Steve Early talks with host David Delk about his new book, Refinery Town - Big Oil, Big Money, And The Remaking Of An American City. Richmond CA has historically been a company town. The company has been Chevron. Steve talks about the formation of the Richmond Progressive Alliance and the transformation of Richmond into a progressive light port on the west coast. The role special interest money has played is a large part of the story as is how the RPA has used reforms lke public funding of political candidates and "tag" lines on political ads to take control of the city government. And Steve describes how RPA has been sucessful by running a grassroots organization to built on a strong relationship with the citizens, going door-to-door for voter turnout.
