Redlands City Councilman Jon Harrison has announced he is resigning his position with the city as of May 4 and will move with his wife, a Redlands Unified school teacher, to the Bay Area. A 17-year member of the city council, Harrison was first elected in 2001 and served in the capacity of mayor from 2005 to 2007.
Among the city commissions and boards he is currently a member of or previously held a position on are the Citrus Preservation Commission, the Cultural Arts Commission, the Historic and Scenic Preservation Commission, the Redlands Human Relations Commission, the Redlands Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and the Street Tree Committee. Adjunct governmental boards he serves or served on are the San Bernardino Area Governments Board, the Santa Ana River Wash Committee, the League of California Cities Environmental Quality Policy Committee and the National League of Cities Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Steering Committee.
A city resident since 1983, Harrison’s most likely city council legacy is his advocacy to establish bike lanes.
Employed as a business development consultant with ESRI, a position at which he makes over $100,000 per year, Harrison touted himself as a progressive while simultaneously growing into an establishment figure who was for the most part inseparable from his fellow council members. In this role he functioned as a defender of the status quo and action by City Hall in those cases where residents or business interests offered views that were critical of both the city’s direction and the council’s adherence to city staff’s guidance.