Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 21

Rich Gordon's life work has been in community and public service + first as a minister in the United Methodist Church; later as the Executive Director of a community-based, nonprofit youth agency; and for the past twelve years as a member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

Rich is a fourth generation Californian - born and raised in San Mateo County. He completed high school in Orange County when his father transferred to a job there. His college work was at the University of Southern California. In order to help cover tuition costs at USC, Rich worked at Disneyland on weekends and during school breaks.

Following college, Rich entered the ministry in the United Methodist Church. He received a Masters in Divinity from Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University. The church assigned him to work with street youth in Chicago, which eventually led him to a career in social work. "I found my true calling was with disadvantaged youth and I pursued that path rather than work in parish ministry."

In 1976, Rich returned to San Mateo County to work in the nonprofit sector. Originally he worked with the YMCA and later with Youth and Family Assistance. He created innovative social programs for at-risk youth including Daybreak, the first suburban shelter for homeless youth in the country, and MiMe's Café, a full service restaurant in Redwood City. A public-private partnership, MiMe's Café trained the unemployed and homeless for careers in the culinary arts.

Rich Gordon was first elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in 1997. He has been re-elected on three occasions and is currently in his third term on the Board of Supervisors.

As a County Supervisor, Rich Gordon has worked to achieve government accountability by leading in the development of the County's outcome-based budgeting. Supervisor Gordon has been instrumental in the formation of regional partnerships including the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust and the County's Library Joint Powers Agreement. Supervisor Gordon initiated the effort to buy and set aside forty-nine acres as a County park at Mirada Surf along the San Mateo County coast in order to save this precious open space from pending development. He facilitated the purchase of the El Granada Mobile Home Park by a nonprofit group on behalf of the park residents. He was actively involved in the creation of the Children's Health Initiative which guarantees health care coverage for children and worked to redirect First Five funding for children into specific strategic initiatives on health, child care, and early brain development. His leadership was responsible for the creation of a Youth Development Initiative to focus on asset enhancement and the construction of a Youth Campus to provide a comprehensive approach to at-risk youth. He created a Planning and Building Task Force to address solutions to permit delays in that division.

Since his election to the Board of Supervisors, Richard Gordon has represented San Mateo County on various Boards and Commissions. He currently serves on the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority, the Local Agency Formation Commission, the Transportation Authority, and the Health Plan of San Mateo. Supervisor Gordon is a member of the San Mateo County First Five Commission and the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust of San Mateo County. In 2008, Supervisor Gordon served as President of the California State Association of Counties, which represents all 58 counties, and he continues to serve on the Association's Executive Committee.

In 2009, Supervisor Gordon became the Chair of the City, County, Schools Partnership which brings together the leadership of three state associations for local government: the California School Boards Association, the California League of Cities, and the California State Association of Counties. This Partnership is active in working on issues of governance reform in California. In July 2009 Supervisor Gordon presided over the Partnership's "Summit for Local Government", which was attended by 500 local elected officials. "It is an honor to work with local leaders from across California to bring change to Sacramento," said Supervisor Gordon after the Summit.

Prior to his election to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Rich Gordon was a member of the County Board of Education. He was first elected to this Board in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996. From 1995 to 1997, Rich Gordon served as Vice President of the County Board of Education.

Rich Gordon has been active with the Redwood City/San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce since 1991. During 1998, he served as Chairman of the Chamber's Board of Directors. He was named the Redwood City/San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce "Person of the Year" in 2005.

Rich resides in an unincorporated neighborhood in Menlo Park with his husband, Dr. Dennis McShane. Supervisor Gordon and Dr. McShane were married on August 16, 2008 and are now celebrating their first year of marriage and their 27th year of commitment to each other.