Lyles, William M., 1991 Leon S. Peters Distinguished Service Award recipient
Item
Title
Lyles, William M., 1991 Leon S. Peters Distinguished Service Award recipient
Description
Talks about being born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moving to Avenal in 1940 before going to college at Purdue for civil engineering. He discusses moving his business from Avenal to Fresno, getting involved with the Chamber of Commerce, the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Channel 18, Measure C, and the Fresno Regional Foundation.
Creator
Lyles, William M.
Mehas, Dr. Peter G.
Relation
Leon S. Peters Legacy Collection
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
2000
Format
Microsoft word 2003 document, 6 pages
Identifier
SCMS_lspl_00026
extracted text
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: For the record, name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>William Lyles: My name is Bill Lyles. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November
27, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Bill, when did you come to Fresno?
>>William Lyles: We came to Fresno because actually I grew up in Avenal. And my dad
went down there because Standard Oil was getting ready to ship its engineers to
Saudi Arabia in the late '30s and my dad didn't want to go alone and he didn't want
to take his family over there. So he changed careers, went to work for a
construction company in Kettleman Hills. So we moved there in 1940. And I lived
there as a base until after I was out of college.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Where did you go to college?
>>William Lyles: I went to Purdue University and had a degree in civil engineering
tailored to construction management, because I knew from the time I was 13 year old
in the ditches when the company was started in 1945 that -- what I was going to do.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A boilermaker, then?
>>William Lyles: Yup. And I remember -- I remember a football game over here in San
Joaquin Memorial in 1950 which looking out the north goal post there was not one
thing out north of McKinley Avenue visible except open fields.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to Fresno, and when did you actively get
involved with the Chamber of Commerce and various other -- which we'll talk about
later on -- institutions in Fresno. When did you [inaudible] ->>William Lyles: We had made a decision in the early to mid '60s after Vandenberg,
I lived in Santa Maria and Vandenberg during that catching up with the Russians in
space, we made the decision that Fresno would ultimately be our headquarters of our
company. It wasn't suitable as it grew to get accountants and lawyers all over
Avenal. And it was speeded up after my dad's death in 1965. I had actually come
over here and was working here in '64 and moved here in early '65. So I've been
here longer than anyplace else in my life.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When people talk about Bill Lyles, the names that generally
come up is the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Channel 18, and many of us remember your
active involvement in really initiating with Russ Sloan along with the Measure C,
which as we see the freeways today, we wouldn't have those freeways if it was not
for Measure C, and of course ->>William Lyles: And of course the reason that we got started is Joe Levy was up in
the state level, department -- chairman of the highway operation. And told us if we
didn't do it, it wasn't going to get done.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well let's -- let's talk about the arts to zoo, let's talk
with Measure C and about your commitment and involvement with the Metropolitan
Museum. And -- and the -- the prominent role that you and your family have played
on the Chamber of Commerce here in our area. So why don't we start off -- what
motivated you to get involved in community service.
>>William Lyles: Well my – actually I had an example in my parents. And then as I
went along, both Lee Peters and Lew Eaton encouraged me. And I followed Lew in a
number of things that he got me in his position, like the regional foundation.
Which -- but I started out mostly doing things -- my parents -- my mother was the
first woman on the chamber board, people may not remember that. And she was on the
Coalinga Junior College board for many, many years. So my mother and father both
were active. So we had an example set in our family. And then as I looked at what
things were happening in the community I began to feel that yes, in a balanced life
one has to have a duty to three or four different masters, not one. Master to your
family, and master to your community, service to your business, and taking care of
yourself. And it's finding balance. So my earliest years were because of my kids
growing up in the school system when they were looking at desegregation and
districting, when Jerry Rosander was here, there was a lot of committees then as a
volunteer. And it was only -- I was president of my chamber when we started Camp
Royal in '68-‘69. And it wasn't until a number of years later that I got involved
with the chambers, probably -- I had been on other boards like the symphony board
and others at different times. And I don't know, I just felt that I wanted to be
involved in it, but I also felt that it was an outreach where I could work with
people. And running and building businesses like I had been doing can be a very
lonely, isolated situation. So I feel I gained a lot as well as being able to put
something into it. And I feel to this day, I’ve been asked to be on a few outside
boards of corporations now. And I love it. It gets the adrenaline going again
without tearing the stomach up quite so much.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, you knew Lee Peters well, and probably one of the most
prestigious awards that is given in central California is the Lee Peters award. And
you had a part in that award, but what did it mean to Bill Lyles. Knowing Lee
Peters and it stands for not only excellence in business, but more importantly
philanthropy, and caring and giving -- not just checks -- to our community,
community service. What did it mean to you to be the recipient of that award?
