Robey, now in his third term as District 1's supervisor, told Lake County News this week that he has decided not run again. His current term runs out at the end of 2008.
“I''ve been thinking of retiring for some time,” said Robey.
Despite the fact that the deadline to file to fun for Robey's seat is months away, four potential candidates – Voris Brumfield, Don Dornbush, Susanne La Faver and Robert “Bobby” MacIntyre – have confirmed with Lake County News that they will run for District 1 Supervisor.
Robey's colleagues, Rob Brown and Anthony Farrington, are running for reelection; Brown has confirmed with Lake County News that he is running, and a campaign fundraiser for Farrington is scheduled later this month.
By the time his term runs out, Robey will be 62, which is the age he's had in mind for retirement.
“I've got other things I want to do, too,” he said.
That includes traveling and doing some fiction writing, said Robey.
He said he plans to continue teaching computer classes at Mendocino and Yuba Colleges.
Accomplishments and challenges
By the time his final supervisorial term runs out, Robey will have spent 28 years in public service.
He was elected to the first Clearlake City Council in November of 1980. On July 1, 1981, the county stopped providing services to the new city's area.
“We had six months to put the city together from scratch,” he said.
He added, “It was a very interesting time.”
Robey served three terms on the council, from 1980 to 1988. His experience in Clearlake included being recalled with the entire City Council and, then, summarily being reelected to the council.
He left the council under his own steam in 1988, after he moved outside of the city limits to Lower Lake, where built his home.
However, that same year he was appointed to the Lake County Planning Commission under then-Supervisor Voris Brumfield, and stayed on the commission through 1996, serving under Brumfield's successor, Supervisor Helen Whitney.
He left the commission in 1996, when he was elected District 1 Supervisor.
During his time as supervisor Robey has championed the county regaining water rights to Clear Lake, mindful growth and environmental stewardship.
In an editorial published earlier this year by Lake County News, Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Victoria Brandon credited Robey for his behind-the-scenes efforts to win local support for Congressman Mike Thompson's Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which passed Congress last fall.
The bill designates 275,830 acres in Thompson’s Congressional District One as federal wilderness, including 51,671 acres – primarily in the Cache Creek and Snow Mountain areas – in Lake County.
He's also had his share of defeats while on the board.
In October 2005, he voted to support a temporary ban on genetically modified alfalfa, such as the Roundup Ready alfalfa produced by Monsanto, due to concerns about genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The board defeated the ban, but earlier this year a federal court judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had illegally deregulated the alfalfa, and placed an injunction on the product until the USDA conducts a full environmental study.
In October 2005 and again in February 2006, Robey championed a “time-out” ordinance on large residential development applications. The measure was meant to last 45 days and allow the county time to finish up its General Plan update without approving projects that could potentially have conflicted with the new plan.
The February 2006 attempt at the timeout – which opponents called a moratorium – didn't even come to a vote when Robey saw he didn't have the four votes needed to adopt the emergency ordinance.
The county's General Plan update is still only in draft form, and has not been finalized by the Board of Supervisors.
Robey did at one point look at state office, running for State Assembly in 2002, the same year as his colleague, Rob Brown, also made a bid to fill the Assembly seat Virginia Strom-Martin left due to term limits.
Patty Berg received 44.8 percent of the vote to Robey's 24.4 percent in the primary, according to Secretary of State records. While Robey received the second-highest amount of votes for a Democratic candidate, it wasn't enough to earn him a spot in the November 2002 election.
Instead, Berg faced off with Brown – who won the Republican vote with 35.4 percent – and Green Party candidate Doug Thron. Berg won that election with 48 percent of the vote to Brown's 40 percent.
On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend 2002, while working in his office at the county courthouse, Robey said he began feeling ill. Luckily, county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox happened to be in his office across the way, and took Robey to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where doctors found he had suffered a heart attack.
Robey was flown to Santa Rosa, where he had two stents put in. He said he's had no heart problems or other serious health issues since then.
Coincidentally, not long before Robey's heart attack Brown suffered a heart attack as well.
Staying above the fray
Looking ahead, Robey said he would be interested in continuing to serve on boards such as the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO).
He's also said he might be willing to endorse a candidate at some point next year after the candidate filing period is closed and the campaign starts, but only after he's evaluated all of the candidates.
Robey said he wants to treat everyone fairly at this early point in the campaign.
“I want to stay above the fray for now,” he said. “I want to encourage anyone who wants to get involved with public service to run.”
He added that he's happy to share information with anyone who is interested in running.
Tomorrow, meet the candidates who are running for District 1 Supervisor.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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