Nov 5, 2019
Dawn
Rowe's first experience with desert was driving to Las Vegas for a
Marine Corps Ball. Alan, her late husband, needed something for his
uniform and decided they would drive the back way to Vegas, passing
the Marine Base in 29Palms where he would pick it up at the PX.
Driving up the Morongo grade and then down into the valley, Dawn
remembers her first thought was "Who lives out here?” And now
she does – falling in love with a community where she's become a
very involved and active citizen, all the way to her current
position as San
Bernardino Third District
Supervisor.
Prior
to coming to the desert, Alan’s military career found them spending
a lot of time in the San Diego area, then Virginia and on to 29
Palms. After landing in Yucca
Valley, Alan, was killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 - their
children were five and three.
When
Dawn moved to Yucca Valley in 2003, there was no Home Depot,
Starbucks or Applebee’s. She and her husband decided to live on the
east end of Yucca Valley, giving Dawn, then a young mother with two
small children, access to more people and places.
Dawn's
community developed through volunteering in the schools, her church
family and interacting with military wives. One of the reasons Dawn
decided to stay in the hi-desert after the loss of her husband was
her connection to this community and proximity to the base. Dawn
says she and her children transitioned to civilian life in a place
she calls, ‘peaceful and beautiful’.
Dawn
talks about getting through the loss of her husband with the
assistance of the Marine Corps. While the Corps itself assisted
with the logistics of her new life, she never imagined her own
experience as a volunteer shepherding young military wives through
losses would apply to her.
Dawn
enjoys the connections that she calls ‘small town wonderful’ – in a
place that provides opportunities to not only have social
connections with your neighbors, but to sometimes even work with
them, ultimately becoming people you can lean on in times of
crisis.
Raised
in a volunteer-oriented family, Dawn gravitated to public service
very naturally. An experience in land development spurred
Dawn's interest in public service, leading her to commit to making
San Bernardino County a business-friendly environment. Having
built a new home with her family, she decided she’d enjoyed the
process so much, that she would purchase another piece of property,
subdivide it and build two more homes. Dawn experienced a number of
issues in the subdivide process and it was that frustration that
spurred her to go into the Town offices and ask some questions and
gain some clarity around the bureaucracy she was
experiencing. She introduced herself to, then Mayor of Yucca
Valley, Chad Mayes, who suggested she become the Planning
Commissioner for Yucca Valley, where learned about land use. This
role eventually lead her to a seat on the Town Council and
eventually Mayor of Yucca Valley. In the meantime, she’d also
obtained her substitute teaching credential and while doing so also
worked part-time job with then Assemblymen Paul Cook.
In
this episode, we also talk about a law suit filed against the SB
BOS challenging the process of Dawn's appointment and the large
territory of nearly half a million people that she covers as 3rd
District Supervisor. We also dig into a few local issues like
affordable housing, looming Airbnb regulations, limited rural area
law enforcement and code enforcement issues.
If you
live in the Third District and have issues or questions, reach out
to Dawn and her office here.