It didn’t bother Richard Bailey that he had only lived in Coronado for three years and was a renter (at the time) when he ran for Coronado City Council. He knew he had the commitment, the desire, and the focus to serve our town and serve it well.
He also knew he had a fresh perspective. Not being born and raised in Coronado and being relatively young (he’s in his late 20s) he’s committed to taking a look at policies and spending traditions with a fresh look. As Richard explained to me: “I like to ask dumb questions.” I asked Richard what propelled him to being a City Council member at such a young age. He explained that after moving to Coronado he immediately fell in love with the community and felt a responsibility to get involved. As far as the difficulty in being elected as a newcomer to Coronado, Richard said he treated the campaign as a challenge and and created goals to succeed: “I’ve always been task oriented, if I’m not working toward a goal, I’m restless.”
Richard shared that it was a Middle School teacher that really fueled his ability to focus and commit to a goal. This teacher had a policy that students could not move on to the next chapter in the textbook until they had mastered the previous chapter test. When Richard failed to meet the goal more than once, the teacher told him not to worry about it and was prepared to move him forward without meeting the goal. Richard laughed when he told me that that moment changed everything. He refused to move on, got an A on that next chapter test, and pretty much earned A’s the rest of his academic career. Richard said that that teacher, in a backwards kind of way, honed his ability to focus intensely toward reaching a goal.
Happily, Richard reports that the current Coronado City Council does of good job of facilitating constructive conversations. Richard earned BS in Finance and is a fiscal conservative, so he keeps a close eye on the spending of Coronado taxpayers’ money. He points out that when discussing the matters at hand, the council members don’t always agree with each other, but everyone has respect for each other — even when there has been a close vote.
As far as goals for the City of Coronado, Richard believes that one of the reasons that Coronado is in good financial shape is because “previous city leadership set the precedent that our city will live within it’s means and subsequent city councils rightfully continued prudent spending policies.” Richard sees the next improvements being digital: Bringing a lot of the services online, such as building permits.
Richard points out that there is a cultural change in Coronado. It is no longer a small navy town and Coronado is no long a well-kept secret. For example, big, empty second homes frustrate some of residents to no end, but there is no policy that can stop people from buying a second home in Coronado. Believe it or not, we are approaching a point where almost 50% of the houses in Coronado are second homes.
Richard believes that part-time residents don’t stop Coronado from being a great community. He even notes some positives about having these part-time residents. Richard explains that many part-time residents do get involved with various local groups and actives that contribute to the overall sense of community. For example some part-timers have some strong opinions about potential changes at the golf course. He reminded me that these part-timers pay full taxes, yet don’t use the schools or many of the other city services. So full-time residents benefit from their full-time tax payment, but only part-time use of city services.
Some change is good, he explains, but we also want to keep those things that are so special to Coronado, that they make it Coronado. Richard is committed to keeping what is special about Coronado. He first fell in love with Coronado, as many people do, on the Fourth of July. Richard explains: “I was hooked; the patriotism, the beauty of the island, the community spirit.”
I asked him about the experience of running for City Council. He said it took a lot of time visiting every single residence twice. That means 4,000 doors – twice. But he wouldn’t change it for the world. It gave him the opportunity to really get to know Coronado and it’s residents. He shared one of his favorite memories from the campaign: It was the very first door he knocked on. The gentleman opened the door and asked him how long he’d been living in Coronado. Richard told him, “three years.” The man laughed, patted him on the shoulder, and exclaimed: “You’re not a local. I’ve been here sixty years, and I’m still not a local.”
