 Nathaniel Bates is a former mayor and seven-term city councilmember of Richmond, California.Bates was a city councilmember from 1967 to 1983 and again from 1995 to the present.He was chosen as mayor for 1971-1972 (during which time he was the first African-American to chair the Contra Costa Mayors Conference) and again for 1976–1977.