Morro Bay City Councilman Robert ‘Red’ Davis — ‘wonderful leader and friend’ — dies at 76
Morro Bay City Councilman Robert “Red” Davis died peacefully at his home on Saturday at the age of 76.
Davis made his mark in many ways on the city, county and the sport he loved, cycling. He was in his second term as city councilman, winning his election in 2016 and then reelection in 2020.
“Red Davis was a wonderful leader and friend to so many. He was a servant leader who worked tirelessly to advance and improve the quality of life of our community as a whole,” Mayor John Headding wrote on Sunday on behalf of the council. “Red’s strong work ethic, clear and concise communication style and genuine care for our community members enabled him to make a huge impact on important city initiatives. Those included the WRF project, Embarcadero improvements, advancement of offshore wind energy, stabilization of city finances and the realization of several economic development projects. Red was truly one of a kind, and we are going to miss him greatly.”
Supervisor Bruce Gibson wrote in a text response to The Tribune that he “was deeply saddened to hear the news. Red was an extraordinary person, a man of exceptional kindness and generosity who cared deeply for his community. For me, he set the standard for being a gentleman and public servant, a standard to which we all should aspire. He will be greatly missed.”
A city release stated that the city, along with Davis’ family, will host a public celebration of his life within the next couple weeks, most likely at the Morro Bay Community Center. Event details will be posted to the city website once they are finalized.
City Manager Scott Collins said, “We are grateful to have known and worked for Council member Davis as city staff. I greatly appreciated his curiosity about how things worked and his kindness. He loved his job and connected so well with the community and city employees. ... We hope members of the community will join us in honoring Red’s life and service.”
Headding and Collins sent condolences and love to his family and friends.
Council member’s contributions to Morro Bay
During his life on the Central Coast, Davis had served as secretary and treasurer of the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce, president of Morro Bay Friends of the Library, member of the Integrated Waste Management Authority and member of San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, according to his website at robertreddavis.com/meet-red/.
Davis was a member of various City Council sub-committees, such as the Recreation and Parks Commission and the City’s Tourism Board, as well as those dealing with the cannabis ordinance, wind farm development, Chevron property negotiations, revenue enhancement measures, Tidelands lease policy, community choice energy.
On his website, he wrote, “I have a vision for Morro Bay — that we remain the small town that we have always been, that we welcome visitors who love what we are and that we continue to value our citizens for the wonderful way that they — we — support our community.”
Cycling was his passion
Outside of his community work, Davis was an avid cyclist who shared his passion for the sport with high enthusiasm and determination, to great effect in many ways, devoting much time over a couple of decades to the public’s knowledge about cycling, how to be safe and still have fun at it.
He served as president of the SLO Bike Club for eight years, chair of the Morro Bay Citizens Bike Committee, chair of the County Bicycle Advisory Committee and founding member and vice president of Bike SLO County.
In 2015 the SLO County Board of Supervisors honored Davis for service to the local bicycling community by naming the Los Osos Valley Road bike lanes between Foothill Boulevard and South Bay Boulevard as the “Red Davis Bikeway.”
When Davis “retired” from cycling in April, he donated his bicycles to the Cambria Bicycle Kitchen. According to his friend Aaron Linn, the mountain bikes went to the Kitchen collection, “and a large, specialized road bike” was “traded for kids’ mountain bikes,” which provided cycles for five children.
From August 1999 to April 2008, Davis wrote a weekly “Go” column for The Tribune, expounding about Central Coast adventures and “exploring the great outdoors by foot and bicycle.” He had also been a radio talk-show host and on-air talent.
Retired from career at Caltrans
Davis and wife Gail Davis, who frequently cycled together all over the county, moved to Morro Bay from Nevada City more than two decades ago, after he retired from a 33-year career with Caltrans and she retired from the Nevada City School District.
His assignments for the state transportation agency through 1990 included budget analyst, training manager, contract compliance officer and planner.
Red Davis held a Bachelor’s degree from Cal State San Bernardino in human resources management with a specialty in public employee labor relations.
He was also an Air Force Reserve retiree, and had served as senior NCO training officer, deployments officer and supervising an air terminal operations center.
He was very active on the Lost at Sea Committee.
Davis is survived by his wife Gail Davis, daughter Catherine Sullivan, son-in-law Pat and granddaughters Caitlyn and Sara.
This story was originally published July 25, 2021 at 11:51 PM.
