Nick Richardson didn’t need ‘sugar daddies’ to win Fresno council race. He’s free to serve | Opinion
Nick Richardson did not pull off Fresno’s biggest political upset in decades by taking the easy road.
So why start now?
Rather than drive to City Hall to take the oath of office Jan. 7, the newly elected council member for northeast Fresno intends to walk. Accompanied by fiancée Kelsey Schulteis, supporters who fueled his grassroots campaign and anyone else wishing to join, Richardson will set out at 7 a.m. from Todd Beamer Park – across the street from Copper Hills Elementary, where he and Schulteis met as third graders – on a roughly 15-mile route carrying his military rucksack containing the printed names of the district’s 79,000 residents.
“It’s easy to go out there and tell people that you’re going to take their voice somewhere,” Richardson explained. “But when you do something hard, not because anybody needs it done, but just to show hard work can be done with determination, that’s why we’re doing it.”
While a few City Hall denizens view his first-day-in-office walk as a publicity stunt – or so I hear – Richardson’s penchant for symbolic acts is nothing new.
In 2013, during the first months of his 10-year enlistment as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, Richardson ran 13.1 miles during the Two Cities Marathon while wearing combat boots and pants. Pinned to his T-shirt were 10 yellow ribbons with the names of fellow Buchanan High graduates who died while serving overseas.
Asked by a Bee reporter if he ran the whole way or stopped to walk, Richardson said he twice thought about stopping before remembering the ribbons on his back.
“It makes you forget about how much it hurts,” he said. “They wouldn’t give up.”
Overcoming obstacles with bald determination helps explain Richardson’s unlikely 990-vote November election triumph over an opponent (attorney Roger Bonakdar) that out-fundraised him by more than 7-to-1 and secured most of the heavy political endorsements (including those of Fresno City Councilmembers Mike Karbassi, Tyler Maxwell and Annalisa Perea).
Instead of donations and endorsements, Richardson relied on a superior ground game. The 33-year-old didn’t just erect signs, he knocked on the front doors of every accessible residence in District 6 twice, once during the primary and again before the general election. To make canvassing as efficient as possible for himself and a crew of volunteers who helped distribute flyers on weekends, Richardson divided the district into sectors and coordinated their walking routes with military precision and names such as Operation Bad Bud’s.
Of the $63,157 raised by Richardson during his 21-month campaign (as of its latest filing), a paltry sum for an open city council seat, not a penny came from developers, heavy industry, unions, trade associations, business groups or any of the special interests that typically do most of the political spending, and thus expect most of the favors, in Fresno elections. (The closest were $1,000 contributions from Fowler Packing and PG&E.)
Power brokers left grasping
As a result, the 33-year-old takes office beholden to none of the usual power brokers accustomed to wielding influence over policy decisions. He intends to keep it that way, despite a few determined attempts since the election.
When special interests come calling, how does he respond?
“I’m not currently running a political campaign, so I don’t really want their money,” Richardson said. “What I go in there saying – the same thing I said to the Assemi family, the same thing I said to the Chamber of Commerce, the unions and the associations of buildings and contractors – is the best thing you can do for me right now is just teach me.
“Teach me about what your issues are. … Make me the smartest city council member you can have so I can serve you with what I organically have, which is initiative, creativity and desire for hard work.”
Those who know Richardson best and the longest, long before he ran for public office or enlisted in the Marines, say it’s all genuine. This is the person he is. Engaging. Thoughtful. Humble. Curious.
That group includes Richardson’s favorite high school teacher as well as a former Fresno council member who happens to be Richardson’s first cousin once removed.
“Nick’s such a great guy. He’s been a great guy his entire life,” said Craig Scharton, the District 3 representative from 1987-91 and downtown revitalization consultant currently living in Greenville, S.C.
Scharton described his younger relative as “someone who always stood out” thanks to his amiable, talkative personality and ability to form long-lasting friendships.
“He’s naturally curious and interested in people,” Scharton said. “I think those are really good features to have as a council member and will add up to him being an effective leader.”
‘Nick was that rare student’
Maurine Sommer, Richardson’s U.S. government teacher during his senior year, has vivid memories of her former pupil.
“Nick was that rare student who was always asking for more information and pushing the discussion,” Sommer said. “He prompted discussions and asked good questions but never pushed things to a place where anyone felt uncomfortable.”
The two have remained close since Richardson graduated. These days they are actual colleagues in that Richardson occasionally fills in as a substitute teacher at his old high school and is one of two subs Sommer entrusts with an actual lesson plan in her AP world history class rather than act as a certified babysitter.
Scharton, Sommer and other members of Richardson’s extended family and friend network served as counselors, advisers and helpers during the campaign. Nick’s biological father campaigned with him during the week, going door to door throughout the district, while his stepdad provided all the requisite hats, shirts, posters, stickers, cups and pins.
The inner circle also includes Schulteis, an associate attorney for a local civil litigation firm, as well as future mother-in-law Tiffany. Nick and Kelsey plan to tie the knot next October and, with permission, hope to hold the wedding ceremony in the Copper Hills amphitheater.
“We’re very sentimental folks,” Schulties said. “We might be serving square pizza and milk bags during the ceremony, but we’ll have better food at the reception.”
‘Still feels a bit surreal’
Awarded the title of Miss Fresno County in 2016, Schulties described the three weeks it took to count the ballots in Richardson’s council race as “more gut-wrenching” than the three weeks she waited for the results of her bar exam.
“It still feels a bit surreal,” she said. “But it’s such a gratifying feeling to have been up against such strong opposition and knowing all the hard work and effort we put into this ultimately paid off.
“It feels good to see so many others see what I see in Nick in that he wants what’s best for people.”
One of Richardson’s first initiatives is somewhat unorthodox. He wants to use his platform as council member to set up agreements with private schools and daycare centers to offer discounted tuition or group rates for families of the city’s emergency responders (police, fire and ambulance drivers) and perhaps veterans.
Richardson sees the “pact,” which he’s calling the Fresno Regional Incentivized Educational Network for Discounted Schools, as a way to boost retention rates without putting the burden on city taxpayers.
“The libertarian side of me loves doing things and solving problems without getting government involved,” he said.
How long did it take Richardson to come up with that FRIENDS acronym?
“Probably a shower.”
‘Sugar daddies’ come calling
Scharton’s only “wish” for Richardson is that his younger cousin steers clear of what he termed “a weird, bizarre culture at City Hall” and remains true to himself.
Fresno County Assessor Paul Dictos, one of a handful of elected officials to endorse the winning side in the District 6 race, pledged to continue warning Richardson about “sugar daddies” who “will try to buy him off.”
“That’s always what happens,” lamented Dictos, who will play harmonica during Richardson’s ceremonial inauguration at the Jan. 9 council meeting.
Sommer, his former teacher, isn’t too worried: “Nick’s desire to serve and do what is right far outweighs anything else.”
When asked how he’ll maintain independence from special interests eager to cozy up to the city council’s lone Republican and use him for their purposes, Richardson pointed to a recent breakfast meeting that was interrupted by a family that recognized him from the campaign and offered their congratulations.
“That right there became the absolute most important thing that happened that entire meeting, not anything the special interest said. Not money or who he wanted to introduce me to. It was the fact that a family recognized me because I had come to their door and they knew I was here to serve,” Richardson said.
Like most candidates for political office, Richardson excels at talking the talk. Now that he has the job, Fresno’s newest, freshest council member must walk the walk – both metaphorically and literally.
