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Livermore City Councilman Bob Coomber has officially announced that he will not be seeking re-election in November in order to focus on his health.
Revealing the news during Livermore’s regular City Council meeting on Feb. 10, Coomber — who was elected to the council in 2016 — said he is facing kidney failure and currently waiting on a transplant.
After reaching the decision in consultation with his wife, Coomber added that the medical appointments and health issues associated with his kidney will prevent him from giving an adequate amount of time to city issues.
“I have now three hospitals that I am on a transplant list for and I need to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. If that should happen, I don’t want to take six months, seven months off of the council. So knowing that it can happen at any time, I have decided it’s best to take care of myself and get out and do things in the meantime,” Coomber told the Weekly.
He added that thanks in no small part to his wife’s cooking and healthy living, his condition, while not good, has not worsened, and he is still able to stay active and do many of the things he loves.
“I try to get out on trails as often as I can, you know try to fight off some of the fatigue that comes on sometimes, but usually it’s not a horrible day,” he said.
Coomber’s decision guarantees at least one regular council seat will change hands after the November general election — Councilman Bob Carling is also up for re-election. Livermore’s mayoral position will be up for grabs as well, with Mayor John Marchand being termed out.
The recipient of the Weekly’s Tri-Valley Hero Courage Award in 2017, Coomber has been known as a community leader and trailblazer, even before his election to the council.
His story of maintaining an active lifestyle, though he has used a wheelchair since the 1990s due to serious bone density problems resulting from juvenile diabetes, was the subject of the documentary “4 Wheel Bob.” Through years of trial and error, Coomber says he has been able to enjoy the outdoors in “extreme fashion,” continuing a love of hiking California’s peaks.
Coomber also reflected on his decision to not seek re-election on his Facebook page, saying in part, “What this does is provide an opportunity for the many really bright members of the Next Generation to step up and compete for a seat. The City has a lot of momentum now, and I hope there are fresh ideas and interests to keep things moving in a good direction.”
“As I gear up to be placed on other facility’s transplant lists, it’ll require even more time out of town and on the road. Other than that, and as always, it’s all good! Just back from Brushy Peak, where I rolled out to a low lying pond and watched Avocets prowl the shoreline,” he added.
When asked if he had any advice for his eventual successor, Coomber told them to focus on the interests of the residents and keep up with the city’s budget.
“You don’t want to put the city in a debt situation,” he added. “I would just say do your best to stick to the truth and don’t believe all that you read in the Independent.”
Well…bye!
His self aggrandizing personality will not be missed.
Bob, we’ll miss you being on the Livermore City Council, but we’ll see you out on the trails!
You’ve always had Livermore’s best interests at heart and the trails communities’s too.
Let me know how to donate, my brother from another mother.
Kurt Kummer
Just signed up at the donatelifecalifornia.org website