John Marchand
John Marchand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 26th and 28th Mayor of Livermore | |
| Assumed office December 12, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Woerner |
| In office November 28, 2011 – December 14, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Marshall Kamena |
| Succeeded by | Bob Woerner |
| Vice Mayor of Livermore | |
| In office November 22, 2010 – November 28, 2011 | |
| Mayor | Marshall Kamena |
| Preceded by | Doug Horner |
| Succeeded by | Doug Horner |
| In office December 11, 2006 – November 9, 2009 | |
| Mayor | Marshall Kamena |
| Preceded by | Marj Leider |
| Succeeded by | Doug Horner |
| Member of the Livermore City Council | |
| In office December 12, 2005 – November 28, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Beeman |
| Succeeded by | Bob Woerner |
| Member of the Board of Directors of the Zone 7 Water Agency | |
| In office 1990–2005 | |
| Preceded by | Unknown |
| Succeeded by | Dale Myers |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Paul Marchand August 22, 1953 Hayward, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sue McLennan (m. 1978) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | California State University, East Bay (BS) |
John Paul Marchand (born August 22, 1953) is an American chemist, actor, and politician who has served as the 28th mayor of Livermore, California, since 2022, having previously served as the city's 26th mayor from 2011 to 2020. Marchand previously served on the Livermore City Council from 2005 to 2011 and on the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors from 1990 to 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and education[edit]
Marchand was born in Hayward, California, in 1953. He was raised there and was a student at Hayward High School.
Marchand became interested in chemistry during his childhood. He got his first chemistry set from a local toy store when he was six years old and attended Jacques Cousteau shows.
Marchand attended the California State University, East Bay, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences in 1976.
Career[edit]
Scientific career[edit]
Marchand began his career teaching marine biology and estuarine ecology at Point Molate Marine Laboratory and researching elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park. He originally wanted to be an oceanographer, but because a medical condition prevents him from scuba diving, he opted to become a water quality specialist.
Marchand was a water chemist at the Alameda County Water District. He joined the district in 1981 as a laboratory technician and eventually became a senior chemist in the district's operations and maintenance department. He retired in 2012 to focus on his service as mayor.
Marchand became a member of the American Water Works Association in the 1990s. He is also the co-author of three books on water quality.
Acting career[edit]
Marchand has been acting since college and met his future wife on the set of Babes in Toyland, a local production, in 1972.
Marchand has acted in over 25 community productions in Livermore, including plays and operas. His most prominent role was as mayor of Seville in Carmen in 2013.
Early political career[edit]
Marchand was elected to the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors in 1990. He made the decision to run after testing the water in his home and finding that the water in his own home had almost double the federal standard for trihalomethanes. Within his first six months on the board of directors, he lowered the amount of trihalomethanes in drinking water to meet federal standards. Marchand served as the board's president on two occasions and stepped down in 2005.
In 2005, the Livermore City Council established the city's Commission for the Arts. Marchand was among its inaugural members and served as the commission's first presiding officer. He stepped down from the commission later that year after being elected to the city council.
Marchand was first elected to the Livermore City Council in 2005. He was re-elected in 2009 and vacated his seat in 2011 after being elected mayor. His service on the city council includes four years as vice mayor and one year as acting mayor.
Mayor of Livermore[edit]
Elections[edit]
Marchand was elected mayor of Livermore in 2011, defeating Barbara Hickman by 302 votes. He ran unopposed in 2014 and 2016.
Marchand ran for his final term in 2018, defeated local businessowner Joshua Laine with 77% of the vote.
Originally a candidate for the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors, Marchand announced that he would instead run for mayor in 2022 after incumbent mayor Bob Woerner announced he would step down to focus on his health. Marchand, who was endorsed by Woerner, is opposed by local realtor Mony Nop, who ran for mayor in 2020 and managed Marchand's 2018 re-election campaign. Marchand narrowly defeated Nop in the general election.
Tenure[edit]
Marchand was sworn in as mayor on November 28, 2011, replacing term-limited mayor Marshall Kamena.
In 2012, Marchand authored a ballot initiative to move local elections in Livermore to even-numbered years. The initiative passed, resulting in increased turnout and $300,000 in savings for the city in future elections. As a result, Marchand's first two-year term lasted for three years.
On May 23, 2012, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, based in Dubna, Russia, named element 116 "livermorium" in honor of the Livermore Lawrence National Laboratory, which collaborated with the Dubna-based Joint Institute for Nuclear Research to discover the element. Marchand traveled to Moscow and spoke to the IUPAC during livermorium's naming ceremony on October 24, 2012.
Marchand was noted for his efforts to fight graffiti as mayor. He was known to carry graffiti cleaning kits in his truck and gained press attention for personally cleaning graffiti in Livermore. In 2014, he started the Graffiti and Litter Abatement Daily, a local initiative and volunteer program to clean graffiti. In 2016, Zero Graffiti International named him Graffiti Fighter of the Year.
In 2014, Marchand convened a mayor's summit to combat homelessness in the Tri-Valley area. Later that year, First Lady Michelle Obama invited Marchand to join a White House initiative to combat veteran homelessness.
In 2015, Marchand met with California governor Jerry Brown in Sacramento to discuss water conservation efforts and participated in a press conference during which Brown announced mandatory water cuts and water overuse fines to combat the 2011-2017 drought. Shortly after the announcement, the city raised rates for daily water usage.
The American Water Works Association awarded Marchand its National Distinguished Public Service Award in 2017 for his "exceptional service and commitment to the public" outside of his career as a water chemist.
In 2017, Marchand passed an city council initiative to allocate $6 million to build a new city council meeting chamber and emergency operations room adjacent to city hall. The meeting chamber, named in honor of former Livermore mayor John Shirley, opened in 2019, though the first meeting in the new chamber was not held until 2022.
Marchand was term-limited in 2020. He left office on December 14, 2020, and was succeeded by Woerner.
After being elected to a second non-consecutive term as mayor, Marchand was sworn in as mayor on December 12, 2022.
Personal life[edit]
Marchand is married to Sue McLennan, an artist and retired elementary school teacher. They met in 1972 during his freshman year of college while acting in a play and married in 1978.
They have two adult sons, Dave and Steve, whom they raised in Livermore.
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