Vice Mayor Rex Richardson announced Friday his intent to run for a second term on the Long Beach City Council to represent the North Side and continue his momentum in revitalizing a community that has lagged behind Downtown Long Beach in development.
Richardson made history in 2014 when he became the youngest person to win a Long Beach City Council seat at age 30, and again in 2016 when he became the youngest to assume the vice mayor position and just the second African-American to do so.
Since then, the vice mayor and 9th Council District representative has implemented multiple programs and collaborated with various nonprofits, government agencies and businesses to bring what officials are calling an “Uptown Renaissance” to the city’s North Side.
“The change we see in our community is because we worked together to make it happen,” Richardson said in a statement. “I want to keep working with you. That’s why I’m asking for your vote for a second term on the Long Beach City Council.”
Among Richardson’s notable accomplishments are his efforts in renovating the Atlantic Avenue and Artesia Boulevard corridors, including helping bring in Orange County developer LAB Holding, working with the nonprofit City Fabrick to create more open space, creating more bicycle lanes and starting the process to make one of the corridors an arts district.
Richardson also spearheaded the effort in restoring public safety services to North Long Beach, led the construction and opening of the state-of-the-art Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library and worked to implement Promising Adults Tomorrow’s Hope and My Brother’s Keeper Local Action Plan.
Editor’s note: a previous version of this story incorrectly stated Rex Richardson was the first black man to be vice mayor in Long Beach.