By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Mountain resident Graham Smith is running for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, seeking the 3rd District seat. On his website. SmithforSB.com, he outlines his positions and ideas for the county’s future.
On this website he addresses his positions on such topics as state and federal regulations, small business, disaster preparation, infrastructure, homelessness, short-term rentals and affordable housing, crime, energy infrastructure, county IT and how the county addresses the problems of the unincorporated areas.
During last winter’s snowstorms, Smith communicated with Dawn Rowe, the current supervisor, several times every day and finally was able to help coordinate a community Zoom call with all the county department heads to help get services up the mountain to save lives and bring relief to mountain residents.
Smith had never previously had ambitions to be in politics. It was last July when he decided he could be a benefit to the county and decided to run for office. “I have no prior baggage as a newcomer and I care deeply about his area, where I have generational roots and I promise when I see a problem that needs to be fixed to seek solutions for it,” he said.
“Last winter in Skyforest, we as residents prepared for a big snowstorm; we bought everything that might be needed, even spare parts for the generators, because of the weather predictions,” Smith said. “However,” he alleges, “the county didn’t prepare as well as the residents. We were left several days without essentials and no news from the county on receiving the resources and equipment. The roads weren’t even plowed, as usual. The only thing posted on the county’s website was ‘no trash service,’ which was already obvious since the roads were not cleared, but no information was forthcoming on when the roads might be open. If they could post about the trash, why not answers to the other questions that addressed the needs of the residents? Frustration resulted,” said Smith.
Smith’s response was to coordinate efforts to get information posted and, at the same time, get Supervisor Rowe’s attention. “I spoke with Supervisor Rowe on one to three calls a day and, after that, the county began to make some efforts. Even the cell towers lost their battery backup as the power was out. This means, satellite Internet needs to be installed and available in this area. We need better and more direct communication. There was a significant gap in receiving the needed resources.”
Smith helped facilitate and coordinate a neighborhood Zoom call with all the county department heads and Supervisor Rowe, which brought direct communication between them and resulted in desperately needed resources going to where they were needed. This meeting led to an agreement with the county to plow access roads.
“For the past several years,” Smith told the Alpine Mountaineer, “there have been heavier snow and ice storms, but the county has not changed their preparations for this predicted climate change. I first decided I would lobby for the resources we need, but now realize I am the person to make the changes that need to be made.”
Smith has lived in both large and small cities and rural areas, in and out of the United States, and has loved living in the mountains since 2020 in a family legacy cabin. He attended USC, specializing in finance, and while with Lehman Brothers he was in charge of investing over $400 billion in 40 public and private sectors and managing many large retirement funds. He understands how big business, corporations and government finances work.
Currently, Smith is running two small businesses. He understands how, locally, tourism is essential for small business and how small business powers tourism. He also understands the many ways the county has made running a small business in the unincorporated areas difficult to achieve success. He recognizes that small business has a big role in small communities.
He believes that Code Enforcement, Land Use Services and building codes should not be written and applied in the same manner for the entire county due to the great variety in climates, terrain and needs that exist within its 10,000 square miles. This county, with its deserts, mountains and other rural areas, plus cities, small towns and suburban areas, deserves to have fair codes written with consideration of the uniqueness of each environment.
Smith recognizes that San Bernardino County, with its location at the entrance to the state, is a transportation and logistics hub with many warehouses being built. This industry will grow and help fund the county, but this can also cause a big problem if the big trucking locations are situated next to residential areas, especially if the trucks are allowed to sit idling for long periods of time. polluting the air. He feels this is a quality-of-life issue.
Smith said he feels “the fire parcel tax is not being spent as efficiently as possible and forcing people to vote to choose to close fire stations and sheriff’s stations is unfair. There are too many lawsuits against the county and the underlying issues need to be discussed.”
The idea of separating from the state and becoming our own state is laughable, Smith says, “making us look less credible in the eyes of the state and federal government. San Bernardino County may be the largest county in area, but we have only 3 percent of the economy of the state so that is not fiscally feasible,” Smith commented.
“I hope to bring discipline to resource allocation and distribution in the county,” said Smith. With his fiscal background and world-wide experiences, Smith believes he can bring the county into the 21st century, be proactive for its residents and move the county ahead into a position of leadership within the state.
“I want change, but I want change for the better,” he said.
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