REFINERY TOWN: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City. by Early, Steve - (2017)

Boston:: Beacon Press,, (2017). SIGNED first edition -. Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.. Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. ) Part urban history, part call to action, this chronicles fifteen years of successful community organizing that raised the local minimum wage, defeated a casino development project, challenged home foreclosures and evictions, and sought fair taxation of Big Oil. Richmond, California, home to one of the largest oil refineries in the state, was once a typical company town, dominated by Chevron. A mostly nonwhite, working-class city of 100,000, it suffered from poverty, pollution, poorly funded public services, one of the highest homicide rates per capita in the country and a jobless rate twice the national average - but this book shows how the mayor, chief of police and the concerned citizens were able to challenge big business and win. SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. Notes. 244 pp.