>>William Lyles: Well, it meant everything because -- I just can't imagine anything
that I would have felt prouder in getting. Actually, I was on the executive
committee when Sheldon Lewis was president of the chamber, and when we learned of
Leon's illness we were all very distressed. And you know, he wasn't taking
visitors. We sent some messages through, and I know Alice told me he appreciated
them. But we thought of trying to do something to honor him with a -- this is not
really the best way to do it, creating an award which he is the example is -- and
others will be honored by exemplifying his deeds and actions would be the highest
esteem that we could place upon him. And my two mentors in the early -- like so
many of the rest of the people in this town, were Leon and Lew. And both of them,
unfortunately -- Lew got the first award, as was proper, and I don't know, I just - to me, that is what it's all about, if you're going to be here on this earth
there's got to be more than just making money. There's got to be more than just
doing this. And if we enjoy the liberty and the freedom that we have and the
opportunity that we have in this country, which people do not have all over the
earth, it's just terrifying to see what's happening all around the earth today,
man's inhumanity to man. So if you have had the opportunity that we have had since
World War II, which -- the period where I've grown up, I think if we don't do
something to give that opportunity to our children then something's wrong with us.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: As I look at the Leon Peters recipients through the years, of
course with Lew Eaton, of course with Dick Johanson and Earl Smittcamp and Helen
Smades, these are all people in our community that the arts museum, the
Metropolitan Museum, the Philharmonic, all these things wouldn't happen without the
leadership and the sacrifice and most of you don't want headlines. In fact, you shy
away from the headlines. Where did you get this culture, this sense of community,
to make these things happen.
>>William Lyles: I think some of that is born in aptitudes and interests. I saw
Werner Lyman [Lywen] yesterday, and I hadn't seen him in the bank for many years.
And I remember when we were on a search committee at the symphony we got talking,
and realized that I -- well, I was a junior officer in the Navy back in the mid
'50s in Washington, D.C., or near there. I used to attend the symphony concerts
with season tickets at Constitution Hall. And it turned out that Werner was the
concert master, the National Symphony Orchestra in those years. So we had fun
talking about it. I don't know, people -- I mean, not many people that are
engineers in business and have as little aptitude in art or music have as much love
for those kinds of things. But I think -- I don't know where you get it. Some
people have it in families where the rest of them don't. And then you have children
that don't have an ear for music and don't -- I think some of that is born. Some of
it can be learned, if it's the proper thing to do. And I think that so far as
museums, things like that, that's a matter of trying to provide an education, an
opportunity for middle class and lower -- you know, poorer families that -- the
wealthy people can take their kids to New York or Paris or London or San Francisco.
It really is a thing that would help enhance the quality of life. Let them learn
and have a better appreciation of what it's all about and what the opportunities
are.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You mentioned Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The last
time I was there I was listening to the Beach Boys, with the George Bush boys
sitting next there at Ronald Reagan's inauguration. So what a far cry from the
symphony at the Constitution Hall, listening to the Beach Boys.
>>William Lyles: Now they've all gone over to Kennedy Center, which was on the
banks of Watergate years ago.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You've seen a lot of Fresno politics since you've been here.
