William R. "Rusty" Bailey III is an American politician who served as the 17th Mayor of Riverside, California. Elected in 2012, Bailey succeeded Ronald O. Loveridge.

Rusty Bailey
17th Mayor of Riverside
In office
November 2012 – December 8, 2020
Preceded byRonald O. Loveridge
Succeeded byPatricia Lock Dawson
Personal details
Born
William Russell Bailey III[1]

Riverside, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[2]
Children2
Alma materUnited States Military Academy (BS)
University of California, Los Angeles (MPP)
California State University, San Bernardino (GrDip)
Military service
Branch/service United States Army

Early life and education edit

Rusty Bailey was born and raised in Riverside, California. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from the United States Military Academy in 1994 and served as a United States Army helicopter pilot. He earned a Master of Arts degree in public policy from the University of California, Los Angeles.[1][3] He received a teaching credential from California State University, San Bernardino.[4]

Career edit

Rusty Bailey worked in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Executive Office of the President as a part of the two-year Presidential Management Fellows Program. He later returned to Riverside and worked as a legislative aide to County Supervisor John F. Tavaglione. He was employed at the Riverside County Economic Development Agency and taught high school government at Riverside Polytechnic High School.[5]

Bailey served as a member of the Riverside City Council from 2007 to 2012. In 2012, Bailey began his bid for Mayor, running in a field that included 3 of his Council colleagues, including Ed Adkison, Andy Melendrez and Mike Gardner.[6] After receiving 32.6% of the vote in the primary election, Bailey entered into a run-off election against Ed Adkison,[7] and successfully won the race with 58.2% of the vote.[8] Bailey was sworn in as the 17th mayor of the City of Riverside in 2012[9] and was re-elected in 2016.[10]

In 2019, Bailey announced that he would not seek another term as mayor and focus his efforts on the local homeless crisis as a non-profit executive for Path of Life Ministries.[11][12] He currently works as a teacher at Poly High School.

Personal life edit

Bailey and his wife, Judy, have two daughters.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "William Russell Bailey III". West Point Association of Graduates. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  2. ^ "Endorsement: Elect Warren Avery to the Riverside City Council". Press-Enterprise. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Rusty Bailey". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. ^ "Mayor Rusty Bailey | Mayor's Office". www.riversideca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  5. ^ "Full Biography for Rusty Bailey". www.smartvoter.org. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  6. ^ "Riverside: Second councilman announces mayoral bid". Press Enterprise. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  7. ^ "Riverside: Bailey, Adkison head to runoff for mayor". Press Enterprise. 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  8. ^ "Riverside Mayor: Bailey beats Adkison". Press Enterprise. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  9. ^ "Presidential Primnry Election Semi-Final Official Results". www.voteinfo.net. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  10. ^ "Rusty Bailey". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  11. ^ "Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey announces he won't run for reelection". Press Enterprise. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  12. ^ "Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey will lead nonprofit focused on homelessness and poverty". Press Enterprise. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2020-06-04.