Former Assemblyman Keith Richman, a Republican from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, died of brain cancer Friday. He was 56.
Richman, a physician, served in the Assembly from 2001 to 2007. He was an early advocate for reforms to government employee pensions, unsuccessfully seeking a state constitutional amendment that sought to dial back the defined retirement benefits promised to state and local employees. He was a founder of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, which continues to advocate for pension reform.
Richman was a moderate and an old-fashioned fiscal conservative who thought balancing the state budget should be a priority, even if it meant tax increases.
That position put him at odds with most of his fellow Republicans in the Legislature, and he was beaten in the 2006 GOP primary for state treasurer by a little-known conservative, Claude Parrish, who went on to be trounced by Bill Lockyer in the general election.
Richman backed the ultimately unsuccessful effort to have the San Fernando Valley secede from Los Angeles.
The secession measure went to a citywide vote in 2002, and was defeated because it lacked support elsewhere in Los Angeles. But Richman got the most votes in the simultaneous election that would have filled the mayor’s office if the new city had been created.
“Keith Richman was a great leader and passionate public servant,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “He advocated for so many important causes in California, including health care and pension reform, and his work for our state made a lasting impact that will be remembered.”
