Meet Robin Rowe, Candidate For Beverly Hills City Council

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Robin Rowe is vying for one of two open seats on the Beverly Hills City Council.

Mail-in ballots have already been sent out for the March 5 election, in which voters will decide between 10 candidates running for the council seats being vacated by Mayor Julian Gold and Councilmember Lili Bosse.

Learn more about Rowe's goals for Beverly Hills:

Party affiliation:
Progressive Democrat

Education:
As a professor, I've taught computer science at two universities. The Naval Postgraduate School, which is the top U.S. military graduate academy for NATO officers. And, at the University of Washington, a top university ranked second among U.S. public institutions and eighth globally by U.S. News & World Report. At WHO Academy, the educational arm of the UN World Health Organization, I developed learning technology to train and certify emergency medical personnel at hospitals worldwide.

Occupation:
I've lived in Beverly Hills for 20 years. Moved here after being recruited by DreamWorks Animation to work as an animation technologist on "Shrek 3."

I have enjoyed working all my life. Grew up in the Midwest, working with horses and driving a tractor on my family's organic farm. I founded my first start-up at age 16, a sports car restoration company.

In recent years, I've worked for the UN World Health Organization, Lenovo, and AT&T in product innovation.

In my 50s, I worked as a Hollywood producer. In my 40s, I worked as a newspaper and magazine columnist and editor. Before I was 40, I became chief technologist and enterprise ,anager at the multi-billion-dollar engineering firm and defense company SAIC and worked in national defense. In my 30s, I worked as a professor and navy research scientist. In my 20s, I worked at NBC-TV as a technical director of broadcast news, and built the NBC-TV studios in Chicago.

Family:
My lovely wife Gabrielle and I got married in Beverly Hills. We have been together for 34 years. Gabrielle worked for Pierce Brosnan at MGM, then at Fox and Disney in primetime television. We have a beautiful cat, Ashley, a rescue we kept after fostering many cats for adoption.

Age:
64

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
It’s been many generations since my family was in politics. Our family tradition is farmers and doctors. One great-great-grandfather was a state representative. Many of my ancestors fought for independence in the American Revolutionary War.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?
I have served on the city of Beverly Hills Technology Committee since being appointed in 2016. I am the current elected chairman of the UN ITU Medical Metaverse task group, advancing hospital technology to save lives worldwide. I am the current elected chairman of the ISO C++ Low Latency Financial Systems subcommittee, with a mission to make the world’s financial systems faster and more secure. For U.S. financial systems security, I was appointed as chairman of the CFO Alliance Cyber Risks subcommittee, and served under the director of U.S. Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019.

Why are you seeking a seat on the City Council?
Conservatives on the Beverly Hills City Council, the Beverly Hills Planning Commission and the Beverly Hills School Board have schemed together to oppose progress in Beverly Hills, resulting in more than a decade of city and school decline. They opposed affordable housing. The Planning Commission Mixed Use Retrofit Housing Plan, that they were warned from the start was unworkable, has been rejected by the state five times. The Beverly Hills Planning Commission is so incapable that the state is now sidelining them, will tell Beverly Hills what our housing plan will be. The same incapable Beverly Hills Planning Commission that created the botched plan for the Cheval Blanc Hotel construction that voters rejected in referendum.

The City Council, who appointed the Beverly Hills Planning Commission, say that failure is the fault of the voters, not themselves. They opposed public transportation, misused tens of millions of dollars of public funds to launch nuisance lawsuits against the county that delayed construction of the Metro by two years. Then lost or destroyed public records of their improper diversion of funds, and were sued for it and lost. And perhaps worst of all, the Beverly Hills City Council has so mismanaged the Beverly Hills Police that it is ineffective at preventing crime, a rarely seen ghost force that waits until after a crime happens, where good officers feel demoralized.

My opponents say their solution is to hire more police officers, and yet Beverly Hills already has 36 more police officers than the International Association of Chiefs of Police says a city of our size should need. Meanwhile, Beverly Hills is being sued for $500 million for systemic racism by the police that included stopping Black LAPD police officers driving through Beverly Hills to question whether they should be here.

