Richard Rider
Also on:
See Richard Rider’s blog here.
EDUCATION: B.A. Economics, University of North Carolina, 1968
MILITARY SERVICE: Commander, Supply Corps, U. S. Naval Reserve, retired after 26 years (four years active, the rest in the reserve). Vietnam veteran, though never stationed in-country.
OCCUPATION: Retired stockbroker and financial planner. Lifetime member of the International Association of Financial Planners. Retired telecommunications business owner.
AFFILIATION:
- Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters
- National Taxpayers Union
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
- San Diego County Taxpayers Association
- Republican Party
- Successfully sued the county of San Diego (Rider vs. County of San Diego) to force a rollback of an illegal 1/2-cent jails sales tax, a precedent that saved California taxpayers well over fourteen billion dollars, including $3.5 billion for San Diego County taxpayers.
- Actively supported a variety of tax-cutting ballot initiatives including Proposition 13. Has written ballot arguments against dozens of county and state tax increase initiatives.
- County co-chair of both California term limit initiatives (Prop 140 and Prop 164).
- Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in 1986 and 1988.
- Candidate for the nonpartisan 3rd District County Supervisor in 1992 (third place among six candidates with about 20% of the vote).
- 1993 – Appointed to (and then elected chair of) the San Diego County Social Services Advisory Board.
- 1994 – Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of California.
- 1996 – Appointed as a Commissioner on the California Constitution Revision Commission by then state Assembly Speaker Kurt Pringle.
- Has been involved in legal actions against City of San Diego to force a citizen vote on issuing bonds for Qualcomm stadium expansion, convention center and baseball ballpark.
- 2005 – Unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of San Diego, though his reform ideas have since taken hold.
- 2007 – Columnist for NORTH COUNTY TIMES and SAN DIEGO DAILY TRANSCRIPT.
- 2009 – Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s “California Tax Fighter of the Year.” Largely as a result, the San Diego City Council declared 4 October, 2009 “Richard Rider Day.”
- 2011 – Guest on the national Fox Business news network.
- 2011 – Weekly commentator on San Diego TV-6 morning news – XETV-6.
