The name, of course, was familiar, even if the photo smiling out from the pages of the Tribune Chronicle's obituary pages no longer was. It had been nearly 40 years since his robust and joyful administration, but his lengthy obit mentioned only that Arthur J. Richards "was elected mayor for eight years."
That's it. No separate story, no headline to focus attention. Just "was elected mayor for eight years."
You had to be there to know what those eight years represented. They represented perhaps the most open, most enthusiastic, most good-humored city administration in the past century. Art Richards took office in 1973, pledging an open-door policy and a hands-on administration that would work for the betterment of every citizen, and he made good on his word.
This, of course, was before the days of Republican vs. Democrat; this was still during the days of cooperative politics. This mayor was unconcerned with an employee's political leanings; he hired two young Democrats who would follow him in office -- Hank Angelo, whose first task was to work on the old Packard Park swimming pool, and Mike O'Brien, who came on staff as one of the city's first civilian jailers.
One could call it Warren's boom years. With a population of about 70,000 people, the city boasted about 100 police officers and a like number of firefighters. Banks and businesses were headed by men with familiar names, longtime city residents who devoted their offtime to work with the Rotary Club or Kiwanis or Trumbull 100. Manufacturing jobs abounded -- General Motors and Packard Electric employed about 14,000 each, Republic Steel was still pouring smoke out of its mighty stacks, and on the opposite side of town Copperweld Steel gave no indication of its impending demise. Times were good.
In the heart of the downtown, in the historic mansion that had been Warren's City Hall since the 1930s and remains so today, Richards looked out of his office windows and was pleased with everything he saw. No wonder: he was the largely responsible for it.
I was working in the Vindicator's Trumbull County bureau in those days, and I lived just a few doors from City Hall. Art was perfectly comfortable dropping in for coffee after work hours, removing a cat from his lap and telling me what his plans for "his" city were. He was not the least bit bashful -- was enthusiastic, indeed -- about grabbing a police radio and doing patrol duty during a "blue flu" epidemic. He conducted face-to-face discussions with those who questioned his moves, and he listened to the other person's side.
But he did something else, too: He gave Warren back to the Warrenites.
It was his idea to have the first Millionaires' Row walk, after the first restoration of the Kinsman House was completed in the '70s. While he delegated the planning work to others -- and I was happily among them -- he had one rule: There was to be no charge for admission to any event. Every family, at every income or non-income level, was to be able to share in the day. He launched similar celebrations for every historic event that had any impact on the city or county.
His confidence flagged just a bit, when the time came for him to seek re-election, in 1976; he faced a strong Democrat opponent who waged a hard-hitting campaign.
On Election Night, Richards gathered with his supporters at SS Peter and Paul school hall to hear the results.
He was the only local Republican to win office that night.
