About Councilmember Tobin Brinker
Tobin Brinker was elected in a special election in November 2006 to fill a vacancy when his predecessor moved away. Mr. Brinker was reelected in 2007 for a complete four-year term. Mr. Brinker previously served one term as a Colton School Board Member from 2001-2005.
Brinker moved to the Inland Empire when he was 8 years old. His father was stationed at Norton Air Force Base. He graduated from Colton High School in 1986 and attended San Bernardino Valley College where he earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies. He went on to graduate from Cal State San Bernardino with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science.
Councilman Brinker’s current committee assignments are:
- RDA committee (chairperson) – deals with economic development issues.
- Grants- review grant applications and look for funding opportunities.
- Personnel- review job classifications, personnel changes, and HR issues.
- Education Bridge committee – a joint committee of city council and school board representatives that work to address critical overlapping issues between the city and the schools.
- EDC (Economic Development Corporation) – a recently formed non-profit corporation to protect valuable local tax dollars from the Governor’s attempt to defund city Redevelopment Agencies.
About Tobin Brinker and His Family
Tobin Brinker and Family
Tobin met his wife, Erin at Cal State. They are married with two children and have lived in the Third Ward since 1998. Both Councilman Brinker and his wife were foreign exchange students when they were in high school. They are still actively involved with the American Field Service Foreign Exchange Program. They have hosted students from Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, China, Venezuela, Hong Kong and Austria. Brinker works as a middle school history teacher in the Rialto School District at Frisbie Middle School.
About Tobin Brinker’s Recent Achievements
Councilman Brinker was recently selected as a Citizen of Achievement by the League of Women Voters. Tobin was recognized by the league for his leadership in re-opening Nicholson Park after city budget cuts forced its closure in 2009. Councilman Brinker organized a group of teacher volunteers to re-open the park during the summer of 2010 and personally ran the park program. His efforts lead to a partnership with the county Children Services Department, a local non-profit and neighborhood residents to reopen the park permanently in the Spring of 2011.
Councilman Brinker served as Mayor pro-tem from March 2010 to March 2011. The current Mayor pro-tem is 4th Ward Councilman Fred Shorett.
