Sacramento Seminar
The Late Chair
Jon Rubin (1949-2024) had a long and varied career in Politics, Public Relations, Transportation, travel and film making. Jon worked as a political consultant on four Presidential Campaigns and on a wide variety of state and local campaigns. He served two years as The Political Director of The California Democratic Party and was Chief of Staff to a member of the State Senate. His service on local and regional, public and nonprofit Boards and Commissions ranged from Bread and Roses to the Metropolitan Transporation Commission, and the San Francisco Film Commission. Jon led tours for journalists and political professionals to such places as Turkey, Japan, India, Russia, China, Southeast Asia, Northern Ireland, Eastern and Western Europe, Scandanavia and Latin America. Most recently, he served as President/CEO of the Peninsula Coalition, a public-private coalition that advocates for sustainability and regional planning.
As a film maker, Jon produced and directed political TV commercials and promos for a large number of candidates and such clients as Radisson Hotels, Costco, First National Bank, San Mateo County Community College, SF City College, SamTrans, Caltrans, the Plumbers International Union, UFCW, etc. He received awards from the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, and the Communicator Award for video production.
As the video documentarian for the San Mateo Historical Association, Jon produced and directed most of the video content for the San Mateo County Historical Museum in Redwood City. In conjunction with the Historical Association, he also produced and directed documentary histories of: The Crocker family - (Crocker Bank, The Southern pacific RR), The Roth Family (Matson Lines, Filoli), The Lane Family - (Sunset Magazine), Gordon Moore (one of the two founders of Intel), The Foster family (Foster City), Henry Doelger (the developer of much of The Sunset and much of Daly City) and a host of others. In addition, he produced and directed documentaries on surfing - Storm Dancers: The Legend of Mavericks, Horse racing - The Last Train from Bay Meadows (a full-length documentary that will run nationally on TVG starting in late May) and a full-length documentary history of San Mateo County - called - Made in America: San Mateo County from Dairies to DNA. Jon also completed “Lifespan,” a documentary on the conception, politics, and construction of the new east span of the Bay Bridge.
In 2024, Jon was hard at work on a two-hour documentary history of the Life and Times of Mayor George Moscone and a two-hour documentary on the life and career of former US Sen. and Vice-Presidential candidate Sen. Estes Kefauver.
Favorite SF movie - Bullitt.
