The Portola/King Reunion is a biennial weekend event that brings together Seaside, California’s students, educators and community leaders.

FEATURE ARTICLE:
PORTOLA/KING REUNION 2013 SOUVENIR BOOKLET

“Seaside First!”

At the dawning of the “Age of Aquarius,” a song popularized by the Fifth Dimension in 1969, Mayor Ralph Rubio was coming of age in a time of great national upheaval.

From Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco and The Monterey Pop Festival to Greenwich Village and Woodstock in New York, record numbers of youth converged on major cities and musical festivals across the US. This “counterculture” found their voice as they protested against “the establishment.”
The Sixties was not without its share of movements, including the Hippie Movement, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement. Slogans and song titles like “Make Love, Not War,” “Give Peace A Chance,” “Tune in, turn on, drop out,” “We Shall Overcome,” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and “Black Power” were common declarations of the day.
It wasn’t uncommon for Mayor Rubio and his father to “clash” about the issues of the day within their conservative Catholic household.
“He didn’t like what I was doing and I didn’t like what he was telling me,” says Mayor Rubio.
At the same time, our nation mourned the assassinations of four great leaders—President John F. Kennedy (JFK), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy and Malcolm X.
“They were heroes in a time when things were very difficult. JFK was a hero because he stood up for working people. With his assassination, it seemed like everything went away. And then we had Bobby Kennedy killed, and Martin Luther King killed and Malcolm X killed. It seemed like all the people who had the power to draw people and change lives were just snuffed out. I think probably that segment of time had the most impact on who I am today,” shares a visibly moved Mayor Rubio.
So how did Seaside’s four-term mayor end up being a part of “the establishment” that his generation despised?
Growing up, everything revolved around family and the church. His role models were his grandfather and his uncles; and his best friends were his cousins.
“Between family and church, that was my life. The strength of the family was the basis for everything and it’s still the basis for everything,” says Mayor Rubio.
In 1969, Mayor Rubio matriculated from Seaside High School and entered the University of California at Berkeley as an aspiring fine arts and education student.
“It fit right in to the spirit that I had at the time,” says Mayor Rubio.
His formal education was abruptly interrupted when he nearly lost his right leg as a result of a gunshot wound during a home invasion gone wrong. Emergency room (ER) doctors advised amputation, but thankfully, a visiting physician from Egypt who had seen this type of injury in war, challenged them. “I can fix it,” he asserted confidently.
After a year of hospitalization and rehabilitation, Mayor Rubio decided not to return to school. Instead, he channeled his artistic expression into becoming a union carpenter, following in the footsteps of his father. Mayor Rubio moved up through the ranks as apprentice, journeyman, foreman and superintendent.
“You sacrifice a lot of freedom. But you do that for your family,” Mayor Rubio says.
Sadly, he lost his wife to cancer, becoming a single parent to their son in 1994.
Mayor Rubio has spent the last 16 years as a union senior field representative.
“I was raised in a union household where worker’s rights—a right to a living wage, a right to health benefits, and a pension—are the basis of working. Regular people should have the ability to live and enjoy the benefits of our society. One of the best ways to do that is to empower them in the workplace where they spend most of their time. That’s all based on Christian principles and that’s why I do what I do. Fight for the rights of workers,” shares Mayor Rubio.
As a union organizer, one of the projects that he had an issue with was the Seaside Highlands project.
“The city council didn’t put any protections in place for the citizens. As a result, the developer made a huge windfall and the citizens didn’t benefit,” explains Mayor Rubio.
Around the same time, then Mayor Jerry Smith, urged Mayor Rubio to consider running for city council.
“I’d never done anything like that before. As an organizer, I’d worked on several things in the state. I knew how to do a campaign, but never considered myself as a candidate. I decided to run—and I won big!” says Mayor Rubio.
After experiencing the city’s budget approval process, Mayor Rubio recommended that they come up with a strategic plan. Up until that time, budgets were submitted to the city council by individual departments, and then the city council would try to find the money to fund them.
Once the goals and objectives of a strategic plan are established, the city meets with the Redevelopment Agency every six months. Together, they identify areas where they can attract the right kinds of projects that have the potential to increase revenue, increase wages, provide opportunities for local vendors and create employment opportunities.
When Mayor Smith decided to run for county supervisor, he again urged Mayor Rubio to run—this time for mayor. Since his time as a city council member was coming to an end and he couldn’t see supporting a candidate that wasn’t going to move forward with the strategic plan already in place, he thought it was the right thing to do.
“I refuse to acknowledge that Seaside is a second-class city. In all of our dealings, we need to make sure that Seaside is being considered first. The recognition that Seaside is a working class community means that we look at things a little bit differently. You got to improve from within,” says Mayor Rubio.
In 2010, Mayor Rubio ran for mayor and lost the election by just 21 votes. There was no recount even though he was within his rights to request one.
“This isn’t about me, it’s about the city. If the citizens were that divided on it, it was time for that change,” Mayor Rubio asserted.
“Seaside First!” was Mayor Rubio’s 2012 campaign slogan. Unlike most politicians who have a laundry list of promises, he chose to keep it simple. Experience had proven that there wasn’t any reason to go off course.
Some improvements that Seaside has experience under Mayor Rubio’s leadership include a new city center, a renovated auto mall, and new restaurants, hotels, grocery stores and shopping centers. For Mayor Rubio, the most challenging and rewarding project was getting the Bayonet Black Horse deposition approved.
At the end of this year, Mayor Rubio will retire with 39 years of service and will seek a fifth term as Seaside’s mayor. If he wins, he will continue to work on accomplishing the goals of the existing strategic plan: improving the quality of life for its citizens, fully staffing police and fire departments, paving more streets, and investing in senior and youth programs. When asked if he has any aspirations for state office, he says:
“I never intend to run, but if that situation comes about, I’ll make that decision then. I believe that mayors and city councils are ‘where the rubber meets the road’ and they get a lot done. They don’t get paid. But they get a lot done.”
With four generations of his family rooted in Seaside, he is “deeply vested” in the community.
“What I love about this city is the people. I grew up in such a rich, diverse community…. I like seeing different people, hearing different languages. To me, that’s home.”

Mayor Ralph Rubio is a resident of Seaside. He is married and has two adult children and five grandchildren.

Copyright 2013 Monique Funnié

Mayor Ralph Rubio’s Community Service

• Past President (two terms), Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments

• Director, Past President, Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC)

• Chairman (two terms), Fort Ord Reuse Authority

• Chairman, Seaside Groundwater Basin Watermaster

• Chairman, Recycled Water Committee, Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency

• Commissioner, Local Agency Formation Commission

• Union Member, Carpenter’s Local Union 605, Monterey County Member, St. Francis Xavier Church, Seaside

• Member, Knights of Columbus, Seaside Council 5261

• Member, Knights of Columbus, Santa Rosalia Assembly, 4th Degree

• Member, Monterey Peninsula Y’s Men’s Club Past Chair and Co-chair of: Laguna Seca, Scholarship, AT&T Event, Fireworks Sales, Jazz Festival Concessions, YMCA Christmas Tree Lot Committees

• Chair, Special Olympics Committee

• Member, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials

• Member, League of United Latin American Citizens

• Member, National Council of La Raza

• Member, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People