Robert Jacob biography: 13 things about ex-mayor of Sebastopol, California

Robert Jacob is a resident of California, United States. He is of Mexican and Iraqi descent and is openly gay.

A medical marijuana businessman and a politician, Jacob made history in 2013 as the first person from the marijuana industry to lead a city in the U.S. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. A son of immigrants, he grew up in Rodeo, Contra Costa County, California. His father is from Mexico while his mother is from Iraq. (a)
2. He was 15 years old when he decamped to San Francisco, California where he lived in homeless shelter for youths, went to high school and worked for several social services group. (a)
3. From 1995 to 1996, he studied political science and government at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. (b)
4. From September 2001 to January 2005, he was a project manager at Ted Jacob Engineering Group in Oakland, Alameda County, California. (b)
5. From April 2002 to March 2008, he owned multiple salon and spa brands in Modesto, Stanislaus County, California. (b)
6. He is the founder of Turlock Education Academy in Turlock, Stanislau County. He was the owner and operator from September 2003 to March 2009. (b)
7. In 2004, he moved to Sebastopol, Sonoma County. (a)
8. He is the founder of Peace in Medicine, the lone dispensary for medical marijuana in Sebastopol. He was the chief executive officer from March 2007 to March 2017. (a) (b)
9. He is the founder of CannBe in Oakland. He was the CEO from May 2010 to December 2012. From June 2012 to March 2017, he was the owner and CEO of SPARC SF in San Francisco. (a) (b)
10. In 2012, he became the first Latino person to be elected as a city council member in Sebastopol then later the vice mayor. As a Democrat, he was unanimously chosen as mayor by the city council members in December 2013, making him the city’s first openly gay mayor. In March 2016, he took a leave of absence to take care of his ill mother and stepped down from his role with Peace in Medicine. (b) (c) (d) (e)
11. He is the founder of PARC Ventures, LLC in San Francisco. He was the CEO from January 2015 to March 2017. (a)
12. In March 2018, he became the principal and business strategist of Robert Jacob Executive Consulting. (a)
13. He was 44 years old when Sebastopol Police Department officers arrested him at around 7:00 a.m. on April 10, 2021. Held without bail at the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility in Santa Rosa, California, he was accused of committing lewd acts and forcible penetration of a child aged 14 or 15 as well several other sexual crimes involving a minor or minors between December 2019 and March 2021. (c) (e)

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SOURCES:

• a. New York Times
• b. Robert Jacob
• c. The Press Democrat
• d. Sonoma West
• e. Fox News