“Our city is deserving of those who are most experienced and most committed to serve every child, every family and every person,” Lionel Dew said in explaining his motivation in running for Victorville City Council.
Dew has sought the position before, finishing fourth in an 11-candidate race in 2018 when two seats were at stake, and coming within a shadow capturing a position on the city’s ultimate decision-making panel in 2016, when he placed a close fourth among ten candidates competing for three positions on the council. Dew ran in 2014, as well. This year he is among 21 candidates for three council openings, including incumbents Blanca Gomez and Gloria Garcia, who outdistanced him in 2016, along with Terrance Stone, Robert Bowen, Frank Kelly, Elizabeth Becerra, Lizet Angulo, Roger LaPlante, Adam Verduzco Jr., Craig Timchak, Webster Thomas, Ashiko Newman, Paul Marsh, Mike Stevens, Kimberly Mesen, Eric Negrete, Kareema Abdul, Ryan McEachron, Valentin Godina and Jerry Laws.
Dew said that in governance there are “complexities regardless of the level” of authority, whether it is local, state or federal. To function at a leadership level, he said, requires three qualities or talents in those who are to serve in an elected capacity. “Those are executive experience that consists of making executive decisions, a genuine desire to serve others rather than yourself and a realization that the oath of office is not to be taken lightly,” he asserted. “It is a contract never to be violated. My experience at every level – federal, state, county and local – has afforded me executive experience to render effective policies leading to progress.”
Dew said he has demonstrated his ability to work within the framework of government to be effective in helping people. “We are experiencing a pandemic and as a United States Air Force retired medical manager I adhere to FDA guidelines to safeguard every citizen,” he said.
The major issues facing Victorville, Dew said, are achieving and maintaining “safety, security and economic progress, instituting leadership and overcoming our community’s general lack of confidence in itself.”
He said, “It is important for the state, county and local governments to be on the same page in order to save lives and foster prosperity.”
He is no wild-eyed radical with a Molotov cocktail in one hand and a Marxist text in another who is looking to tear the system down, Dew said. Rather, he is wants to work side-by-side with the existing political leadership and social establishment in Victorville. “I have the greatest confidence in our city’s managerial team,” Dew said. “My approach is to think of our city’s budget as that of a Fortune 5 entity that requires great care and vision.”
Dew is prepared to hit the ground running if he is elected to the council, he said.
“I was a planning commissioner for the City of Victorville,” he said. “I have served on boards and committees benefiting the lives of fellow Americans.”
Dew has lived in Victorville for 30 years. He points out that he did not attend high school in Victorville, saying, “I did, however, serve as vice president of the Victor Elementary School District Board Of Trustees.”
Born in Virginia, Dew attended Victor Valley College and Southern Illinois University, studying liberal arts and health care management. Since his retirement from the Air Force, Dew has made his way in the world as a real estate investor.
Dew said it is his goal to “provide safety for every child, every family and every person, provide security for every home, every church, every school, business, corporation and recreation facility and to develop a robust economy that not only produces jobs but also careers.”
-M.G.