George Lange Biography

Philosophy Statement

Being associated with the MRCA allows me to make decisions facilitating the purchase of valued open space for future generations which provides great personal satisfaction and enhances my appreciation of; dirt, rocks, brush, trees, streams, trails, and wildlife, especially Mountain Lions!

Biography

Born in Santa Monica, CA, grew up in Van Nuys when there were many acres in agriculture along with open space, in fact our family home was built in a previous English Walnut orchard and with my friends often climbed the two large remaining trees. It was a time when our residential streets would flood, often with water up to our front porch, and walking to school over bridges crossing Tyrone “Street Wash”, sandbagged to form a channel for the rushing water to flow. Then by the late 1940’s, the infrastructure for improved flood control was completed. On occasions waded in the Los Angeles River at the Sepulveda Basin and Reseda Park to catch crawdads and polliwogs. To visit friends in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades we traveled Sepulveda Boulevard through the Sepulveda Pass, and I recall Mulholland Drive was pretty much dirt west of Hayvenhurst Ave. Often would camp out in a friends North Hollywood home’s back yard that backed up to the Tujunga “Wash” and the next morning we’d hike over to Coldwater Canyon and up to the mountains. As a young teen took venturous bike rides from Van Nuys to Simi Valley, over Santa Susana Pass to Corriganville and Oak Park west of Los Alamos Canyon, and once into the Angeles National Forest. Attended Van Nuys High School where I played football and ran track, including in the 1957 LA Coliseum Relays. And experienced many family camping and fishing trips to Lake Tahoe, Kernville, the Sierras, Yosemite, Oregon, State and National Parks, and often in our own backyard, HAVING EXPERIENCES PROVDING ME OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT, VALUE AND COMMUNE WITH THE BEAUTY OF NATURE!

Following high school graduation, I joined the US Navy and became a Radar Technician which led to attaining a BS in Electronic Engineering. Worked for the Bendix Corporation on Computer Command and Control for Torpedo Systems, and then Sonar Systems on Fast Attack Nuclear Submarines which took me out for 7 to 10 days on underwater operations. Worked out of Pearl Harbor for 6 months, and then went to work for the Bunker Ramo Corporation which took my family and I to Plymouth, England for a year, working Classified US Navy Programs supporting our National Submarine Service. Moved back to Thousand Oaks with Bunker Ramo and became involved with many community organizations and subsequently in 1990 was Elected to the Conejo Recreation and Park District Board of Directors. At that time appointed their representative to both the SMMC and MRCA. Elected President to the Ventura County Special Districts Association and elected Commissioner on the Ventura County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) and subsequently to the State LAFCO Commission Board of Directors.