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| Councilman Bob Holbrook photo credit Susan Cloke |
Hometown
Hero. Councilman Bob Holbrook
SUSAN
CLOKE
“I feel kind of broken hearted. Our community is kind of fractured
now,” was Councilman Bob Holbrook’s response to how he was feeling about his
decision not to seek another term on the City Council.
His first elected office, in 1982, was as a
School Board Member. Jean Ann
Holbrook, his wife, suggested he run for School Board. That was the beginning
of his 32 years of elected office in Santa Monica.
“After two terms on the School Board I ran for Council
and I’ve often joked that the reason for my successful run was, as President of
the School Board, I had handed out the diplomas at the Samohi graduations and
so I was known by so many families.“
“When I graduated from Samohi there were about
13 million people living in California and now there are about 40 million. We’re fortunate to live in Santa Monica
but we are part of the Los Angeles metropolis and there are more people and
more people driving and that means more cars on our roads.
“I really believe the light rail will help. I think many of our traffic problems
can only be solved with regional solutions. It’s part of why I’m working on Bobby Shriver’s campaign for
LA County Superintendent. He’s a
terrific guy and I’m doing my best to help him get elected.”
Holbrook was born at St. Catherine’s Hospital on
4th Street in Santa Monica.
It was 1941 and the year before St. Johns Hospital was built.
During WWII Bob and his sister, Cherie, lived with
their grandmother at 550 10th Street and attended Roosevelt
Elementary.
After the war, his father returned from the
Navy, and they moved to Ocean Park.
Bob and Cherie went to John Muir, John Adams and Samohi. “My sister Cherie was a
great student and it was a tough act for me to follow her,” said Holbrook.
“Still I decided to go to college. In our last semester at Samohi everyone
took a class to prepare us for the work world. We learned how to fill out applications, go to interviews,
etc. It was a very practical
class.
“It was in the Ocean Park Library, doing my
homework, and I found out from the reference book I was using that I was
eligible to go to college. Because
of the Great Depression my parent’s hadn’t been able to go to college so my
going was a big deal in my family.”
“I went to SMC and I also worked at McCarthy
Drug Store on Montana Avenue. The
owner, Tom McCarthy, was the Mayor of SM at that time and he gave me my first
exposure to what it meant to be in politics.
“I liked him. I learned so much from him. He was a good guy and always helping everyone.
“After SMC I went to USC to study to be a
pharmacist. After that I joined
the California Air National Guard.
It is the only time in my life I’ve been away from California for so
long. I spent six months in Texas
and Alabama being trained by the Air Force.
“They asked me to enlist and become an
officer. I had different
ideas. I wanted to come home and
marry Jean Ann. I came back to
California and got a job working as a pharmacist at Thrifty Drug Store.
“Jean Ann and I married in 1967. Our first house was on 10th Street near where I’d
lived with my Grandmother. Our three children, Bob Jr., Cindy and Craig were born
soon after.
“By1982 we had 3 kids in their early teen. Jean Ann talked to me about the School
Board. The School and the College
Boards were going to split into two Boards. That meant there would be open seats on the Boards and Jean
Ann suggested I run for the School Board.
Holbrook did run and was elected and served two
terms. He then decided not to run
again as his own kids would be out of the school system.
It was 1990 and he decided to run for
Council. He was the second highest
vote getter in that election.
Holbrook went on to serve continuously on the Council for six
terms. He will not run again.
When asked about Council memories, Holbrook
said, “There are so many it’s hard to know which ones to tell.”
“I think of the new parks we’ve been able to
build. That’s a tremendous
achievement for a city. Our parks
are beautiful and well used and I hope we keep on building more.
“There were very moving personal moments that
connected me to people in the City.
I think of the recent dedication ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery in honor
of Santa Monicans who died in service to the Country.
‘I think of the rose garden in front of City
Hall. At first I didn’t support
changing the rose garden because it had been built by Gold Star Mothers to
honor their sons who had died in war.
But I asked staff to contact the Gold Star Mothers Organization and they
were pleased with the idea for the fountain idea and a dedication plaque to
their sons. We even had Gold Star
Mothers who came to the Ken Genser Square dedication ceremony and that was
good.
“I was told that ‘Tongva’ means bread maker. It is a name for the earliest people
here in Santa Monica. By naming
the park Tongva we honored the people and our history.
“What is a problem for me with Tongva Park is
that you have to tell people where the park is, how to get there and where to
park their cars, because that’s not clear.
“What I like best in Tongva Park are the
‘rivulets’, the little streams of water where my grandchildren like to play.
“I also remember the wonderful feeling when Santa
Monica helped Bayou La Batre after it was devastated by hurricane Katrina. We
did that on behalf of everyone in the City. You may know Bayou La Batre because it was featured in
“Forrest Gump.”
“After the hurricane we called their Mayor who
told us they’d lost just everything and that they didn’t even have the
equipment to begin the clean-up.
We sent trucks, equipment, forklifts and cranes. City employees, like Joe Lawrence
volunteered time. It was great to
be able to do so much to help and great to see how everyone in the City came
together to support the effort.
“And I’m particularly proud of the Public
Library. It’s a beautiful place
and a great service for the people of Santa Monica.
“It’s also the case that there will always be
difficult people. It goes with the
job. Once, a long time ago, a man speaking in the public comment period told us
he had asked God to kill Rick Sement (a reporter with the LA Times) and that
God had done what he wanted. He
then proceeded to use the remainder of his time to pray. He stood at the podium and said, ‘Dear
God please kill Bob Holbrook.’
Now, it’s a funny story but then it was scary.”
“While I don’t think we’d allow someone to use
their public comment time that way now I do think we’re having a harder time
overall talking to each other. We
seem to be getting more vitriolic and I believe that’s not good for the City,”
said Holbrook.
Development projects often bring out the vitriol
and Holbrook has faced his share of criticism because he is often in favor of
development projects. He thinks
they are necessary for the economic well being of the City. Holbrook has supported some, but not
all, of the hotel and commercial projects. He has also supported housing projects.
“In the last 10 years we’ve built a significant
number of apartments and condominiums all through the City but especially in
the downtown area.
“Many of those buildings include low-income
housing. I wish some of those
low-income units could go to Santa Monicans who need them but there are rules
that come with the Federal funding that preclude us from giving precedence to
local residents.
“The Related projects on Ocean Avenue have both
super expensive condominiums and low-income housing. The idea being that building housing will let people live
close to where they work and so traffic will be reduced.
When asked what he wished for new Council
Members and for the City, Holbrook listed public safety as his first priority. “We have the finest police, fire, and
paramedics and we need to keep our people safe,” he said.
“I wish for tranquility. To set aside
personal/political differences and be able to have a real discussion instead of
just criticism and argument.
“I realize there will be changes and I hope the
changes will be ones that make people comfortable.
“Make sure the City is financially strong.
“Water independence is an essential goal.
“Use the job of being a Councilman to help
individual people and use being a public servant to do good.”
Holbrook tears up when he talks about former
Council Members Ken Genser and Herb Katz. “I can’t talk about being on the Council without talking
about Ken and Herb. Ken and I
started as adversaries and we ended working together to solve problems. We became more than colleagues, we
became friends. Herb and I were
always friends. Losing them, those
were the hardest times on the Council.
Bob Holbrook didn’t always vote the way I wanted
him to, but he always listened.
Words that describe Holbrook are respectful, helpful, sympathetic and
thoughtful. I look forward to using those same words
to describe future Council Members.
