Dawn Rowe, San Bernardino County, California, Board of Supervisors
By Karen Bailey-Chapman
When we talk about the importance of the relationships our industry has with lawmakers, many often default to the federal and state levels. Often overlooked is the importance of relationships with local lawmakers, especially for those on the event side of our community. Local lawmakers are often your most invested elected officials in the whole political chain since they are closest to the impact a business has—the local jobs created and what hosts bring to the local economy.
Dawn Rowe is the chair of the San Bernardino County [California] Board of Supervisors and represents the county’s third district, which includes Johnson Valley where the King of the Hammers race is held. Before Chair Rowe earned the title of County Supervisor she was an offroad enthusiast and long-standing supporter of the King of the Hammers event.
Today, she serves as a volunteer and advocate-extraordinaire for the world-renowned event and the off-road community as a whole. She owns a ’72 Bronco as her dirt driver and a Mustang Mach-E as her daily driver.
Driving Force: How did you get involved in the off-roading community and eventually King of the Hammers?
Dawn Rowe: My late husband was an off-roader. He was an active-duty Marine stationed at the 29 Palms Marine Corps base. He loved and collected early Broncos. We lived in the Yucca Valley community, which is 30 mi. from the Marine Corps base, which allowed us to have the collection of toys that he had and loved because on-base housing didn’t accommodate for that. It was a great place to be stationed because we had Johnson Valley and some of the other areas nearby to go off-roading.
He was killed in 2004 on his second deployment to Iraq, and I inherited not only the vehicles but the hobby and wanted to keep it in the family. My kids were three and five when he was killed. They were so little they had some vague memories of their dad but wanted to keep his spirit alive through off-roading and the things that were really important to him. He was from Idaho and didn’t have many closed-off access to public lands issues like we sometimes see here in California. And so, that’s where it really began.
I wasn’t confident enough in my abilities as a co-driver with him all those years to go out and teach my kids how to four-wheel, so I joined our four-wheel club at my church. We worked recovery in the early days of King of the Hammers, so the kids and I would go out just to kind of have that exposure. I met Dave Cole in that capacity and [was introduced to] the very long, involved, complicated Marine-base land expansion into Johnson Valley that he was facing at that time.
I got appointed to our planning commission in Yucca Valley in 2008 and then elected in 2010. I met Dave in the 2010–2011 timeframe. It was the beginning of the talks of the Marine base expanding and how we could keep the majority of Johnson Valley for OHV use. That was kind of the intersection of my late husband’s hobby that had become my hobby that then got involved with the Marine Corps and land use–so that’s how it all began.
DF: Can you talk about the KOH economic impact report you released last year? What are some toplines you think are important for people to know?
DR: I was elected in a local jurisdiction in Yucca Valley, about 20–30 mi. from the event. Every January you’d start to see toy haulers and motorhomes and trucks and trailers pass through with all kinds of UTVs and Ultra 4 cars and things like that. And you think, ‘oh, must be the season, everyone’s going out to the Johnson Valley area.’ But our locals did not have any idea that there was an actual race taking place. And that’s just in our community. There are a lot of people who don’t even come to Johnson Valley through Yucca Valley because they come down Highway 18 from the Victor Valley area. So there are two main highways that come in, but if you’re coming in from the other direction, you don’t even know that Yucca Valley exists because it just looks like nothing but an open, vast desert for as far as the eye can see.
I was trying to get some economic impact to come into our local jurisdiction of Yucca Valley; I was the mayor at the time. And so, when really looking at it, I came to understand that our chambers of commerce didn’t understand that people were passing through our restaurants. The hotels began to notice as the event grew, but then I started working with the county and outside of the desert region, the policymakers, the economic development department—nobody had any idea. One of our economic development members, when I was first appointed in early 2019, had on a lovely pink suit and high heels and told me that she was going to introduce me to economic development in the third district. I chuckled and thought, well, if this is your version of economic development, I think I need to put you in a pair of jeans and boots and introduce you to mine. That’s where I realized we had a disconnect, a lack of communication between the off-road community and what it brings to our businesses, residents and the awareness of San Bernardino County.
