Sam Blakeslee

Blakeslee grew up on the Central Coast. He graduated from San Luis Obispo High School and then began a career in construction. Years later, he returned to school and attended Cuesta College, where his father, Earle Blakeslee, taught music when the college first opened in 1965.[8] He later earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in geophysics from University of California, Berkeley.[9] Blakeslee earned a Ph.D. from University of California, Santa Barbara[10] for his research in seismic scattering, micro-earthquake studies, and fault-zone attenuation. He is published in numerous scientific journals.[11]

Blakeslee was elected to the California State Assembly in 2004 and later to the State Senate. Elected by his fellow legislators, Blakeslee served a term as Assembly Minority Leader. In this role, he was a member of the "Big 5" with responsibility for negotiating the state budget and major policy initiatives. He also served and held leadership positions on a variety of legislative committees focusing on agriculture, energy, banking, environmental quality, education and other fields. He successfully authored dozens of bills to evolve and reform policy related to energy, the environment, health care, job creation, lobbying reform, public and worker safety, veterans' affairs and other areas of concern.

Blakeslee has been recognized for his bipartisan leadership skills by many different organizations over the years. He earned Legislator of the Year awards from the California Police Chiefs and the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges. He has been singled out for his dedication to the environment with a Climate Hero Award from the consumer group CALPIRG, a Public Service Award from the American Institute of Professional Geologists, the Rhodes Leadership Award from the League of Women Voters and recognition for support by the Partners for the Conservation of the Los Osos Coastal Dunes. He has also earned awards for advocacy from organizations representing seniors, the disabled, physicians, dentists and cattle ranchers.[12]

Blakeslee worked as a research geophysicist at Exxon's research lab in Texas in the Long Range Research Division. He received a patent for inventing an innovative technique that used medical cat-scan technology to create detailed images of geologic formations between wellbores. He later on moved into management and served as a strategic planner for the upstream research function at the lab.[13]

Blakeslee serves as the President of two financial firms - Broker/Dealer Blakeslee & Blakeslee and the Registered Investment Advisor Blakeslee & Blakeslee Financial Advisers. The multi-branch firms have offices in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties managing over $750 million of assets. He is a Certified Financial Planner, General Municipal Securities Principal (Series 53), General Securities Principal (Series 24) and a General Securities Representative (Series 7). [14] https://www.mybbfa.com/

Prior to his election to the state Legislature, Blakeslee served as a two-term Trustee for Cuesta Community College. He was first elected in 1998.[15]

In 1999, Assemblyman Blakeslee authored the successful DREAM Initiative. Passing by 75%, the DREAM Initiative was a countywide advisory ballot measure that sought to create a long-term vision for the future of PG&E's 12-mile scenic coastline known as the Diablo Canyon Lands.[16]

In 2016 Sam Blakeslee, along with Charles Munger Jr, was co-author and co-proponent of Proposition 54, which was adopted by the electorate by an almost 2:1 margin. The Constitutional Amendment created a 72-hour in-print rule for all state legislation prior to adoption along with other transparency requirements. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_54,_Public_Display_of_Legislative_Bills_Prior_to_Vote_(2016)

In 2017 Sam Blakeslee became a board member of California Common Cause. He became Vice Chair of the board in 2020. https://www.commoncause.org/california/about-us/state-advisory-board/

In 2018 Sam Blakeslee became the Founding President of the San Luis Coastal Education Foundation, a non-profit working to increase funding for innovation in education at the San Luis Coastal Unified School district. Over the next five years the Foundation will be the recipient of $10M in funding from SB1090, which utilizes rate-payer funds to mitigate the closure of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. https://www.slcef.org/about-us

• IATPP web site
• Appearances on C-SPAN