Richard Bloom was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2012. The 50th Assembly district is comprised of Agoura Hills, Malibu, Topanga, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and much of West Los Angeles, Hancock Park and Hollywood.
Born in Philadelphia, Bloom grew up in Altadena and West Los Angeles. He attended Fairfax High School, the University of California (Los Angeles and Berkeley) and Loyola School of Law. He holds a B.A. in Communication and Public Policy as well as a Juris Doctor degree.
After law school, he opened the Law Offices of Richard Bloom and, for nearly 30 years, practiced family law. In 2008, Bloom became a non-profit Executive Director, first assisting low-income clients at Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center and then, the homeless at PATH Partners, both in Los Angeles. Bloom has served as a volunteer Judge Pro Tem and mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Courts and on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Family Law Section.
In 1999, Bloom was elected to the Santa Monica City Council. Over a span of 13 years he served as Santa Monica’s Mayor three times and Mayor Pro Tempore twice.
Bloom served the community for many years as Chair of the 30-member Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission that is charged with facilitating and overseeing plans to restore the health of the 266 square mile Santa Monica Bay and its 400 square mile watershed.
He also served multiple terms as a founding member and Chair of the Westside Cities Council of Governments, a regional policy agency consisting of Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City and the City & County of Los Angeles. The agency coordinates policy and advocacy on issues of regional significance, particularly homelessness, social services, sustainability and public transit.
In 2009, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg appointed Bloom to the California Coastal Commission whose mission is to protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the 1,100-mile California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations.
In the Assembly, Bloom focuses on a broad range of priorities including fostering economic development and job creation, improving public school funding and outcomes, providing services for seniors and the disabled, ending homelessness, and protecting California’s environment.
He lives in Santa Monica with his wife of 33 years, Robbie Black, a healthcare professional and administrator at Cedars-Sinai Health Center in Los Angeles. The Bloom family includes two young adult children, Zac and Emmett, three chickens and one dog.