William Henry "Bill" Geyer

His colleagues knew him as the go-to man for "deep thought". Bill passed away at midnight on the last day of 2017. He had played a major role in maintaining open space in CA. He also jump- started untold numbers of young people into careers related to state government. A CA native, Bill skipped two grades and entered Stanford on a scholarship -- a tall skinny boy with thick glasses and a crew cut. He thrived there and expected to become a professor of literature or history, having majored in both. But as he was writing his PhD dissertation, fate took him another direction. The part-time CA Legislature had become full-time, and was canvassing universities for bright people to provide professional analyses to legislative committees and thus reduce the influence of lobbyists. Bill qualified. His first mentor was Senator Alan Pattee (R) Monterey County. By then Bill was married to Pat Kunze, and started a family. Like many others in that first wave of Legislative interns, he left academia behind. When Senator Pattee died, Bill became the committee consultant for Assemblyman John Williamson (D), Chair of the Assembly Agricultural Committee. In that capacity he developed a major piece of legislation that helped solve a growing problem: farmers and ranchers forced to sell out to developers due to rapid urbanization of rural areas and spiking property taxes. The Williamson Act (1965) gave landowners a tax break if they signed a contract agreeing not to sell to developers for 10 or 20 years. Bill is best known for his work on that complex law, which he explained and promoted in all 58 counties. That law became a model for other states. After a decade as a legislative staffer Bill left and started three businesses. California Research, which evolved to become a national leader in state government monitoring services. He co-founded California Journal, a popular monthly publication probing the substance and politics of state issues. In its early months, Bill wrote many of the articles. Then in 1977, Bill left the Journal to his partners and opened his own land use consulting and lobbying practice Geyer Associates. In that capacity he helped establish coastal and land conservancies and habitat and species management programs. He married his second wife, Naida West, and moved with her to the remnant of an historic ranch in Rancho Murieta, along the Cosumnes River. He continued to commute to Sacramento for 20 years while Naida wrote and published three epic historical novels set on the ranch. He was her great literary and historical consultant. Bill leaves behind his wife of 38 years, Naida, three children, Cathryn Geyer, Robert Geyer (Sigrun), and Carolyn Duty (Charlie), three step-children, four grandchildren, and four step-grandchildren. A memorial for Bill will be held January 21 from 1 pm to 3 pm at Nepenthe Clubhouse, 1131 Commons Drive in Sacramento. You may send a donation to the Sacramento SPCA in lieu of flowers.