Randy Bonner rules out city reelection bid

Randy Bonner

Absent from the City of Canyon Lake ballot this November will be current Councilman Randy Bonner. He’s been a regular on either the Canyon Lake POA Board or the City Council for well over a decade. He said it was a difficult decision to not run again, but he said he didn’t want to exceed three terms of combined service on the two Canyon Lake governing bodies.

Additionally, he said he may soon be leaving Canyon Lake and the state of California altogether. Randy said he is contemplating leaving because of the taxes and politics in Sacramento.

“Canyon Lake is more than a ‘Bit of Paradise’,” he said. “It is the citizens/members who make this wonderful community what it is all about. I have been blessed to live in one house for these many years and appreciate first-hand what I’ve worked on over the years. I wish all Canyon Lakers good health and safety.”

He also thinks it is time to turn the community leadership over to the next generation of Canyon Lakers.

“The demographics of the community have changed over the past 24 years,” Randy said. “We need younger representatives, like Jeremy Smith and Kasey Castillo, who come with much energy and excitement.”

After serving as the Canyon Lake POA Treasurer when first elected in 2007, then as the president in 2008, Randy felt prepared to serve on the City Council in 2010.

“I learned so much during that time that I believed I had the leadership and experience to serve the great community on the City Council,” he said. “Having a balance of those two strong organizations is unequivocal.”

Randy has been a second-term City Council member since 2010, except years 2015 and 2016. He served as Mayor in 2014 and 2017. He has also been a member of several other political groups and committees that work to improve Canyon Lake and the surrounding area.

Over the years, Randy has been a Board Member of the Western Riverside County Conservation Agency, the Western Riverside Council of Governments and the Riverside Transportation Agency. The last two years he has served on the Riverside County Transportation Commission and Vice Chair this year of its Budget and Implementation Committee. He is also on the I-15 Through Temecula Valley Task Force and the Southwest Communities Financing Authorities Joint Powers Agreement (Animal Friends of the Valley).

When he is not working as a councilmember or board member, Randy said he enjoys participating in several of the clubs that Canyon Lake has to offer. He started golfing regularly 10-15 years ago and became a member of the Canyon Lake Men’s Golf Club, the Over The Hill Group and the After Lunch Bunch. He was the club’s public relations director for one year.

As part of a Canyon Lake Travel Club trip to South Africa, he said the group was able to see in the wild 25 of the 26 animals the tour listed as possible sightings. Separate from the Travel Club, but special, he said, was a trip to Israel and Jerusalem where he was baptized again in the Jordan River. He said he also enjoyed trips to Pismo CA and Henderson NV.

Randy has attended all of the Fine Arts Guild Club concerts at the Lodge and Amphitheatre and has been a member of the Canyon Lake Association of Men’s, sometimes even working at the brat booth at Fiesta Days. He is a member of the Canyon Lake Yacht Club and enjoys how innovative the club is in coming up with new events, he said.

He was the Master of Ceremonies at the first Canyon Lake Veterans Day event and again in 2010. He was the Honorary Veterans Event Chairman in 2011. Before moving to Canyon Lake 24 years ago, Randy lived in Minnesota for 45 years.

“Living in a home with lakeshore is the way of life for me,” he said. “Over the years I have gone back and forth between inboard/outboard and pontoon boats based on my children and grandchildren’s interests and age.”

He is retired from his two professional careers which included over 35 years in the computer/disk drive industry as an Executive Vice President in Sales and Marketing and 28 years in the Marine Corps Reserves, from which he retired as a Colonel.

“I have so many great memories and accomplishments over the years,” Randy said. “My highest highlight is two Roundtables that I began a decade ago with the strong support of the then POA General Manager, Chris Mitchell.”

The purpose of the Roundtables is to talk openly with the participants while addressing similar issues, he said. The first Roundtable is a combination of the City, POA, EVMWD and Law Enforcement while the second Roundtable is about economic development and includes the City, POA, Chamber of Commerce and prominent citizens. There is no agenda or minutes.