Biography of Richard Borevitz
Candidate for Governing Board of Palomar College
Richard Borevitz was born in San Diego and grew up in Vista. He graduated from Palomar College in 1961 and then from U. C. Berkley in 1963. He first worked as a Public Health Advisor for the United States Public Health Service. Then he spent time traveling in South America and working in Bolivia with US AID and the Peace Corp.
Next Richard traveled around the world for three years, working and living in various places. When he returned to the United States, he did research in Anthropology at the University of California Berkeley. Then he came back to San Diego County taking a Youth Director position with a Community Center in San Diego. While there, he created a popular farm activity center for teens.
In 1968 Borevitz became the General Manager for a lobster trap company called Fathoms Plus. In 1970, he moved to Rancho Santa Fe to work as the General Manager and Agent for the owners of what was then Rancho Zorro and is now The Fairbanks Ranch. It was during this time that he married his wife Mary Chidester. They have three children who are now all graduates of the University of California.
In 1978, they purchased 7 acres of orange trees. The grove is now certified organic by the State of California. In a good year they can produce one quarter of a million pounds of oranges which they sell to a juice company or for organic packaging and distribution throughout the United States. Their home is in the center of the grove; they designed and built it themselves, and it is where they live today.
From 1975 to 1978, Richard worked as a design and sales representative for an irrigation supply company in Escondido. In 1978, he started his own company, Agricultural Irrigation Systems, Inc. which he still owns and operates.
In 1985 the Borevitz family purchased 20 acres in Twin Oaks Valley and started another farm venture called Gourmet Gardens. They cleared the land, put in the irrigation and sewer systems, and designed and built a commercial barn as a center of operations. Their family grew and sold specialty vegetables there for 16 years, with their two girls working in the farm stand and their son doing the tractor work, and producing the vegetables with Richard.
Thinking retrospectively, Borevitz says, "My life has been rewarding, varied, extremely interesting, and thankfully successful." His response to that observation has been to contribute his time to the community.
He began expanding his participation in community activities in 1994 when he was appointed to the Board of the Small Farm Center at UC Davis. Richard was also appointed by the County Board of Supervisors to a Rural/Urban Interface Committee. He has been a part of the President's Associates at CSUSM (California State University San Marcos) since the early 90's. He has also been on the Executive Board of the Presidents Associates at Palomar College since the mid 90's.
Borevitz's experience with Palomar College goes back to when he was a student there from 1959 to 61. It was Mr. Virgil Bergman, the recently deceased Dean and head of the Speech Department, who saw to it that he enrolled at Palomar and joined his speech team. He won many awards including first in the eleven Western States and second in the nation for original oratory. He had the lead role in a play. He was active in student government as the Treasurer of the Student Body. He also graduated as a life-time member of the Honor Society. "I feel that Palomar gave me my start; there were teachers encouraging me then that I remember fondly to this day," says Borevitz.
Richard has helped Tom Humphrey, Past Chairman of the Alumni and Friends, with alumni day by showing Palomar Graduates around the school and the Arboretum. He has been active with the Friends of Palomar Arboretum for the last 10 years and was President for 6 years. Several years ago, he served on the Facilities Planning Committee.
During the last few years Borevitz has been going to the Governing Board meetings to educate himself about meeting procedures and the type of issues they deal with. He has served on the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee for Facilities Bond money, and also on the Executive Board of the President’s Associates since 1996. He is currently on the Palomar College Foundation Board, serving on their Finance and Investment Committee.
Richard Borevitz has a long association with Palomar College and a good deal of personal knowledge about the school. He believes strongly in the Institution of the Community College system. About the college, Richard says, "It serves a very important place in raising the level of education in our society. We need more nurses, fire fighters, police, and paramedics. Palomar must continue its focus on other important emerging careers for the 21st century."