Biography
Richard Elías is Chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and represents District Five. He was elected to a full four-year term in November 2004 after serving District Five for nearly three years. The Board appointed Richard in February 2002 to replace longtime Supervisor Raúl Grijalva, who resigned to run, successfully, for Congress. District Five voters elected Richard to the last two years of that term in November 2002.
Richard worked for years in the development of home ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families before assuming elective office. He was instrumental in creation of Pima County's Neighborhood Reinvestment program as senior housing project coordinator. That program primarily used county bond money to develop affordable housing and to make neighborhood improvements in high-stress areas.
He also has been actively involved on many community boards and commissions. To name a few, he was a charter member of the César Chávez Holiday Coalition; he served on the Board of Directors of Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault; he was on the city of Tucson's Community Development Advisory Commission, recommending block grant projects to the City Council; he served on the city of Tucson's 2000 Bond Election Advisory Committee.
Before joining the county government, Richard worked for Chicanos por la Causa and for that agency developed a subsidiary for-profit construction company to work on affordable-housing projects. In this capacity, he worked closely with minority contractors to promote local economic development with significant impact.
During a stint as Executive Director of the South Tucson Housing Authority, Richard oversaw the development of 20 new units of public housing. He began his career in affordable housing at Chicanos por la Causa, where he eventually opened that agency's Southeastern Arizona office in Cochise County.
The son of a longtime Tucson union printer, Richard worked at Fry's Foods for several years before going back to college and was a steward for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99, the successor to Retail Clerk's Union Local 727.
Richard earned a degree in History, with a minor in Mexican American Studies, from the University of Arizona in 1988. He earned his high school diploma from Salpointe Catholic in Tucson. A fifth-generation Tucsonan, Richard is married to Emily Velde Elías and they have a daughter, Luz.