Art Olivier, former mayor of Bellflower, California, was the Libertarian candidate for Vice President in the United States presidential election in 2000.

Art Olivier is a graduate of Cerritos College with a degree in Design Techonology. He and his wife Joyce have four children.

Olivier served as a councilman (1994-1997), mayor pro tempore (1997-1998) and mayor (1998-1999) of Bellflower, a Los Angeles suburb with 77,000 residents. Olivier, born August 24, 1957, is a Realtor with Cogburn-Miller Realty.

During his five years on the City Council (1994-99), Olivier privatized the city's tree trimming, crossing guards, street sweeping and the Building Department. He eliminated the city's lighting tax assessment and did not allow eminent domain to be exercised while on council.

The Libertarian Party requires the Vice Presidential candidate to be nominated by the delegates just as the Presidential candidate is selected. Olivier’s chief opponents were Steve Kubby, and Ken Krawchuk of Pennsylvania. Kubby, the Californian gubernatorial candidate in 1996, is well-known as a cancer survivor who depends on medical marijuana and was put on trial for growing his own marijuana, even though a California initiative decriminalized medical marijuana, prior to his arrest. On the first ballot, no one received a majority. On the second, Krawchuk withdrew his name from the ballot and endorsed Olivier, who won 418 to 338.

Olivier campaigned on reducing the size of the Federal Government to its Constitutional limits. In his speeches, Olivier warned that it was not a question of if America would suffer a major terrorist attack because of our intervention in foreign affairs, but when we would be hit. He used his experience as the mayor in dealing with drug infested neighborhoods to speak out against the war on drugs.

In 2002, the California Libertarian Party endorsed Olivier for governor after Gary Copeland, the candidate on the ballot, was involved in an altercation with radio talk show host Brian Whitman.

In January 2006, Olivier announced that he plans to challenge Arnold Schwarzenegger in a run for California Governor in the 2006 election.

In a press statement Olivier said, “The Governor broke his promise for fiscal restraint with his budget that is 30 percent higher than the one that got Davis recalled just three years ago”.

If elected, Olivier says he would work hard to reduce the cost of government.

"The only benefit the state should provide to people that are here illegally is transportation back to their place of origin. Benefits for government workers should not exceed benefits earned by the taxpayers. Using market rates instead of prevailing wages will reduce the cost of all public sector construction and the depression era Field Act should be repelled so classrooms can be economically built,” Olivier said.

Olivier says that he believes that no one should be forced to join a union and that some public services can be performed better and cheaper by private companies.

According to Olivier, the government needs to allow the construction of oil refineries to bring down the price of gas, power plants to be built to avoid blackouts and more private tolls roads to built to ease gridlock.

“With common sense changes in how California is governed, additional bonds for infrastructure would be unnecessary and after our current massive deficit is turned into a surplus, taxes would be cut,” Olivier says.

External links

*Olivier for Governor - Campaign Website
*VoteCircle.com Non-partisan resources & vote sharing network for Californians
*2006 Candidates for Governor of California

Olivier, Art