You've seen a lot of different leadership styles. A lot of different mayors. Where
do you think the leadership of Fresno is going now, and from your vantage point if
you had a crystal ball, where do you see the direction that Fresno's going and is
there any little red signs you would warn us about for future generations as we
look at the development of Fresno. I know that's a mouthful, but ->>William Lyles: No, I -- I believe, and I'm not going to get into names at this
time, but I hope there's a man going to run for mayor that has the ability to
verbalize, and that's what we need. Somebody that can verbalize the fact that we've
got to think regionally. The things that are being done, everybody running for
mayor, everybody going into politics, the county fighting the city and Clovis. In
this kind of an atmosphere we're not going to stop leapfrog growth. That's not the
kind of thing that will do it. Somebody has to verbalize the importance of maybe
taxing ourselves some more like we did on Measure C. If it's worth saving downtown
we have to follow and do a little bit of what San Jose did. We're involved a lot.
I'm talking about business side, I normally don't. But we're involved in a number
of projects for redevelopment of downtown San Jose. We aren't even thinking on the
scale that it takes to really get the job done here. In addition, I would hope that
the next leader of our city and other leaders will realize that there's more to
making a better community than just hiring policemen and building jails. We need to
I'm thinking regionally. We need to replace the A to Z that we lost. Any -- the
idea for that A to Z originally came when I was on the symphony board with Gus
Bonner. And I started looking and finding that whether it was a Bronx Zoo or a
Metropolitan Museum in New York which is owned by the city, or facilities we own
here that are all private. The things around the country all had a pattern of about
a third of the money to operate them being from the public sector, a third being
from major donations, and a third being from sale of tickets or profit-making
ventures or income-producing ventures. And so that's what measures F -- or A to Z,
that's -- Dan asked me when he took over, Dan Whitehurst, to chair that committee,
and that's what I was trying to steer it, to finding a balance in there. And I hope
that someday the tendency of everybody to have -- want a bigger share, realizing
that, you know, if they don't get all they want still there's more money pouring
into the community to do these things. And I guess my saddest moment was when A to
Z was shot down. And because I really felt it was important. And there are
politicians, many of them, in the community that feel that's none of their business
to be involved in that. And I think it's just as important for the -- they didn't
help us with the Measure C, and they don't really want to help -- they didn't help
us with the A to Z really either. We did it in spite of lack of -- but to get 2/3
vote, if that's the way it goes someday, and I truly hope it will. That is the last
big thing that I'd probably try to get involved in. Well, not in this life but
maybe. I just believe this community has to have some broader support. Trying to do
it all with private donations I just think is too much. And that gets into a little
bit of the symphony today. It's just -- symphony has gotten its house in order,
finally, and it's going along. The divisiveness, it happened in opera, it's
happened in ballet, I can go back through the '60s and '70s and point out all the
times -- and we all lose when we get into these kind of disputes. And it's done by
well-meaning people, sometimes. But the end result is still the same when they get
in there and think they know more than -- want to -- than somebody else.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sounds to me like -- when you were talking about someone in
leadership who is thinking regionally, clearly sounds to me like you're talking
about Dan Whitehurst, but we won't get into that at this -- at this point.
>>William Lyles: No, I know -- you and I know that he's going to run. He's moved,
and I've been with him a couple of times. And I know that he's got my backing.
There's nobody else that has the ability to do what we -- God, we're in sad shape
today. You want to cut the camera a second?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Go ahead. That's all right. Fire away.
>>William Lyles: I told him this yesterday. I tell him this story about when he was
still mayor. And I was so upset about the bickering between county, city, and when
that happens the people play one off against the other. And it's the worst
situation, when they're not thinking regionally. And this constant bickering. So I
was -- about the time he came from that trip to Japan, if you remember. And I said
Dan, why in the heck does -- do we have to constantly fight. It's not productive.
It isn’t doing the right -- he says well, I agree with you. Then he smiled in his
funny way and he said but you know, thus as it's always been, and thus it will
always be.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's political wisdom.
