Unions launch attack on Richmond Mayor

Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer
October 6, 2010

RICHMOND -- Leaders of the Richmond police and firefighter unions launched a pre-election attack on the city's mayor Tuesday, releasing documents that showed she had defaulted on college loans and had suffered from "serious psychiatric disabilities" that left her unable to hold steady work before she was an elected official.

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, whose 2006 election made Richmond the largest city in the United States to elect a Green Party member as its mayor, is running for re-election Nov. 2 against two candidates. McLaughlin, 59, said the revelations about her past were a mean-spirited attempt to undermine her chances.

"I overcame those challenges," she said. "I believe my past challenges have strengthened me and made me a wise and more compassionate woman, leader and public servant."

Jim Russey, president of Richmond Firefighters Local 188, said at a news conference that the unions were launching a media campaign against McLaughlin because she had failed to address concerns from public safety officers during her first term, including the proposed hiring of three new firefighters that would "bring the city back up to safe levels."

The city has 78 firefighters, about half the number it employed in 1973 when Russey was a rookie firefighter.

Russey said his union had paid a research consultant $15,000 to investigate McLaughlin after union members complained they didn't know much about the mayor's past.

The consultant turned up a 2003 court document stemming from a bankruptcy filing that showed McLaughlin had $100,000 in unpaid college loans that she took out from 1993 to 1998.

McLaughlin filed for relief from the debt, arguing she'd suffered from mental health problems since her mid-20s that made it too difficult to work and earn a salary to repay the loans. She received Social Security disability payments for at least 10 years and was hospitalized on two occasions, according to her court filing.

The 2003 court documents said McLaughlin was taking Nardil, which treats depression and anxiety disorders; Neurontin, an anticonvulsant and pain reliever; and Ambien, which treats sleep disorders.

At a late afternoon news conference outside City Hall, attended by dozens of supporters, McLaughlin said she had overcome her problems and was repaying the loans.

"Some years in my earlier life were extremely challenging," McLaughlin said. "I was the victim of multiple crimes and experienced a host of personal losses, including debilitating illness and deaths within my family. My health and personal finances suffered as a result."

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