Tim Raboy: Slow-growth councilman aims to work behind scenes as Galt mayor

Tim Raboy is a busy man. The state Board of Equalization supervisor is the father of five young boys and can now add mayor of Galt to his list of duties.

Tim Raboy

At the Dec. 5 City Council meeting to elect the mayor, Raboy was the fourth out of five council members to be nominated for the top city spot.

Incumbent Mayor Darryl Clare had just been voted out, 3-2, and newcomers Donald Haines and Andrew Meredith both turned down nominations.

Reluctantly, Raboy accepted the four-year position for only one year.

But if he seems hesitant, it doesn't mean that Raboy doesn't care about the job. He's just busy.

"I would have been happy if Don or Andrew would have taken it," he said. "It's never been that important for me to be mayor. I took it for a year because it's a big responsibility and I have a big family and a job that has a lot of demands."

After growing up outside of New York City, Raboy received a bachelor's degree in marketing from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y. In 1988, Raboy, 40, moved with his parents to Galt, where he worked in the finance industry.

Seeking a career change, Raboy was hired at the Board of Equalization, which runs sales tax and special tax programs. He started as an investigator and worked his way up to supervisor, overseeing a team of 16 investigators.

Raboy, who is somewhat introverted, said that the public speaking group, Toastmasters, helped ready him for a life in the public spotlight.

"When I got involved with Toastmasters, that's what really changed my life," he said. "It gave me the confidence to speak in public places because I was afraid to do that."

Even after using the Toastmaster program, Raboy acknowledged that he is not as outgoing as Clare, who shook many hands and attended many events for the city. He said he plans to delegate those mayoral duties to all the city council members.

"I'm not interested in the spotlight," he said. "I just want to do what's best for the city."

Raboy became active in the community serving on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and later on the Planning Commission. He said he decided to run for council in 1998 because he was upset at the direction in which the city was growing.

"Decisions were being made that I didn't agree with," he said. "I felt there was too much growth going on and I wasn't happy with it."

He lost his first election, but ended up being appointed to the seat when another council member quit. In 2000, Raboy ran again and this time led all candidates. He won re-election in 2004.

Tim Raboy

• Age: 40
• Education: bachelor's degree in marketing, St. Thomas Aquinas College, New York
• Occupation: state Board of Equalization supervisor
• Family: wife, five sons

— News-Sentinel staff

Raboy said his watershed issue has always been slow or "managed" growth. He said he does not want Galt to end up like Elk Grove, which boasts a population of 130,000 and is one of the nation's fastest growing cities.

"Elk Grove has grown too big too fast," he said. "They have all the problems that people don't want in Galt; crime, major traffic problems, gang problems. The biggest problem is that they grew too fast."

Raboy said he is looking forward to having his voice heard for a change now that he's mayor and the majority of the candidates are slow-growth proponents. Meredith and Haines, both slow-growth candidates, replaced Tom Malson and Randy Shelton, who favored more expansive growth.

"The rest of the council has been pro-growth for the last four years," he said. "There was a lot of 4-1 votes, but I have to vote on what I believe, so that's what I did."

Kathleen Amos, who ran a write-in campaign for council on a slow-growth platform, said she is excited at the direction Raboy plans to take the city.

"It will be a more family friendly city and less developer-friendly," she said. "There is going to be more of a focus on making the community a positive place for young people and families."

Raboy said the city's General Plan, which is due for an update, is probably going to be scaled back.

"We are going to see more managed growth," he said. "For the last three years, they have been working on the General Plan and literally every six months it gets bigger and bigger. I'm hoping the General Plan gets reduced."

Clare said that Raboy is a good study on the council and he knows all the issues. He said the council agrees on most of the proposed new growth, but he added that the proposed annexation of land to the northwest of Galt for a Del Webb development could be an issue of contention.

"I think it's in the interest of the city to have control of that land," he said. "It will come down to what level of growth people are comfortable with."

Besides the growth issue, Raboy said he wants to attract new retail to increase the sales tax base, tackle infrastructure projects like the C Street interchange and shore up the city's flea market. He said he would also like to see a greenbelt separator between Galt and Elk Grove.

Contact reporter Matt Brown at mattb@lodinews.com.

First published: Tuesday, December 26, 2006

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