>>William Lyles: Yeah. And I told Dan that, we were sitting next to each other
yesterday noon, and he laughed. But he -- no, I'm hoping that we can get -- because
we can't do it all. This community is getting too big with too many things to be
done. And there are so many little splinter groups out in different directions, and
they're all worthy, they're all trying to do something positive. But you can't
support them all. And they can't even all be that productive. A lot of them ->>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Always go to the same -- excuse me -- we always go back to
the same usually suspects, and you're absolutely correct. Let me ask you this,
there are a lot of young people today that want immediate gratification, instant
success. A lot of you who are the Leon Peters recipients labored long and hard in
the fields. It didn't come -- didn't come easy. What advice would you give to our
young people today who aspire to be successful business people or who aspire
someday to be a Leon S. Peters recipient.
>>William Lyles: Now, you know a person came to be about 15 or 20 years ago who has
since been a very successful young man, not so young any more, but a lot younger
than I am. And I -- I send people to him now. Doug Davidian. And he came to me
right out of college and I've had some others do that too. I think people that are
happy like Lee and Lew were happy to encourage people, in fact went out of their
way to encourage them. Because how do you get it? You just got to get involved. And
I see people getting that. This Leadership Fresno program that we installed when I
was on the -- in the chamber a number of years back has been -- I think a very
successful program, fulfilling what we intended it to do. And I think it's putting
a lot of people out there. I don't think it's for lack of people interested in
doing things. I think it -- people are -- I think a lot of things are getting stuck
on the fact that the size and the scope of what it takes to do it is getting big.
Schools, university -- Fresno State, so many organizations with professional
staffs, medicals, hospitals, and it is tough making anything happen anymore. It's a
long, hard road. And that's the reason why the A to Z again is so -- and whether
it's that or some other tool to help support these things, the quality of life,
parks, recreation, all the things that we've been talking about I think -- the only
time I ever disagreed with Lew Eaton on anything was when I was placed in charge of
figuring out where we went and how we built the museum up so it truly could carry
its costs. He had been -- and he thought that I just needed to get the -- the money
bag, so to speak, the people that were able financially to support it on the board
and then do it. I said Lew, I respectfully disagree. We've got to broaden the base.
It just can't be done, and that was clear back quite a few years ago. And I think
that that's still true. There are so many organizations, there really are a
tremendous number of people on different boards. I -- trying to make things worthy
works, Boys and Girls Club, I've never been involved before, but I have gone on
there, and it's awfully fine organization for what it does. But I -- I think we've
got to basically find a way of not putting the support for the arts as a community
at the end of a budget if there's any money left, in competing with social
services. That's a lose-lose all the way. It has to be an investment in our
community that's built in upstream. And then it's got a chance. Along with all the
other things that need to be done, that we've got the potential, we're going to
have growth in this community whether we like it or not. And it's a wonderful place
to live, it can stay a wonderful place to live. But when we have as many people out
of work, you don't have that many people out of work -- one of the things you can
do make -- creating jobs with education, the rest, is creating a climate where the
jobs are there. We spend $80 million a year on job training to upgrade skills and
yet we really don't have enough jobs to put people to work. And that's a thing
we're going to have to work on and fit in, not as the single purpose, but with
everything. So all of these things go to make a qualify of life, the cultural
things, the economic opportunity, education, schools, parks, you know, just no one
thing.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Knute Rockne, the famous Notre Dame football coach, once
said, “when the great scorekeeper records the final game it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played.” You have obviously -- a young man and many,
many more years to work in our community. But when they record the final score of
Bill Lyles, what do you want people to say about you.
