Recalling a Remarkable Force of Nature

Carla Bard was the first woman to serve on the Ventura County Planning Commission and the State Water Resources Control Board. She also occasionally wrote pieces for this space, but she cannot be confined to it.

Like the wind and the waves, she was an elemental force of nature.

This force was guided by an uncommon combination of native intelligence, principled conviction and broad human sympathy.

With an unerring political instinct and an unmatched mastery of the issues, she was a formidable advocate of everything from the adoption of orphaned children to the protection of clean water. Her quick grasp of issues was legendary, and her ability to see how individual issues fit into a larger picture was unsurpassed.

At the heart of her effectiveness was a profound understanding of people: their needs, aspirations and sensibilities. Her encounters with people were often more like adoptions; she simply took you in and swept you along.

Her assessment of an individual was instantaneous, penetrating and instinctively used to gauge how to advance an issue--and how far.

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Beneath her natural graciousness and unstudied elegant demeanor was a tireless commitment to instill common sense into public policy decisions. Her optimism would have appeared naive if it wasn’t matched by a complete command of the topic and a calculated assessment. But if you weren’t overtaken by her logic, you were overcome by her smile.

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She was an idealist with a broad vision, but also a pragmatist. She was both a fierce advocate, with no tolerance for compromise on basic principles, and a master of the strategic retreat. When she peered over her reading glasses and suggested in her soft English accent that one mustn’t really do this or that, you knew it was time to rethink your position--and probably change direction.

Above all she was interested in results.

Carla Bard brought a level of professionalism and good humor to environmental advocacy that will set a lasting standard for those who will inevitably follow, inspired by her personal qualities as much as by her principled stands on the issues.

The elemental force of her personality has not only shaped the natural environment she loved so passionately and intelligently, but also all those who had the good fortune to know and work with her in common cause.

Residents of Ventura County and throughout California will in time come to appreciate what a remarkable force of nature she was--and, through her inspiration, will remain.