2009 election. In the 2009 election, the accused councilman was defeated, losing his council seat.

Personal history

Margaret Clark is the great-granddaughter of former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 President Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...

.

Clark holds a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 and a teaching credential from UCLA. As an undergraduate, Clark studied in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 at the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...

, through the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

's Education Abroad Program. While a student at UCLA, she met her husband, Jim Clark. After their marriage, they moved to Rosemead, where they raised their family and have been residents for more than 40 years.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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