Former Richmond Mayor David Pierce dead at 86
RICHMOND, Calif. - David Pierce, who served as Richmond's mayor in the late 1960s and who included gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson among his friends, has died, current Richmond Mayor Tom Butt reported Saturday.
Pierce, 86, had been living in Thailand, Butt said in his regular "Tom Butt E-Forum" Saturday. Butt called Pierce "hands down, Richmond's most colorful mayor."
Pierce was a defense attorney and one-time law partner of former state Assemblyman John T. Knox. The city councilman was named mayor in May 1965 when the previous mayor, George Carroll, was appointed to be a municipal judge.
According to Butt, Pierce described most of his Richmond council colleagues as "crooks," and that the year after his mayoral term ended, resigned from the council via postcard from Paris.
Among his legacies, Butt's transmission Saturday said, were working to help create Keller's Beach and improve street draining in flood-prone neighborhoods in the southern part of Richmond.