Brooks Firestone
Anthony Brooks Firestone (b. 18 June 1939 [1]) is an American businessman and politician.
The son of Leonard Firestone, a grandson of Harvey Samuel Firestone and Idabelle Smith, and a nephew of Harvey Firestone, Jr., he was educated at The Webb School, and graduated from Columbia University. He worked for Firestone until 1972, when he quit the company, and moved his family to the Santa Ynez Valley.
He represented the 35th District in the California State Assembly for two terms (1994–1998). In 1998, he ran for the United States House of Representatives to succeed the late Walter Capps, but lost the Republican nomination to Tom Bordonaro, who went on to lose the general election to Lois Capps, the widow of the prior incumbent. Firestone currently operates the San Antonio Ranch, Firestone Vineyard LLC, Prosperity Wines, and other businesses.
His son, Adam, and his son-in-law, David Walker,[2] run Firestone Walker Brewing Company; his other son, Andrew, appeared on ABC's show The Bachelor.
In the 2004 supervisor election, Firestone defeated John Buttny (former Weather Underground activist), Slick Gardner (a local rancher and convicted animal rights violator) and Steve Pappas (a local entrepreneur and image consultant) for the district seat. As Supervisor, Firestone has been criticised for his plan to get rid of the county's Oak Tree Protection ordinance, a historic 1998 compromise between agriculture and environmental interests.