Rigel Robinson is an American politician who served as a Berkeley city councilmember from 2018 to 2024. When elected, Robinson became the youngest city councilmember in Berkeley's history. Robinson was a candidate for Berkeley

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in the 2024 election before suspending his campaign.

Early life and education

Robinson grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He came to Berkeley as a student at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, where he was elected the external affairs vice president of the

Associated Students of the University of California The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) is the autonomous and officially recognized students' association of the University of California, Berkeley. It is the only students' association within the University of California ...

. Robinson earned his master's degree at the Goldman School of Public Policy while serving on the city council.

Berkeley City Council

Robinson was elected to the Berkeley City Council in 2018 at age 22, becoming the youngest councilmember in the city's history. Robinson represented District 7, which encompasses

, Telegraph Avenue, and surrounding neighborhoods. On the Berkeley City Council, Robinson was a vocal advocate for increased housing production. Robinson led the city council in committing to end

single-family zoning Single-family zoning is a type of planning restriction applied to certain residential zones in the United States and Canada in order to restrict development to only allow single-family detached homes. It disallows townhomes, duplexes, and ...

, which was originated in Berkeley, and was an outspoken supporter of

's proposed student housing and permanent supportive housing project at People's Park. Robinson led the upzoning of his own city council district, which was approved in 2023, to dramatically accelerate construction of new housing in the neighborhoods around UC Berkeley. Robinson was a supporter of public transit and active transportation projects and represented the City of Berkeley on the Alameda County Transportation Commission. Robinson led calls for the construction of a new car-free public plaza on Telegraph Avenue, was a consistent supporter of new

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

s and pedestrian safety improvements, and secured funding for the design of the planned Berkeley

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferry, ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for e ...

. In 2019, Robinson attracted national attention when he rejected an invitation to appear on

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...

's show on Fox News. In an email exchange with Tucker Carlson's booker, Robinson referred to the talk show host as a "white supremacist goblin." During the 2020 George Floyd protests, the City of Berkeley attracted national attention in response to Robinson's proposal to develop alternative response models to respond to low-level traffic violations. Robinson was re-elected in 2022 without opposition. In 2023, Robinson announced his candidacy for mayor of Berkeley to succeed Jesse Arreguin, and was considered a front-runner in the race. In January 2024, shortly after UC Berkeley closed People's Park in anticipation of the construction of student housing and permanent supportive housing at the site, Robinson announced his decision to step down from the city council and suspend his mayoral campaign, citing harassment, stalking, and threats from opponents of the proposed project.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Rigel Living people 1996 births