Rosemary Corbin is a longstanding Democrat public figure and former mayor of Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

.

Overview

She served on the Richmond City Council from 1985 to 1993, and then as the mayor from 1993 to 2001. Corbin was the first female mayor of the city. Corbin is still involved in local politics and campaigned against Indian casinos and in support of the failed Measure T.

She ran up against term limits as mayor and was succeeded by her vice mayor Irma Anderson

Irma A. Anderson

Irma L. Anderson was the first African American woman elected mayor of a major California city, serving Richmond, California between 2001 and 2006, she ran for reelection as the incumbent Democrat in the 2006 mayoral race and lost to Green challenger councilperson Gayle McLaughlin by 192 votes, her...

 in 2001.

Corbin studied at San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

 for her BA and at University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 for her Master of library science degree.

She serves on the Rosie the Riveter/Homefront World War II National Monument board, 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

Macdonald Avenue is the main east-to-west artery in the Oakland suburb of Richmond.-Overview:Macdonald Avenue runs in a straight line from the Richmond Parkway through downtown to San Pablo Avenue, after which it continues as a minor street for a few blocks, ending at Ludwig Avenue in El...

, the creation of the Richmond Transit Village

Richmond Transit Village

Metro Walk is a transit village in downtown Richmond, California. It is a major public-private works project, and one of the first transit villages in the world, and the first with single-family houses as the primary housing units, instead of more traditional condos...

 and Richmond Shopping Center, and the resurrection of the MacDonald 80 Shopping Center.

She has described the relationship between the city and Chevron Corporation that operates the community's largest employer the Chevron Richmond Refinery

Chevron Richmond Refinery

The Chevron Richmond Refinery is a petroleum refinery in Richmond, California, on San Francisco Bay. It is owned and operated by Chevron Corporation and employs more than 1,200 workers, making it the city's largest employer. The refinery processes approximately of crude oil a day in the...

as "complicated".