LAKEPORT, Calif. – After 35 and a half years with the Lake County Counsel, Bob Bridges can say in all candor that he has been here and done that.
The retiring senior deputy in the office of County Counsel can look back over a career in which he served the county of Lake well in literally hundreds of projects. And, at the request of Lake County News that's what he was doing as he sat in the shade of a tree at Lakeport's Library Park.
"I got my undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and went to USF law school," Bridges recalled. "While I was in law school I got an opportunity to do a county counsel clerkship in Marin. I was there for a year and really liked the work, so I started looking for a job.
"The same day I got an offer for a job in Contra Costa. Then Lake County called and said I could be hired here and I could do everything. They didn't lie – I have done everything: Advised the supervisors and the planning commission, been in court hundreds of times on different litigation matters and done a whole lot of land use matters and a whole bunch of condemnation cases."
Bridges began his work in Lake County when the population was only a portion of what it is now and ends it with the smile of satisfaction of a man whose knowledge of county affairs kept pace with the demographic growth.
"When I came here there were 40,000 people, now it's 70,000 or 80,000," he said. "We have thousands of second homes here. There's really more going on here than meets the eye.
"I started as deputy 1, been a deputy 2 and a deputy 3. I was acting county counsel for four months in 1980 and I've been the senior deputy county counsel since,” he said.
Principally, Bridges has shepherded and litigated for approximately 30 special districts. Fire districts, water districts, cemetery districts. You name it.
"Nearly all are governed by volunteers and they usually do what they do for free, or for not a phenomenal amount of money," he said. "I've helped most of these districts with a number of interesting problems, whether they are letting contracts to build or have a pithy personnel problem."
Said Clifton Swetnam of Lakeport: "He was counsel for the county planning commission for all 12 years (2001 to January of this year) I was on it. I had a lot of exposure to Bob and we talked over many decisions.”
Swetnam added, “He was well versed in land law and was always able to provide an answer relatively quickly. He's a very smart man."
Bridges' work over his nearly four decades is closely linked with the history of the county, particularly his assistance with special districts and county government, such as:
- Water: Helped Special Districts acquire the site for the North Lakeport Water System and assisted with sewer projects.
- Public Works: Helped the department improve Lampson Airport by acquiring more clear space along the right of way.
- Board of Supervisors: In the area of geothermal development, provided legal counsel for pumping sewage up to The Geysers and successfully defended the supervisors’ marijuana cultivation ordinance, which allows limited growing marijuana in limited places.
Another case which Bridges had a hand in settling in favor of the county involved Kelsey Creek.
"That was an interesting case shortly after I began here," he said. "There was a lot of controversy when we turned down a project that was along the edge of Kelsey Creek. We got sued over it. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sent us three orders from Los Angeles to handle the case and our office was able to win."
Yet another was the well-publicized Rattlesnake Island case of a half-dozen years ago.
"The developer was doing some things that our board considered to be not appropriate and I was able to get an injunction and stop him. More recently we successfully defended the supervisors' decision to approve (building) two houses out there."
Not surprisingly, Bridges, who grew up in Marin County, has developed a love for Lake County.
He met and married his wife Barbara, his wife of 33 years here and with her raised two heirs – Bethany, a third grade teacher at Lakeport Elementary, and Brad, a loan officer for a small Santa Rosa business –
here.
"I think this is a great community to be married in and to raise a family in," he said. "I enjoyed the job and I enjoyed the County Counsel's Office. It's a great place to work because of four or five lawyers who work together with a good team approach. They help each other. It's nice to be part of a winning team and we usually won our cases."
Lake County, he added, presents "local government is at its finest, with its small districts and people readily volunteer to run government at its lowest level delivering services to people who need water, sewer and vector control. I've enjoyed working with all of them."
Bridges' lifelong love for hunting and fishing ensures that he won't get bored in retirement.
He got his first hunting license when he was 13 and Barbara, an avid hunter in her own right, took him hunting on their second date. Over time he says he has bagged three elk, four antelope and a couple of deer
" ... And I have a Brittany Spaniel who's a pointing bird dog and every year we hunt pheasant," he added.
He especially likes hunting in Nevada where he has been drawn four times for a mule deer permit since 1980 .
"Every trip over there has been great," he said. "They have an amazing deer (population) and it's beautiful country."
Everything he takes down or catches on a fish hook winds up on a dinner plate.
When he's not afield or astream he'll be at work on two parks he plans to adopt. The first of these will be Bridge Arbor near Upper Lake, although given the amount sweat equity he'll put into it, renaming it Bridges Arbor might be a reasonable consideration.
"I'm going to do all the work – mowing, cleaning and getting all the trash out – but Public Works Director Scott De Leon and Public Service Director Caroline Chavez are going to support me," he said. "It's at the confluences of Middle Creek and Scotts Creek. It's going to be a walk-in park for birdwatchers, bicyclists and people who want to fish to use.
"Another project that the BLM and I are talking about is a spot called Cowboy Camp. I'm going to adopt that park and take care of it too,” he said.
Continuing to grow blue ribbon ornamental sunflowers is yet another Bob Bridges pursuit.
"I'm healthy," said Bridges, who is 61. "I can still do things."
And more things.
Email John Lindblom at
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