>>William Lyles: I guess the most important to me is honor and character. That he
was successful, that he would never have bent the rules to get there. Life's too
short to -- for that to happen, and I have seen too much of that happening in our
community in recent years and it's sad. I hope we can get that out of our system. I
bend over backwards sometimes too much, by staying back when there's, like, a
Roeding Park or a subdivision or something, because it's just alien in my nature to
have any -- even sign that I might be trying to influence. But to me anybody that's
in a position where they're visible or a means of leadership has to be supercareful. You have to realize that you're visible. And if you're -- what more can I
say. I guess that's it, he tried, he cared, and he wanted things to be better.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well Bill, I think they say that about you now. So on behalf
of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Valley Business Committee
that's involved with the Leon S. Peters Award we congratulate you for a lifetime of
achievement, and clearly you personify all that is right about the Leon S. Peters
Award. Congratulations.
>>William Lyles: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>>William Lyles: My name is Bill Lyles. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November
27, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Bill, when did you come to Fresno?
>>William Lyles: We came to Fresno because actually I grew up in Avenal. And my dad
went down there because Standard Oil was getting ready to ship its engineers to
Saudi Arabia in the late '30s and my dad didn't want to go alone and he didn't want
to take his family over there. So he changed careers, went to work for a
construction company in Kettleman Hills. So we moved there in 1940. And I lived
there as a base until after I was out of college.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Where did you go to college?
>>William Lyles: I went to Purdue University and had a degree in civil engineering
tailored to construction management, because I knew from the time I was 13 year old
in the ditches when the company was started in 1945 that -- what I was going to do.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A boilermaker, then?
>>William Lyles: Yup. And I remember -- I remember a football game over here in San
Joaquin Memorial in 1950 which looking out the north goal post there was not one
thing out north of McKinley Avenue visible except open fields.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to Fresno, and when did you actively get
involved with the Chamber of Commerce and various other -- which we'll talk about
later on -- institutions in Fresno. When did you [inaudible] ->>William Lyles: We had made a decision in the early to mid '60s after Vandenberg,
I lived in Santa Maria and Vandenberg during that catching up with the Russians in
space, we made the decision that Fresno would ultimately be our headquarters of our
company. It wasn't suitable as it grew to get accountants and lawyers all over
Avenal. And it was speeded up after my dad's death in 1965. I had actually come
over here and was working here in '64 and moved here in early '65. So I've been
here longer than anyplace else in my life.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When people talk about Bill Lyles, the names that generally
come up is the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Channel 18, and many of us remember your
active involvement in really initiating with Russ Sloan along with the Measure C,
which as we see the freeways today, we wouldn't have those freeways if it was not
for Measure C, and of course ->>William Lyles: And of course the reason that we got started is Joe Levy was up in
the state level, department -- chairman of the highway operation. And told us if we
didn't do it, it wasn't going to get done.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well let's -- let's talk about the arts to zoo, let's talk
with Measure C and about your commitment and involvement with the Metropolitan
Museum. And -- and the -- the prominent role that you and your family have played
on the Chamber of Commerce here in our area. So why don't we start off -- what
motivated you to get involved in community service.
>>William Lyles: Well my – actually I had an example in my parents. And then as I
went along, both Lee Peters and Lew Eaton encouraged me. And I followed Lew in a
number of things that he got me in his position, like the regional foundation.
Which -- but I started out mostly doing things -- my parents -- my mother was the
first woman on the chamber board, people may not remember that. And she was on the
Coalinga Junior College board for many, many years. So my mother and father both
were active. So we had an example set in our family. And then as I looked at what
things were happening in the community I began to feel that yes, in a balanced life
one has to have a duty to three or four different masters, not one. Master to your
family, and master to your community, service to your business, and taking care of
yourself. And it's finding balance. So my earliest years were because of my kids
growing up in the school system when they were looking at desegregation and
districting, when Jerry Rosander was here, there was a lot of committees then as a
volunteer. And it was only -- I was president of my chamber when we started Camp
Royal in '68-‘69. And it wasn't until a number of years later that I got involved
with the chambers, probably -- I had been on other boards like the symphony board
and others at different times. And I don't know, I just felt that I wanted to be
involved in it, but I also felt that it was an outreach where I could work with
people. And running and building businesses like I had been doing can be a very
lonely, isolated situation. So I feel I gained a lot as well as being able to put
something into it. And I feel to this day, I’ve been asked to be on a few outside
boards of corporations now. And I love it. It gets the adrenaline going again
without tearing the stomach up quite so much.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, you knew Lee Peters well, and probably one of the most
prestigious awards that is given in central California is the Lee Peters award. And
you had a part in that award, but what did it mean to Bill Lyles. Knowing Lee
Peters and it stands for not only excellence in business, but more importantly
philanthropy, and caring and giving -- not just checks -- to our community,
community service. What did it mean to you to be the recipient of that award?
