Don Knabe

Education and early political career

Knabe attended Graceland University and graduated with a degree in business administration. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Knabe settled in Cerritos. The Knabes owned a small business, and Knabe entered politics in 1978 as one of several candidates for the GOP nomination to replace Del M. Clawson as Congressman from the 33rd District (Downey-Norwalk-Whittier). Knabe lost to La Mirada Mayor Wayne R. Grisham, but carried his home area. In 1980, he was elected to the Cerritos City Council on the basis of growth issues. Knabe took a job with Supervisor Deane Dana's office in 1982, soon advancing to Chief of Staff.

In 1987, Knabe considered running as a Republican for the state Senate in a special election. However, he backed down in favor of Grisham, whose Congressional seat had been redistricted and was now a state Assemblyman. Grisham lost the special election to Democratic Norwalk City Councilman Cecil Green by a larger-than expected margin, and Republicans immediately concluded that the younger, more energetic Knabe should have been the nominee. Knabe retired from the City Council in 1988 to run for the state Senate. After a hard-fought and expensive campaign, Green defeated Knabe by 51% to 49%.

Fourth District Supervisor, Los Angeles County

In 1996, Deane Dana, the former Supervisor of the 4th District, announced that he would retire in December of that year, after serving 16 years in office. Don Knabe, who had served as Dana's chief deputy since 1982, ran to fill the vacated seat. During the campaign, he raised more than $2.6 million, with Dana's campaign committee spending more than $152,000 on Knabe's behalf. The majority of the campaign contributions came from special interest groups. In the non-partisan primary, he finished first with 40% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated former Rolling Hills Mayor Gordana Swanson, who had given Dana a tough race in 1992.

A moderate Republican, Knabe instituted a safe-haven law or baby hatch in 2002, where mothers can leave their baby at a fire station, lifeguard headquarters, or hospital within 72 hours of their birth. The program was instituted after several publicized cases of child abandonment and infanticide. The program was quickly adopted statewide. As of August 31, 2011, 87 babies, in Los Angeles County alone, have been safely surrendered.

Knabe was the Chairman for the 2010 session. He was reelected in the June 3, 2008 election.

Controversies

Knabe's son, Matt Knabe, is a partner at a major Los Angeles lobbying firm, Englander, Knabe & Allen and is a registered County lobbyist. Despite the family ties, Knabe routinely votes on board matters involving clients that his son and son's firm represents (including the award of government contracts), instead of recusing himself. Because of the father-son relationship, local media, in particular the Los Angeles Times, have regularly raised ethical concerns over perceived or real conflicts of interest.

Board matters that Knabe has not recused himself from voting include contract awards that circumvented standard government procurement processes and other actions that had a financial impact on Matt Knabe's firm:

Knabe has been criticized for his use of taxpayer-funded discretionary funds (each supervisor is allocated a $3.4 million spending account), including the employment of an armed driver earning an annual salary of US$90,000.

Personal life

Knabe is married to Julie Knabe née Gillbreath. Julie operates J.D. Knabe & Associates, a customer relations firm. The Knabes have two sons, Curt and Matt, both graduates of Pepperdine University. Knabe's son Matt is a partner at a major Los Angeles lobbying firm, Englander, Knabe & Allen. Knabe is a member of New Life Community Church in Artesia, California.