What do you think are the top three issues for voters in this election, and how do you plan to address them?
Police. Housing. Transportation.

1) I will move our excellent police force out of the police station and back out on patrol deterring crime. I will cut wasteful private security, with its so-called ambassadors, who are powerless to do anything about a crime other than reporting it and waiting for a real police officer to arrive.

2) I will build 3,100 units of affordable housing, as mandated by the state. Not for the homeless who have been dumped here by red states, but for housing our emergency responders, teachers and workers who work in Beverly Hills, and should live here, but don't for lack of affordable housing. It's important that emergency responders live in Beverly Hills, that immediately after an earthquake or other disaster they are right here, not away and blocked by impassable roads. Build two residential high-rise towers, similar in scale to Chicago’s Lake Point Tower, that's considered one of the most beautiful residential buildings in the world. To be constructed on city-owned property away from single-family homes.

3) Build an overhead skyway, like in Palm Springs, with gondolas suspended on cables, to connect the Rodeo Metro to City Hall and the Police Station, to the Beverly Hilton, the shops on Robertson, and even to the malls in Beverly Center and Century City

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I won't do what my opponents say we should expect from them. I won't promise hiring more police officers can stop crime without correcting the Beverly Hills City Council's terrible mismanagement of the force we have.

I won't to continue the Beverly Hills City Council policy of obstructing affordable housing by stalling the state by submitting unworkable plans and hiring lawyers to fight progress. I won't be promising voters that our incapable Beverly Hills Planning Commission, appointed by the Beverly Hills City Council, will after years of humiliating failures, save the day with a workable housing plan. I won't continue the Beverly Hills City Council policy of obstructing public transportation and telling citizens to fear the Metro because the Beverly Hills City Council expects the Beverly Hills Police Department is incapable to controlling crowds.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
I'm an environmentalist. I care about improving air quality. That improves everyone's health and quality of life, and matters most to anyone suffering from asthma or allegories. I care about local business. I founded my first company when I was 16 years old. By the time I was in my 30s, I was managing two high tech divisions and the AI research lab at a multi-billion-dollar engineering firm. There is so many easy things I could do to help local business if I was on the City Council to implement needed improvements to infrastructure, to increase tourism and to streamline city permits.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
Robin Rowe is the only candidate with U.S. national security experience. Created AI crisis detection and management technology installed at the U.S. Department of Defense to keep the country safe. Sailed on the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln to test it at sea. Chaired a risks subcommittee under the Director of U.S. Homeland Security. To be safe, Beverly Hills needs someone on the City Council who understands and has implemented national security and national critical infrastructure. It’s dangerous that the qualifications of our current 5-member City Council are experience as: a doctor, a lawyer, an entertainment executive, a psychologist and being the wife of a hedge fund manager. As underwhelming as that sounds, my nine opponents are worse, offering their experience at failed agencies like the Beverly Hills Planning Commission and Beverly Hills School Board as a taste of what to expect.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
My mother, quoting Alexandre Dumas, "Nothing succeeds like success." A reason I’ve been able to have so many interesting career changes in my life, and am considered an expert in change management, is by going from each success to the next. I will do the same for Beverly Hills.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I'm Robin Rowe, the only progressive candidate for Beverly Hills City Council. As a progressive, I stand for fiscal sanity and timely workable solutions. I am for public safety, for public transportation, for affordable housing for Beverly Hills workers, for women's reproductive health rights, for the environment, for diversity, for local business and believe in justice for all. My opponents, two centrist Democrats and seven Republicans, all say they would spend more, and for city programs that benefit their cronies, who funded their campaigns. I'm Robin Rowe, the only candidate who accepts no donations. Not from unions. Not from luxury real estate developers. Not from hedge funds. Not from bankers. Not from any so-called friends or cronies. None. And, I don't post any of those annoying eyesore yard signs either. Be safe! Vote for the public safety candidate for Beverly Hills City Council with national security experience. Vote for Robin Rowe.

Rowe's campaign website