>>William Lyles: Well, it meant everything because -- I just can't imagine anything
that I would have felt prouder in getting. Actually, I was on the executive
committee when Sheldon Lewis was president of the chamber, and when we learned of
Leon's illness we were all very distressed. And you know, he wasn't taking
visitors. We sent some messages through, and I know Alice told me he appreciated
them. But we thought of trying to do something to honor him with a -- this is not
really the best way to do it, creating an award which he is the example is -- and
others will be honored by exemplifying his deeds and actions would be the highest
esteem that we could place upon him. And my two mentors in the early -- like so
many of the rest of the people in this town, were Leon and Lew. And both of them,
unfortunately -- Lew got the first award, as was proper, and I don't know, I just - to me, that is what it's all about, if you're going to be here on this earth
there's got to be more than just making money. There's got to be more than just
doing this. And if we enjoy the liberty and the freedom that we have and the
opportunity that we have in this country, which people do not have all over the
earth, it's just terrifying to see what's happening all around the earth today,
man's inhumanity to man. So if you have had the opportunity that we have had since
World War II, which -- the period where I've grown up, I think if we don't do
something to give that opportunity to our children then something's wrong with us.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: As I look at the Leon Peters recipients through the years, of
course with Lew Eaton, of course with Dick Johanson and Earl Smittcamp and Helen
Smades, these are all people in our community that the arts museum, the
Metropolitan Museum, the Philharmonic, all these things wouldn't happen without the
leadership and the sacrifice and most of you don't want headlines. In fact, you shy
away from the headlines. Where did you get this culture, this sense of community,
to make these things happen.
>>William Lyles: I think some of that is born in aptitudes and interests. I saw
Werner Lyman [Lywen] yesterday, and I hadn't seen him in the bank for many years.
And I remember when we were on a search committee at the symphony we got talking,
and realized that I -- well, I was a junior officer in the Navy back in the mid
'50s in Washington, D.C., or near there. I used to attend the symphony concerts
with season tickets at Constitution Hall. And it turned out that Werner was the
concert master, the National Symphony Orchestra in those years. So we had fun
talking about it. I don't know, people -- I mean, not many people that are
engineers in business and have as little aptitude in art or music have as much love
for those kinds of things. But I think -- I don't know where you get it. Some
people have it in families where the rest of them don't. And then you have children
that don't have an ear for music and don't -- I think some of that is born. Some of
it can be learned, if it's the proper thing to do. And I think that so far as
museums, things like that, that's a matter of trying to provide an education, an
opportunity for middle class and lower -- you know, poorer families that -- the
wealthy people can take their kids to New York or Paris or London or San Francisco.
It really is a thing that would help enhance the quality of life. Let them learn
and have a better appreciation of what it's all about and what the opportunities
are.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You mentioned Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The last
time I was there I was listening to the Beach Boys, with the George Bush boys
sitting next there at Ronald Reagan's inauguration. So what a far cry from the
symphony at the Constitution Hall, listening to the Beach Boys.
>>William Lyles: Now they've all gone over to Kennedy Center, which was on the
banks of Watergate years ago.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You've seen a lot of Fresno politics since you've been here.
