HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02242009 - SD.3 (2)RECOMMENDATION(S):
APPROVE the naming of the Richmond Courthouse at 100 - 37th, Richmond, the “George D. Carroll Courthouse”
and AUTHORIZE a joint County-Superior Court dedication of this renaming at the Richmond Courthouse at an
appropriate time this year.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No Fiscal Impacts
BACKGROUND:
Several Courthouses in the County are named after individuals, both living and deceased. The State of California
recently decided to name the new East County Courthouse (funded and constructed by the State) the Richard E.
Arnason Justice Center.
Other county courthouses named after former judges, both living and deceased, are the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse,
Spinetta Family Law Center, and the A.F. Bray Building.
George D. Carroll was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923 and is a veteran of World War II. He started his legal
career in the District Attorneys’
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD
COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 02/24/2009 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYES 5 NOES ____
ABSENT ____ ABSTAIN ____
RECUSE ____
Contact: 510-374-3231
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of
the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: February 24, 2009
David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: Katherine Sinclair, Deputy
cc:
SD.3
To:Board of Supervisors
From:John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Date:February 24, 2009
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Naming the Richmond Courthouse as the "George D. Carroll Courthouse"
BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
Office in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York. He moved to Contra Costa County in 1954 and continues to be a
resident of Richmond to this day.
Judge Carroll has provided outstanding and exemplary service to the people of Contra Costa County, and Western
Contra Costa County in particular, over a long and distinguished career. Judge Carroll held prominent public
positions from 1961 to 1985 and is a pioneer in advocating legal and political representation for persons of color in
Contra Costa County.
Judge Carroll achieved many “firsts” in his career. He was the first African-American to practice law in the City of
Richmond. He was the first African-American elected to the Richmond City Council (serving from 1961 to 1965) and
to be elected Mayor of Richmond (in 1964). He was also the first African-American mayor of a large American city.
In 1965, he became the first African-American judge in Contra Costa County. Judge Carroll served on the bench of
the Richmond Municipal Court from 1965 to 1977 and on the Bay Municipal Court from 1977 to his retirement in
1985. He served six terms as the Presiding Judge of the Bay Municipal Court.
Judge Carroll was also a founding member of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association (The nation's
oldest and largest national association of predominately African American lawyers and judges) and a member of the
Charles Houston Bar Association, California Judges Association, American Bar Association, American Judicature
Society, World Association of Judges of the World Peace Through Law Center, Board of Governors of the United
Bay Area Crusade, Richmond Boys’ Club, and the Neighborhood House of North Richmond.
There are letters of support in favor of naming the Richmond Courthouse after Judge George Carroll from the
following individuals and organizations:
State Senator Mark DeSaulnier
State Senator Loni Hancock
Mary Ann O’Malley, Presiding Judge of the Contra Costa Superior Court
David Coleman, Contra Costa Public Defender
Robert Kochly, Contra Costa District Attorney
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – Contra Costa
Joshua Genser, former President of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and lawyer in
private practice in Richmond
Richmond City Council unanimous resolution
Black American Political Action Committee of Contra Costa Coumnty