perspective | politics

Still 'The Man'
CATCHING UP WITH JIM BRULTE

By GEORGE WATSON

ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION in California during the last decade knows the name: Jim Brulte.

Former Republican leader of the state Senate and Assembly. A 14-year veteran of the California Legislature.

Named one of the most powerful people in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times Magazine in 2006. One-time fellow with the UCLA School of Public Affairs.

Today, Brulte is affiliated with California Strategies, a public affairs company that includes a UC regent, a former governor’s chief of staff and an impressive collection of former senior government administrators and policy advisors among its partners and associates. That’s a long way from graduation day at Cal Poly Pomona, but not as far as one might think.

At heart, Brulte’s still a local guy. He makes his home in the foothills of Fontana; his offices are in a building on Foothill Boulevard in Rancho Cucamonga, which served him while he was in the state Legislature.

And Brulte, whose hulking stature is softened by his pleasant, charismatic demeanor, has not left politics. He remains on a first-name basis with everyone from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to Karl Rove, and any Republican from San Bernardino County with sights on a political career knows he remains The Man.

We caught up with Brulte to get his perspective on Inland Empire issues and his insights on everything from motorcycles to China politics.

ILM: I saw the photo of you on your motorcycle. So is that what you have been doing for the past few years?
JB: It’s always nice. I used to ride when I was in college.

ILM: What kind of motorcycle did you have?
JB: I didn’t have a bike. I used my friend’s. I decided once I hit 50, I could go back to it because I had lived a good life.

ILM: Can you foresee yourself running for office again?
JB: I enjoyed my time in elected office.

If the right opportunity presented itself, I would certainly entertain the thought of running again.

ILM: So what have you been doing for the past few years?
JB: I am a partner in a government consulting firm, California Strategies.

We give people advice about government.

I just finished a term on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors. I was appointed by President Bush. By the way, I served with John McCain. I still enjoy being involved in politics, but it’s more of an indirect role.

ILM: I would doubt that you are slowing down though.
JB: I am still doing what I used to do.

I give people advice on getting what they need from government.

I get paid a little more, and I don’t have the Democrats kicking my butt in the press on a daily basis. I am going to the convention as a delegate for John McCain.

I just arranged for Karl Rove to come out to do a fund-raising dinner for the San Bernardino County Republican Party.

Supervisor (Gary) Ovitt asked if I could help. I called Karl.

I am chairman of the New Majority Inland Empire chapter, which is a group of major Republican donors who believe in the values and principles of the Republican Party and want to see it become more successful.

ILM: Given the state budget issues, how, if at all, have things changed since you were in the Legislature?
JB: The governor’s staff consults me on the budget. The difference is with each passing election, and in part as a result of term limits, the Legislature is more polarized. That makes the jobs of the leaders that much more difficult.

ILM: What can the state do about wildfires? They sure are getting costly.
JB: Well, its not just the state, the federal government needs to look at our forest management practices. There are two ways for a forest to thin itself out and keep itself healthy. One is to have periodic burns that are nature-induced. The other is to manage the forest with controlled burns and thinning.

There are rules against it, but I believe the environmental community is beginning to change its perception.

Take Lake Arrowhead. You have four years of drought for a forest that is already overgrown. A healthy forest has 30, 40, 50 trees an acre. There are some acres in Lake Arrowhead that have 300 or 400 trees.

We then have sustained drought. Trees that are not healthy get attacked by bark beetles. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of trees are diseased and die and then fire comes through. We shouldn’t be surprised.

ILM: Going from fire to water, some climatologists say we may have a drought until 2025. Will California make it that long without facing severe water woes?
JB: The answer is, I hope we will (make it), but I don’t know. We have more than enough rainfall and weather each year in California to meet our needs. What we lack is the ability to collect it, to transport it, and to store it.

Thank goodness the governor and the Legislature are beginning to address those issues because we in Southern California will be horribly affected. And local government, thanks to grants and good planning, is starting to address the issues of reclaimed water because conservation has to be a significant part of our overall strategy.

