he White House will get a touch of California diversity when former San Mateo County supervisor and Silicon Valley high-tech leader Ruben Barrales starts his new job next Monday as deputy assistant to the president, and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
"It happened very quickly," said Mr. Barrales, who is leaving his job as president and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network on short notice. "It's a great opportunity and a great adventure."
Mr. Barrales received a call from the White House in early February. He did not apply for the job, he said, but was apparently tapped because of his position as a prominent Latino Republican in California, as well as his experience in local government and high technology.
In announcing the appointment, President Bush said, "I am pleased that a former local elected official, who brings such a strong background in the policy issues facing state and local government, has agreed to head the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs."
Mr. Barrales, 38, sees his new job as a two-way street: to bring the president's policy to the state and local governments that have to implement them; but also to bring issues important to governors and local elected officials to the White House. "I'll be an advocate of federalism -- strong local control and accountability," he said in a phone interview, literally on the fly.
Mr. Barrales, the son of Mexican immigrants, brings strong community, business, and political experience to his new job. He was born in Redwood City and used to manage the family roofing company.
He earned a degree in political science and administrative studies from the University of California at Riverside.
By the mid-1980s Mr. Barrales was interested and active in government and policy. For a time he observed the Redwood City School District and the Redwood City Council for the League of Women Voters.
Recalling the enthusiastic guidance he got from league members like Jean Colby of Atherton and Maben Clark of Menlo Park, he reflected, "These were wonderful, wonderful ladies. They believed you could truly make a difference. They were my role models."
Elected in 1992 as the first Latino ever to serve on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Barrales emphasized serving some of the lower income communities. He was a leader in establishing the coalition of communities that helped cut violent crime in East Palo Alto, at one time known as the murder capital of the country.
Other accomplishments on the Board of Supervisors included leadership in creation of Garfield Charter School, a graffiti abatement program, establishing a debt cap for the county, and eliminating planning and building fees for affordable housing developments in unincorporated areas of the county.
In 1996 and 1998, Mr. Barrales was named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the country by Hispanic Business Magazine.
In 1998, Mr. Barrales tried for statewide office, running unsuccessfully for controller.
In the middle of his second term as supervisor, he resigned to succeed former Senator Becky Morgan as president and CEO of Joint Venture, Silicon Valley, a network of organizations tackling critical problems facing Silicon Valley.
Mr. Barrales will keep his house in Redwood City and allow his children to finish the school year at Adalante, the Spanish immersion school in Redwood City. Then Kelly, his wife, will bring Ryan and Rachel to join him in Washington.
But they'll be back, he said. "You can take the kid out of Redwood City, but you can't take Redwood City out of the kid."
