Dear friends and supporters, 
                                                                         
My name is Dr. Jeff Ritterman and I am running for the Richmond City Council.  I am writing to ask for your help and support.                
                                                                         
I have been working as a medical doctor in the Richmond community for 27 years.  I am chief of the Division of Cardiology at Kaiser Richmond.

  I love working as a doctor and I see the world through the health lens. Improving the health of the Richmond community is my highest priority.  
                                                                         
I am Vice President of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.  I work actively on the food committee.  We are working on local organic sourcing of food to area hospitals.        
                                                                         
I am a member of Contra Costa County's Public and Environmental Health Advisory Board (PEHAB).  PEHAB advises the Board of Supervisors on public and environmental health issues.  We have been very involved in promoting flare minimization and in curbing the county's use of pesticides by implementing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy for the county.
                                                                         
I serve on Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin's Environmental Justice and  Environmental Health Task Force.  This Task force played a major role in the community mobilization advocating a crude cap on the grade of crude oil to be refined in Chevron's proposed refinery expansion project.     
                                                                         
I am a co-founder and chair of the Richmond Progressive Alliance.       
                                                                         
In 2007 I was one of several men awarded the Contra Costa Man of Merit Award “for being of outstanding character and compassion with a strong  
commitment to being a positive influence in the lives of boys and young men in Contra Costa County”. 
                                                                         
I am a strong advocate for keeping as much of the Richmond shoreline as open space as possible.  I am against the casino in Point Molate and have given public health testimony detailing the health risks of the proposed casino.  I am in favor of the completion of the Bay Trail as proposed by the Richmond Bay Trail Network.                             
                                                                         
I am running for Richmond city council in order to bring about a new direction in Richmond politics.  We have an unparalleled opportunity to elect an environmentally friendly city council next November that works for you.  The stakes are high, with climate change, environmental devastation, threats to our shoreline, gun violence and lack of employment opportunities of great concern to me and I know to you as well. 
                                                                         
I need your help.  I need volunteers to walk precincts.  I need your financial contributions.  I need your personal endorsement and the endorsements of your organizations.  Together we need to build an   unstoppable movement for progressive change in Richmond.                
                                                                         
Together we can make a healthier Richmond and a healthier world.        
                                                                         
In partnership,                                                         
Jeff Ritterman