June 3 Election
Bob Houston is an energetic and active 72-year old who still works full time in addition to campaigning for the coveted 5th District Placer County Supervisor seat. In fact, he was in San Diego when first contacted by Moonshine for an interview, but was back in Placer County the very next day and ready to speak with us about his current run for office. When asked about the furious pace of the campaign as the candidates enter into the last weeks before the June 3 primary, combined with the demands of running a business as well, he remarked with a chuckle, ‘there’s something to be said for getting something accomplished each day.’
Between the meet and greets and candidate forums, interviews with press and frequent phone calls from curious potential constituents, Houston believes the campaign is going well. He feels good about the reactions he’s getting from the folks he meets. He’s run into quite a few people who have decided after meeting him that he will indeed get their vote, as well as a number who come up after his speeches to offer constructive criticism, which he says he also appreciates. ‘Nobody’s perfect. The only perfect man died 2,000 years ago….isn’t that what they say?’ he laughs. In terms of where he stands among the three candidates running for the seat, he says he’s ‘somewhere in the middle.’ A staunch fiscal conservative, he’s looking to get deeply involved in the county budget process should he be elected. He mentions strong leadership as one of his hot button issues. He says it’s ‘desperately needed.’ He also wants to preserve Placer’s rural lifestyle and said he supports the Placer Legacy Project as well as the principles set forth in the Sierra Business Council’s reference guide, ‘Planning for Prosperity.’
Houston was singled out as the best candidate for the job in a May 10 Sacramento Bee editorial:
‘Fortunately, there’s a candidate in this race who better suits the moderate conservatism of this rural district. Bob Houston, a longtime resident of Meadow Vista, has thrown $100,000 of his own money into his first run for office. He vows not to be beholden to anyone, opposes Proposition 98 and is wary of the scale of the proposed Royal Gorge project.
‘Houston, a Republican, says he’s not anti-growth, but wants projects that better fit with the 5th District and its rural values. And he rightly says Kranz has politicized a seat that is supposed to be nonpartisan.’
‘It helped a tremendous amount,’ Houston said in reference to the endorsement. ‘I’m a Republican, but one of the things that you need is someone who can work well with both political parties. I do believe it’s a skill set.’ The 5th District Supervisor position is a non partisan office, which Houston acknowledged after this remark. But he is dead set on looking at both sides of every issue and stresses he won’t be a ‘windsock politician.’ He wants to try and be a different kind of Supervisor for Placer County and is insistent about running a positive campaign.
By his own admission, Bob Houston is a living example of the American Dream. After growing up on a chicken farm in the east bay, he got his start as a mail boy in the basement of Kaiser Industries, working his way up to the top echelons of the company and eventually retiring as the company’s youngest ‘annuitant’ at age 43. Soon after, he started his own lobbying firm in Sacramento, Corporate Advocates. He and his wife Arlene, who just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, feel very fortunate and are very much of a team. In fact, Houston often uses ‘we’ when answering questions obviously directed at him. Houston is very proud of the fact that they put $100,000 of their hard earned money into his Supervisor campaign and is disappointed that some people have been openly critical of the contribution. Houston feels there is no better way to demonstrate that he’s ‘putting his money where his mouth is.’ He has also raised about $25,000 from friends and clients since jumping into the race on February 28.
In terms of how he envisions dealing specifically with some of the critical issues facing eastern Placer County, Houston believes he is ‘pretty good listener,’ and will rely heavily on that skill as he learns from local citizens and community leaders and encourages more people to get involved in the process. He believes the North Tahoe corridor would benefit greatly from a first class hotel, which would also revitalize the area and keep people from just coming for the day and then leaving to stay in Truckee for the night. It would also provide employment opportunities. He feels strongly that there is a need for improved technology to enable more telecommuting, business opportunities and full time residents coming to North Tahoe. In terms of proposed developments like Royal Gorge, he wants to rely on community input and participation in the planning process and strike a balance between what the economy needs to thrive and what is appropriate for the environment.
Houston is a strong believer in Placer County’s system of Municipal Advisory Committees (MACs), but feels they are being underutilized and are not representative enough of the local populations. As Supervisor, he would focus on appointing a spectrum of people with different philosophies from each other and especially from his own. ‘You’ve gotta reach out…then you can become an advocate. I really believe that.’
Being an advocate is something Houston has become experienced at through his years at the helm of Corporate Advocates. His client list includes the North Tahoe PUD, the North Tahoe Fire District, the East Bay Regional Park District, and Los Angeles County. Also on the list are numerous mineral, oil, electrical, energy, plastics and manufacturing companies. He cites successes in securing bond funds for the North Tahoe Boys and Girls club as well as for water quality at Lake Tahoe. ‘We know how to work with the state budget,’, he quipped.
When asked about the revised state budget that Governor Swarzenegger just released, Houston said he’d seen it, but hasn’t had a chance to really delve into it yet. He called the Governor’s proposed plan of selling bond funds based on future California Lottery income a ‘stopgap’ measure and says with Placer County’s roughly $23 million deficit this year ultimately, the big question will be, ‘how do you make it up?’
Surely the budget crisis is just one of the critical issues awaiting the future 5th District Supervisor. Houston said that should he be successful in being selected as a Placer County Supervisor, it would be ‘an awesome responsibility.’
