Posted by Michael Der Manouel, Jr. at 12:00 am on Apr 29, 2006 12 Comments
One of the finest men I have ever met in politics is Bill Jones,
former Secretary of State and Assembly Minority Leader in the early
1990’s. Aside from being part of one of more prominent
westside farming families in the Central San Joaquin Valley for
decades, Bill served and was easily the best Secretary of State in
the history of California, and left a legacy in the legislature
including the 3 Strikes law, among other accomplishments.
On his way out of active politics in 2004 he ran for Senate
against Barbara Boxer, a half hearted effort doomed from the
start. But he went out a true gentlemen, and his family,
including wife Maureen and daughters Andrea and Wendy were simply
one of the model political families anyone can remember
anywhere. An incredible group. Always friendly, and
always the same.
Bill’s current business pursuit is Pacific Ethanol, a relatively
new company looking to put ethanol on the map, finally, as an
alternative to oil and gasoline. His timing has been
spectacular here. As chairman and founder of the company, he
has led the effort plan/construct five ethanol producing… Read More