I asked Dave [Cole] if he would be interested in bringing a race car down and putting it on display in our convention center for an event that we host annually called the State of the County. Then, I profiled the event in my segments and brought awareness there. We have 1,200 people or so that attend that event, and most of them are not in the off-road industry, although they recreate personally in their off time. I was amazed to find out how few people—even locally within San Bernardino County—were aware of it. So I decided to commission the economic impact study, and it was incredibly eye-opening. The direct and indirect impacts of the event are $30 million that is brought to our economy, and a lot more of it you can’t even quantify.
I have a lot of dealings and workings with the Asian Pacific Island countries, and they are coming here for an American experience. To them, that means, right now, outlet malls. It means some of the shooting ranges that we have in the Cajon Pass on the way to Vegas, and I would love to add in a little detour over into the Johnson Valley area because off-roading is not something that a lot of those countries and their residents get to experience. What a tremendous opportunity for them to have that cultural experience here. And then, for us to really show off not just our mountains that we’re famous for but also the desert area. So, I think it impacts beyond what we’ve quantified–I’m very excited.
DF: What made you run for political office?
DR: I had no background in politics. When my husband was killed, I built a house, and the kids and I wanted a sort of change, a fresh start. And we enjoyed that process. Then, I thought it would be fun and a means to make money to buy 10 acres and subdivide it into two five-acre plots. I ran into years of government red tape and the tens of thousands of dollars it cost to split 10 acres in half. I got appointed to the planning commission to try making changes there and then elected locally because of that. Some of the things that I encountered were state challenges, so I introduced myself to our state assemblyman at that time, Paul Cook. He hired me part-time, allowing me to stay home with my kids and work from home. He then got elected to Congress, and I worked as his field representative at both the state assembly level and the congressional level. We worked on many things concerning veterans and veterans affairs since he was a retired Marine colonel.
Once we started to see the impact of the shrinkage of public lands and the availability of OHV use in California, it really motivated me to make sure that folks were aware and paying attention at the local level. There was then an opening for an appointment to the County Board of Supervisors because of a vacancy in 2018. My commitment to the residents and the Board of Supervisors at that time was, ‘I’m not the smartest person, but I work hard, I can study and learn, and I really try to make an impact for my residents.’ The unique thing I brought to the table was that I’m the first and only supervisor from the desert. As the population of the desert grows, so do our needs and challenges that we have. So, being from the desert, I can speak to an awful lot about the impact that it’s had on my life and our residents and advocate for those issues. I ran for a full term and am now running for my second term in this role.
DF: When people think of politics and politicians, they automatically think of Washington or their state capitol and overlook local government. How much impact does local government have–especially when it comes to the off-road community and even car culture in general?
DR: I think a tremendous amount. As a local lawmaker, I’m basically the liaison to the higher levels of government because it’s local and I’m involved with it. State-level officials are busy; they have things other than off-roading calling for their attention. Local supervisors or commissioners have a tremendous ability to outreach and to liaise with the higher-level electeds that are making the laws that impact our recreational opportunities.
When you host lawmakers at events, it’s like being a concierge. You can’t tell somebody to come down and leave the pavement, turn left, and go to the dry lakebed and look for me. It takes an inordinate amount of planning to prepare visitors to attend the King of the Hammers. Offering advice like bringing wipes and that it could be 30ºF or 120ºF, and the wind blows, and you’re going to get dirty is really important. Unless you prepare people adequately, if they show up and they’re ill-prepared, they’re not going to enjoy it, and they’re not going to feel welcome.
Oftentimes, our industry is described as just guys with cases of beer, drinking and driving, and they’re irresponsible off-roaders. I don’t want that to be what they hear from the other side. So, it’s important that their first experience out in our rough desert conditions is a positive one. And that takes some effort, but it’s an investment that I think is well worth it.
DF: What’s some advice for people who want to put on events like King of the Hammers in their own home states or town but don’t even know where to start? What are some of the things they need to consider from a government and regulatory side as they start a project?
DR: Have relationships with local elected officials. Someone is approachable among these ranks, and they are more accessible than you think. Once people understand events, they want to help you. They will be less likely to support you if they don't understand the event. Offer the invite to come out to a similar event somewhere else.
Also, consider the potential negative impact on the elected official, things like complaints about noise, traffic, etc., and then balance the message with positives like recreational opportunities close to home and local purchasing. A vocal minority can derail a project. Encourage and help activate the quiet majority to provide support to the elected official. Make it convenient like, letters of support, video clips, etc.