You've seen a lot of different leadership styles. A lot of different mayors. Where
do you think the leadership of Fresno is going now, and from your vantage point if
you had a crystal ball, where do you see the direction that Fresno's going and is
there any little red signs you would warn us about for future generations as we
look at the development of Fresno. I know that's a mouthful, but ->>William Lyles: No, I -- I believe, and I'm not going to get into names at this
time, but I hope there's a man going to run for mayor that has the ability to
verbalize, and that's what we need. Somebody that can verbalize the fact that we've
got to think regionally. The things that are being done, everybody running for
mayor, everybody going into politics, the county fighting the city and Clovis. In
this kind of an atmosphere we're not going to stop leapfrog growth. That's not the
kind of thing that will do it. Somebody has to verbalize the importance of maybe
taxing ourselves some more like we did on Measure C. If it's worth saving downtown
we have to follow and do a little bit of what San Jose did. We're involved a lot.
I'm talking about business side, I normally don't. But we're involved in a number
of projects for redevelopment of downtown San Jose. We aren't even thinking on the
scale that it takes to really get the job done here. In addition, I would hope that
the next leader of our city and other leaders will realize that there's more to
making a better community than just hiring policemen and building jails. We need to
I'm thinking regionally. We need to replace the A to Z that we lost. Any -- the
idea for that A to Z originally came when I was on the symphony board with Gus
Bonner. And I started looking and finding that whether it was a Bronx Zoo or a
Metropolitan Museum in New York which is owned by the city, or facilities we own
here that are all private. The things around the country all had a pattern of about
a third of the money to operate them being from the public sector, a third being
from major donations, and a third being from sale of tickets or profit-making
ventures or income-producing ventures. And so that's what measures F -- or A to Z,
that's -- Dan asked me when he took over, Dan Whitehurst, to chair that committee,
and that's what I was trying to steer it, to finding a balance in there. And I hope
that someday the tendency of everybody to have -- want a bigger share, realizing
that, you know, if they don't get all they want still there's more money pouring
into the community to do these things. And I guess my saddest moment was when A to
Z was shot down. And because I really felt it was important. And there are
politicians, many of them, in the community that feel that's none of their business
to be involved in that. And I think it's just as important for the -- they didn't
help us with the Measure C, and they don't really want to help -- they didn't help
us with the A to Z really either. We did it in spite of lack of -- but to get 2/3
vote, if that's the way it goes someday, and I truly hope it will. That is the last
big thing that I'd probably try to get involved in. Well, not in this life but
maybe. I just believe this community has to have some broader support. Trying to do
it all with private donations I just think is too much. And that gets into a little
bit of the symphony today. It's just -- symphony has gotten its house in order,
finally, and it's going along. The divisiveness, it happened in opera, it's
happened in ballet, I can go back through the '60s and '70s and point out all the
times -- and we all lose when we get into these kind of disputes. And it's done by
well-meaning people, sometimes. But the end result is still the same when they get
in there and think they know more than -- want to -- than somebody else.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sounds to me like -- when you were talking about someone in
leadership who is thinking regionally, clearly sounds to me like you're talking
about Dan Whitehurst, but we won't get into that at this -- at this point.
>>William Lyles: No, I know -- you and I know that he's going to run. He's moved,
and I've been with him a couple of times. And I know that he's got my backing.
There's nobody else that has the ability to do what we -- God, we're in sad shape
today. You want to cut the camera a second?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Go ahead. That's all right. Fire away.
>>William Lyles: I told him this yesterday. I tell him this story about when he was
still mayor. And I was so upset about the bickering between county, city, and when
that happens the people play one off against the other. And it's the worst
situation, when they're not thinking regionally. And this constant bickering. So I
was -- about the time he came from that trip to Japan, if you remember. And I said
Dan, why in the heck does -- do we have to constantly fight. It's not productive.
It isn’t doing the right -- he says well, I agree with you. Then he smiled in his
funny way and he said but you know, thus as it's always been, and thus it will
always be.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's political wisdom.
