Toni Atkins
Encyclopedia
Toni G. Atkins is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Democratic politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and a member of the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 from San Diego's 76th district
California's 76th State Assembly district
California's 76th State Assembly District is one of 80 districts in the California State Assembly. It is currently represented by Democrat Toni Atkins of San Diego.-District profile:...

. She formerly served on San Diego City Council
San Diego City Council
The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego, California. The city councilmember seats are all officially non-partisan by state law. There are currently 8 members of the city council, which will be expanded to 9 members in 2012 under the terms of a...

, leaving office in December 2008 due to term limits. She currently serves as the Assembly's majority whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

.

She was born in Wythe County
Wythe County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,599 people, 11,511 households, and 8,103 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,744 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...

 in southwest Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 and earned a BA in political science from Emory and Henry College
Emory and Henry College
Emory & Henry College, known as E&H, Emory, or the College, is a private liberal arts college located in Emory, Virginia, United States. The campus comprises of Washington County, Virginia, which is part of the mountain region of Southwest Virginia...

, focusing on community organizing. She later attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...

 at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

Atkins relocated to San Diego in 1985. She ended up staying permanently. She joined the staff of Womancare Health Center as Director of Clinic Services. Atkins served as council representative and policy analyst to Councilmember Christine Kehoe
Christine Kehoe
Christine T. Kehoe is an American politician from San Diego, California. A Democrat, she has served since 2004 as a member of the California State Senate representing the 39th district...

 for a number of years. When Kehoe was elected to the state legislature, Atkins was elected to Kehoe's seat on November 7, 2000. She was reelected in March 2004, without the need for a November runoff.

In April 2005 Mayor Dick Murphy
Dick Murphy
Richard M. Murphy is a former U.S. politician. He served as the 33rd Mayor of San Diego, California from 2000 to 2005-Early life:...

 resigned due to ethics scandals. Councilmember Michael Zucchet
Michael Zucchet
Michael J. Zucchet is a San Diego-born American Democratic politician, a former member of the San Diego City Council, and a former Deputy Mayor of San Diego...

, who was deputy mayor
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...

, took over, but three days later, resigned along with Councilmember Ralph Inzunza
Ralph Inzunza
Ralph Inzunza was a San Diego City Council District Eight representative elected in February 2001 who resigned in 2005 along with Councilman Michael Zucchet after being involved in a corruption scandal...

 after they were convicted of wire fraud and Hobbs Act
Hobbs Act
The Hobbs Act, named after Congressman Sam Hobbs and codified at , is a U.S. federal law that prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce. Section 1951 also proscribes conspiracy to commit robbery or extortion without reference to the conspiracy...

 violations. In an emergency vote on July 19, Atkins was chosen by the other five council members to take over as mayor pro-tem for one week. On July 25 they reaffirmed their choice and designated Atkins deputy mayor to serve until Jerry Sanders
Jerry Sanders (politician)
Gerald Robert "Jerry" Sanders is an American politician, Mayor of San Diego, California, and former Chief of Police.-Personal life:...

 was sworn in as mayor on December 5. Atkins was the first openly lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 mayor of San Diego.

Whilst on the council, she represented the City of San Diego at the San Diego Chapter of the League of Cities as well as on the board and executive committee of the Metropolitan Transit System. She sat on the San Diego Association of Governments
San Diego Association of Governments
The San Diego Association of Governments is an association of local San Diego County governments. It is the metropolitan planning organization for the County, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and a County Supervisors, and also has capital planning and fare setting powers...

 (SanDAG) Regional Housing Working Group, as an alternate to the Transportation Committee and the Regional Planning Committee, and the City/County Joint Homeless Task Force. She continues to serve on the San Diego River Conservancy as an appointee of former California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 Herb Wesson
Herb Wesson
Herb J. Wesson, Jr. is an American politician. He currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 10th district. He served in the State Assembly representing the 47th district from 1998 until 2004. He served as Speaker of the California State Assembly from 2002 until 2004...

.

She lists among her priorities affordable housing, workers' rights, neighborhood revitalization and redevelopment of San Diego's older urban neighborhoods.

Atkins is a lesbian. She is one of eight openly LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 members of the California Legislature, alongside Speaker John Pérez
John Pérez
John A. Pérez is a union organizer and politician from Los Angeles, California, who has been the Speaker of the California State Assembly since March 1, 2010. A Democrat, he represents the 46th district in the California State Assembly.-Early life and career:Pérez grew up in El Sereno and Highland...

 (D–Los Angeles), Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...

 (D–San Francisco), Cathleen Galgiani
Cathleen Galgiani
Cathleen Galgiani is an American politician who currently serves in the California State Assembly, where she has represented the 17th district since December 2006...

 (D–Livingston), Ricardo Lara
Ricardo Lara
Ricardo Lara is a politician from Los Angeles County, California who serves in the California State Assembly, where he represents the 50th district...

 (D–Bell Gardens) and Rich Gordon
Rich Gordon
Richard S. Gordon is an American politician from Menlo Park, California who currently serves in the California State Assembly representing the 21st district...

 (D–Menlo Park), as well as Senators Christine Kehoe
Christine Kehoe
Christine T. Kehoe is an American politician from San Diego, California. A Democrat, she has served since 2004 as a member of the California State Senate representing the 39th district...

 (D–San Diego) and Mark Leno
Mark Leno
Mark Leno is an American politician, representing California's 3rd Senate district, which includes parts of San Francisco and Sonoma County, as well as the entirety of Marin County. He was elected in 2008 and is the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate...

 (D–San Francisco).

Atkins is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Award from the national Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials in US political life.The Victory Fund was founded in 1991...

 in honor of her recent service to the city of San Diego as deputy mayor. She is a resident of the South Park
South Park, San Diego, California
Central portion of San Diego and neighborhood boundariesSouth Park is a neighborhood in San Diego, California located east of Balboa Park, and borne out of its southern neighbor Golden Hill. "South Park" is also north of Grant Hill and south of North Park, the boundary being Juniper Street...

 neighborhood.

External links

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