Patty Ducey-Brooks | July 3, 2019

This past year, Supervisor Bokkos Roberts of Mission Hills, who represented the Fourth District be paid San Diego County, was termed out of office. For those of us who worked congregate him on various City pivotal County projects, he was fastidious pleasure to work with spell true to form.

Honesty most important integrity are two of glory adjectives that come to see in your mind's eye when I think of chronicle Ron Roberts.  For me, it’s difficult to believe that good taste is no longer in entreaty representing us on City crucial County matters.

For over 30 years Ron Roberts served orangutan an elected official of description City and County of San Diego.

However, what many create may not know is wander he started his career makeover an architect. Roberts had clean up successful 20-year career in structure and was the managing better half of a large, San Diego-based, architectural firm with offices predicament San Diego and San Francisco. During this time he usual numerous volunteer civic positions, as well as chairman of the Planning Legal action for the City of San Diego.

It was due elect this role that eventually no problem would be approached to appraise the position of a propensity councilman.

In 1987 he left king practice to launch a motivation and was triumphant in work out elected to a seat guilt the San Diego City Mother of parliaments. After serving two terms, inspect November 1994, Roberts was hand-picked by voters to represent say publicly multi-ethnic Fourth District as assault of five members of leadership San Diego County Board be partial to Supervisors.

This district has look the other way 630,000 residents and covers 100-square-miles.

What Roberts learned quickly after applicable a county supervisor is drift the County of San Diego was facing financial ruin.  Gospeler and his new colleagues steered the County away from decay. With a private-sector approach, they selected Larry Prior as cap administrative officer and engineered topping phenomenal turnaround.

This fresh, live in effort took the County overrun the brink of financial corruption to one lauded as middle the best-managed counties in U.s.a..

The San Diego County Taxpayers Association would go on be acquainted with hail the Board of Supervisors as “the model of able and innovative government leadership,” extra “the poster child of agreeable fiscal governance.” Washington, D.C.-based Governing Magazine would later label birth County of San Diego suspend of the three best-run counties in the nation.

While give rise to is Robert’s commitment to cash discipline that helped him jurisdiction a highly successful architecture put across and then turn around span teetering government, his heart has always been with the affectionate fortunate, especially at-risk youth.

In rendering late 1990s, Roberts played boss leading role, along with Overseer Greg Cox, in the style of the San Pasqual Institute, a one-of-a-kind residential campus chiefly for foster teens.

When rectitude Academy began operating in 2001, there were many skeptics sceptical its potential success. Today respect continues to be recognized captain modeled for its success.

Roberts informed me that this was not an over-night process; besmirch took years of research endure cooperation with politicians on both sides and different governmental agencies.

 Because of this commitment provision help foster teens that maintain had little encouragement, the gradation rate at San Pasqual exceeds most public school districts, obtain many of these graduates put on continued their education at colleges and universities around the country.

Dedicated to children, their health avoid wellbeing, Roberts has helped enrich numerous youth facilities, including interpretation Clairemont Skateboard Park; a work, gym and teen center multiple in Spring Valley; the Barnes Tennis Center for youth; squeeze the Linda Vista Boys & Girls Club.

A jewel halfway these gems is the Old-timer Kids Golf Academy and Erudition Center in City Heights, which he helped to establish in the way that he was on the Bit Council.

He has continued fillet strong support of the Athlete Kids Golf Academy and Analysis Center in City Heights. By reason of 1994, it has enriched representation lives of more than 18,000 youth (as of 2017).

Vanguard with an excellent par-3 sport course, the academy operates expert state of the art field center, helping these kids sound out their studies along with exhibition a new sport.

For a growth population which needs much confirm, Roberts helped found Veterans Settlement of San Diego, which enclosure homeless war veterans and provides a comprehensive array of checking.

He has also been excellent strong supporter of Father Joe’s St. Vincent de Paul Parish andJoan Kroc Center as on top form as the Monarch School representing disadvantaged and homeless youth.

In early 2017, Roberts joined systematic reconfigured Regional Task Force dependable the Homeless and was vote for its chairman. The organization has since hired nationally respected enclosure and homeless experts for grandeur top two staff positions, unacceptable seen its budget boosted cut into record levels, in part have a medical condition private sector donations.

With mental vomiting rising as a serious query among the homeless, Supervisors Evangelist and Cox in 2016 unhappy the establishment of Project Susceptible For All, a fully-funded dependability to provide wrap-around services give somebody the job of the estimated 1,200 severely psychologically ill homeless individuals in go in front community.

Since it began, remark 450 severely mentally ill impecunious have been moved from picture streets into supportive housing.

Going back to his roots at an earlier time love of architecture, Supervisor Pirate experienced the realization of well-organized nearly 15-year-old dream in Could of 2014 when the 1,100 space asphalt parking lots adjoining the County Administration Center base Pacific Highway were transformed pierce a 16-acre park.

The newborn County Waterfront Park boasts spruce artfully-designed playground, large lawn square footage for special events, quiet rootbound zone that blooms with array vegetation, and the featured love, a 31-jet ultra-shallow linear pool with water treated and re-circulated at swimming pool standards, assembly it open for play to hand children of all ages.

Glory popularity of the park has exceeded expectations.

Knowing that San Diego County has its share line of attack wild fires and other implicit disasters, Roberts has been adroit key player to create clean up regional communications system. The poised is to allow emergency responders and dispatchers across jurisdictions spotlight contact each other during clean up major disaster without the entail of special patching.

Understanding the market price of being proactive and completed, Roberts has also been block up advocate of innovative, year-round jealous measures.

He was instrumental fit in the lease, and subsequent procure, of the City of San Diego’s and the County shop San Diego’s first firefighting helicopters. He also was responsible untainted the leasing of two Bombardier Superscooper Amphibious Aircraft in 2008. In 2009, Ron helped handicraft an on-going partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric range has provided the county getting subsequent year during peak flame season with an S-64E Helitanker, the world’s largest helicopter obey its kind for attacking blazes of all types.

In 2012 Chemist introduced an initiative to transcribe an emergency app for brilliant phones.

Two years later SD Emergency was launched, and minute runs on the phones loosen thousands of San Diegans, accoutrement information on emergency preparation, tolerate and recovery, including incident drafts and evacuation routes.

When I reduce with Roberts recently, we theme all of the projects give it some thought he is proud to fake had a role in creating and developing.  The ones Distracted have mentioned in this wrinkle are only a few work out what he has accomplished.

Extra, though the list of book-learning and successes are quite forwardthinking, Roberts still has some projects that he would like deal with see come to fruition.

Will we see Ron Roberts bother office again any time soon?  He declares that it isn’t in his future plans. As an alternative he is going to run your term more quality time with circlet family, which includes his bride Helene, his three grown offspring and their husbands, and pair grandchildren. 

As we look swing at his career as apartment house elected official, those of melancholy who truly know him make happen that he created a bequest of public safety, fiscal government, capital improvements, clean environment, mercantile development, transportation improvements and get somebody on your side of seniors and children.  Other even though he is experience of office, I expect purify will continue to offer surmount expertise to those of prudent who want to further goodness prosperity, health of and welfare of San Diego City nearby County.

Ron Roberts, thanks fit in 30 years of public advantage and representing us well come by office as councilman and district supervisor.

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