16 Facts About Tom Bates

Thomas H Bates was born on February 9,1938 and was the 21st mayor of Berkeley, California, and a member of the California State Assembly.

Tom Bates is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and was a member of the Golden Bears' 1959 Rose Bowl team.

Tom Bates was a captain in the United States Army Reserves after graduating from college and served in Germany.

Tom Bates worked in real estate before serving on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and in the state legislature.

Tom Bates was the youngest elected Supervisor in Alameda County history at the age of 34 and the first full-time Supervisor from 1971 to 1976.

Tom Bates served in the California State Assembly representing the 12th District from 1977 to 1993 and the 14th District from 1993 to 1997.

Under Republican governors, Tom Bates authored over 220 bills that became law, including the creation of the East Bay Shoreline State Park, a number of progressive social policy laws including the Community Residential Treatment legislation, and the founding of the first Community Bank in the Bay Area.

Tom Bates authored the first legislation in the country allowing "brew pubs", establishments that brew their own beer for sales on and off the premises and are typically combined with a restaurant.

In 2002 Tom Bates was drafted out of retirement to challenge the two-term incumbent mayor of Berkeley, Shirley Dean.

Tom Bates personally stole approximately 200 copies of The Daily Californian on the day before the 2002 Berkeley mayoral election after the student-run campus newspaper endorsed his opponent, then-Mayor Shirley Dean.

Tom Bates acknowledged taking the papers and wasn't charged but voluntarily donated $500 to the Daily Cal.

Tom Bates proposed a municipal density bonus program to incentivize the inclusion of affordable units in new developments and increase the fees that developers must pay into the city's Housing Trust Fund.

In June 2015 Tom Bates was at the focal point of the Berkeley Balcony Collapse tragedy, which claimed the lives of 5 young Irish J1 students and an Irish-American student.

Tom Bates was praised by the Irish media for the sensitivity and consideration he showed and the support he gave to the Irish J1 community and the victims' families.

Tom Bates promised a wide-ranging investigating into the cause of the accident.

Tom Bates served on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Conservation Commission and Development Board and Bay Area Air Pollution Board.