ILM: Communities in the San Bernardino Mountains are facing a number of water-related issues that impact growth. What do you see happening there? Do you see consolidation of water districts there?
JB: I don’t have a specific answer for the region. I can just tell you that in general, we have to do a better job being efficient with our water, and we need to make sure we have reclaimed water, too. Where we have schools and parks, we can irrigate with reclaimed water.

ILM: How long will the housing crisis last? How can we get out of it?
JB: It’s going to last longer than people think. The housing boom this last time was longer than the historical boom, and it benefited from historically low mortgage rates and cheap credit. ... But the fall was longer than the historical norm, so I think the recovery of those values will take longer than the historical norm.

ILM: Is the government doing enough? Or, is it doing too much?
JB: I don’t have an answer to that. I think government’s trying. I think the federal housing initiatives will probably have an impact. A lot of people were given credit who shouldn’t have been given credit, and a lot of speculators bought multiple properties hoping to turn a quick buck.

ILM: Gasoline prices slipped recently. Is that a new trend?
JB: Look, markets work. I think the decline in oil prices are a result of market forces. Demand is down in the United States, demand is down in China, the president repealed the order preventing offshore drilling, and the market has reacted.

But oil prices will go up, and we are no longer in a world where American consumption alone can affect the market.

‘I am still doing what I used to do. I give people advice on getting what they need from government ... and I don’t have the Democrats kicking my butt in the press on a daily basis.’ — Jim Brulte

China and India are huge emerging consumer nations and as long as supply stays static and demand continues to grow, there are going to be price increases for energy.

By the way, the Inland Empire is ideally placed to be a significant part of dealing with California’s energy issues.

ILM: How so?
JB: One, we have significant areas where wind energy can be harvested. We have tens of thousands of acres where solar energy can be harvested.

The governor himself was here, what, four months ago, with the leadership of Southern California Edison announcing Edison’s program to put solar roofs on the warehouses that populate our area. All we have to do is generate the will to do it.

ILM: Some have called the Beijing Olympics China’s coming-out party. What do you see happening with a country already considered a superpower?
JB: The 20th century was the American Century. I think most observers understand the 21st century will be the Chinese Century. There are more people in China today learning to speak English than there are people living in America today who do speak English.

China is poised to pass us as the largest manufacturer in the world. I believe they have already passed us as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. China is and will continue to be a major player in the world for a long time to come.

ILM: How will the next president handle China?
JB: Hopefully as smart as the last few presidents have. We have to engage China. We have to work cooperatively on China where we can, and we have to be prepared to speak truth to China when we find ourselves in disagreements.

ILM: Speaking of the next president, how is John McCain going to slow down Barack Obama?
JB: It looks like he already has.

Everybody was expecting Sen. Obama to get a huge bump once he became the Democratic nominee. They expected a huge bump out of his European glamor trip. That hasn’t happened.

That being said, McCain was, is and will remain the underdog in this race.

And he needs to pull off an upset.

ILM: What’s the status of Iraq going to be in five years?
JB: Well, hopefully Iraq will be a stabilizing force in the Middle East. It will be a democracy in a region that clearly needs more democracy. It will be a strong U.S. ally. And a force for peace.

ILM: Who is the next great leader who will come out of the Inland Empire that people don’t know about?
JB: We know about most of them.

There is a city councilman out in Yucca Valley named Chad Mayes. I think he has great potential to be a significant player on a much greater stage.

Who is the kid in Redlands? Pete Aguilar, although he is a Democrat and that will hurt his longtime viability in San Bernardino County, but he has what it takes to be very successful.

ILM: Do you see an NFL franchise coming to this area? Ed Roski, the influential developer, seems interested in bringing one here.
JB: I think it’s absolutely possible.

We have the population base. We have a convergence of transportation corridors.

We are ideally situated for a major league sports team. No question about it.

ILM: If this politics thing doesn’t work out for you and you have to spend more time on your bike, what would you name your gang?
JB: You mean, the Over the Hill Gang?