Pat Morris (politician)

This article is about the American politician. For the South African musician, see Pat Morris (musician).
Pat Morris
Mayor of San Bernardino
In office
March 7, 2006 – March 3, 2014
Preceded by Judith Valles
Succeeded by R. Carey Davis
Personal details
Born Patrick Joseph Morris
1960 (age 55–56)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Sally W. Morris
Children 2
Residence San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Alma mater Stanford University (J.D.)
University of Redlands (B.A.)
Profession Judge
Politician

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Morris (born 1960 in San Diego, California) is an American politician. He was the mayor of San Bernardino, California. He resides in San Bernardino with his wife Sally Morris. They have two children, Katie Willis, and Jim Morris. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Morris spent his early life in Needles, California, along the Colorado River, where his father worked for the railroad. He graduated at cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and was a member of Kappa Sigma Sigma at the University of Redlands.[1] He received his law degree from Stanford Law School and was admitted to the California State Bar on June 5, 1963.[2]

Career

He served in the Army Reserve for three years. For three years he served as a San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney.[1] He left the District Attorney's Office to enter private practice law, primarily family law.[1] During his time in private practice, Morris served on the San Bernardino City Unified School District's Board of Education. He helped found the San Bernardino Boys and Girls Club.[3]

Judge

California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Morris to the San Bernardino County Superior Court in 1976. For three years, he served as San Bernardino County's first full-time Family Law Supervising Judge and organized the court's first Family Law Department. From 1981 to 1984, he served as the Superior Court Presiding Judge. During this time, Morris was named Inland Southern California's Trial Judge of the Year for his outstanding contributions to the administration of justice.

For the next five years, Morris served as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court. As Presiding Judge, he established the San Bernardino County Children's Network - a comprehensive interagency networking system to coordinate and enhance services to high-risk children. In July 1991, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges awarded Morris its highest award for Meritorious Service to the Juvenile Courts of America.

In 1990, Morris returned to the criminal courts and soon thereafter he established one of California's first drug treatment court programs. Since then, Morris has advocated statewide, nationwide and internationally for treatment alternatives for non-violent addicts in the criminal justice system. Morris has twice been invited to the White House to discuss the issue of Drug Courts, and he has presented the Drug Court program to international conferences at the United Nations, and in Ireland, England and Italy. Following the model of the Drug Courts, in 1999, Morris established one of the nation's first Mental health courts to treat the seriously mentally ill caught in the criminal justice system.[1]

Mayor

In 2005, he took leave from the San Bernardino Superior Court to run for mayor of San Bernardino. He won the initial election in November 2005, but not by the required majority. On February 7, 2006, Morris won the mayoral run-off election against City Attorney James "Jim" Frank Penman by 64% of the vote.[4] Morris was sworn in on March 7, 2006 as mayor. He appointed his son, Jim Morris, to be his chief of staff. The position is unpaid because San Bernardino's Charter prohibits nepotism.

In July 2012, with a city budget deficit of at least $45 million and headed towards chapter 9 bankruptcy after a city council vote, Major Pat Morris stated "It is a dark day for the city."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Mayor's Biography". Ci.san-bernardino.ca.us. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  2. ↑ "State Bar of California membership records". Members.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Bernardino Boys and Girls Club". Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  4. ↑ "Morris wins the mayoral run-off election". Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  5. ↑ "S.B. BANKRUPTCY: New officials discovered money mess". Riverside Press Enterprise. 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
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