Richard grew up in the segregated South in the 1950's. His hometown of Tuskegee was the first in the state of Alabama to see its public schools desegregated in 1963. Most of his former classmates fled desegregation for private all-white academies.

His father, who had helped minority citizens register to vote, and his mother, who accepted an appointment to the school board to replace a member who resigned in protest of desegregation, kept him and his sister in public school. He graduated from Tuskegee High in a class of 16.

Richard earned a bachelor's degree in 1973 and his MBA in 1986. He has been active in retail and property management, political activism and spent the last ten years as a full-time parent. He is a 16- year resident of Spokane with a record of civic engagement beginning in 1995 with participation in Spokane Horizons, the foundation of the City's Comprehensive Plan.

In 1999 he focused on resource protection work with Friends of the Aquifer, a process that raised awareness of the region's sole source aquifer.

This effort in part spawned a $3.5 million aquifer study (completed in 2008) deepening our understanding of the nature and limits of our region's water supply. Friends of the Aquifer also successfully turned back attempts by two speculative energy companies to use vast amounts of the region's water resource for electricity generation.

Richard served on the Cliff-Cannon Neighborhood Council Executive Committee from 2001-2008. He has championed compliance with the City's Comprehensive Plan since its adoption in 2001.

His interests include public policy analysis, mountain biking, yoga, transcendental meditation, gardening and cooking. He is married with two children.

Boards and Commissions:

• Finance Committee
• I.T. Governance
• Planning, Community/Economic Development (PCED)
• Public Works Committee, Chair
• Spokane County Growth Management Steering Committee of Elected Officials (GMA)
• Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
• Spokane Transit Authority (STA)
• Solid Waste Advisory Committee
• Solid Waste Liaison Board