McIver, Richard J.

Individual, McIver, Richard J.

Richard McIver served 13 years on the Seattle City Council. He was appointed on January 27, 1997, by a vote of the City Council, to fill the seat vacated by John Manning who resigned after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges. McIver was to serve until the next scheduled election when candidates would run to fill out the final two years of Manning’s term. However, McIver chose to run for the seat being vacated by Cheryl Chow who was stepping down after serving two terms on Council. McIver was elected to a full term at the November 1997 election and subsequently was reelected for two more terms. Although his 1997 election was a landslide victory, he faced stiff opposition in 2001 and 2005. In the former election he faced Grant Cogswell, the mercurial Monorail advocate. McIver won with just under 55 percent of the vote, an unusually narrow margin for a sitting Council member. In 2005, his opponent was State Democratic Party leader Dwight Pelz; this time McIver received 53.5 percent of the vote. McIver, born in 1941, was a native of Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School and attended Fairhaven College at Western Washington University where he received an interdisciplinary Bachelor’s degree in Community Development, including majors in Urban Planning and Finance. After college McIver served 16 years with the City of Seattle in the Office of Urban Renewal and the Department of Community Development. Following his tenure with the City, he worked in a variety of planning and community development organizations. Among those was the Washington DC consulting firm A.L. Nellum and Associates where he administered HUD-funded efforts related to economic development in 21 communities around the country. He also served a stint as development director for the Tacoma Housing Authority, and just before his appointment to City Council, McIver was the Executive Director of the Washington Association for Community Economic Development, a state-wide association committed to the revitalization of disadvantaged communities. While serving on City Council, McIver chaired four committees, all of which covered areas of expertise that he had developed over a long career of public service. He chaired the Transportation Committee (1997-2001); Housing, Human Services and Community Development (2002-2003); Finance and Budget (2004-2007); and Housing and Community Development (2008-2009). McIver was a powerful advocate for disadvantaged communities and underdeveloped neighborhoods. He was also an outspoken advocate for the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, which was created to combat institutional racism. He was fiscally conservative when it came to the City’s budget. As chair of the Budget Committee, he asked critical and sometimes acerbic questions about agency budget items. McIver’s final term in office was beset with some personal problems and health issues that undoubtedly played a role in his decision not to run for another term. After McIver left City Council, he became the executive director of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, an organization he helped establish in 2006. The Fund provides loans to small businesses and real estate developers in the Rainier Valley. McIver’s health deteriorated in 2012 following a stroke and he died on March 9, 2013.