>>William Lyles: Yeah. And I told Dan that, we were sitting next to each other
yesterday noon, and he laughed. But he -- no, I'm hoping that we can get -- because
we can't do it all. This community is getting too big with too many things to be
done. And there are so many little splinter groups out in different directions, and
they're all worthy, they're all trying to do something positive. But you can't
support them all. And they can't even all be that productive. A lot of them ->>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Always go to the same -- excuse me -- we always go back to
the same usually suspects, and you're absolutely correct. Let me ask you this,
there are a lot of young people today that want immediate gratification, instant
success. A lot of you who are the Leon Peters recipients labored long and hard in
the fields. It didn't come -- didn't come easy. What advice would you give to our
young people today who aspire to be successful business people or who aspire
someday to be a Leon S. Peters recipient.
>>William Lyles: Now, you know a person came to be about 15 or 20 years ago who has
since been a very successful young man, not so young any more, but a lot younger
than I am. And I -- I send people to him now. Doug Davidian. And he came to me
right out of college and I've had some others do that too. I think people that are
happy like Lee and Lew were happy to encourage people, in fact went out of their
way to encourage them. Because how do you get it? You just got to get involved. And
I see people getting that. This Leadership Fresno program that we installed when I
was on the -- in the chamber a number of years back has been -- I think a very
successful program, fulfilling what we intended it to do. And I think it's putting
a lot of people out there. I don't think it's for lack of people interested in
doing things. I think it -- people are -- I think a lot of things are getting stuck
on the fact that the size and the scope of what it takes to do it is getting big.
Schools, university -- Fresno State, so many organizations with professional
staffs, medicals, hospitals, and it is tough making anything happen anymore. It's a
long, hard road. And that's the reason why the A to Z again is so -- and whether
it's that or some other tool to help support these things, the quality of life,
parks, recreation, all the things that we've been talking about I think -- the only
time I ever disagreed with Lew Eaton on anything was when I was placed in charge of
figuring out where we went and how we built the museum up so it truly could carry
its costs. He had been -- and he thought that I just needed to get the -- the money
bag, so to speak, the people that were able financially to support it on the board
and then do it. I said Lew, I respectfully disagree. We've got to broaden the base.
It just can't be done, and that was clear back quite a few years ago. And I think
that that's still true. There are so many organizations, there really are a
tremendous number of people on different boards. I -- trying to make things worthy
works, Boys and Girls Club, I've never been involved before, but I have gone on
there, and it's awfully fine organization for what it does. But I -- I think we've
got to basically find a way of not putting the support for the arts as a community
at the end of a budget if there's any money left, in competing with social
services. That's a lose-lose all the way. It has to be an investment in our
community that's built in upstream. And then it's got a chance. Along with all the
other things that need to be done, that we've got the potential, we're going to
have growth in this community whether we like it or not. And it's a wonderful place
to live, it can stay a wonderful place to live. But when we have as many people out
of work, you don't have that many people out of work -- one of the things you can
do make -- creating jobs with education, the rest, is creating a climate where the
jobs are there. We spend $80 million a year on job training to upgrade skills and
yet we really don't have enough jobs to put people to work. And that's a thing
we're going to have to work on and fit in, not as the single purpose, but with
everything. So all of these things go to make a qualify of life, the cultural
things, the economic opportunity, education, schools, parks, you know, just no one
thing.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Knute Rockne, the famous Notre Dame football coach, once
said, “when the great scorekeeper records the final game it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played.” You have obviously -- a young man and many,
many more years to work in our community. But when they record the final score of
Bill Lyles, what do you want people to say about you.
>>William Lyles: I guess the most important to me is honor and character. That he
was successful, that he would never have bent the rules to get there. Life's too
short to -- for that to happen, and I have seen too much of that happening in our
community in recent years and it's sad. I hope we can get that out of our system. I
bend over backwards sometimes too much, by staying back when there's, like, a
Roeding Park or a subdivision or something, because it's just alien in my nature to
have any -- even sign that I might be trying to influence. But to me anybody that's
in a position where they're visible or a means of leadership has to be supercareful. You have to realize that you're visible. And if you're -- what more can I
say. I guess that's it, he tried, he cared, and he wanted things to be better.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well Bill, I think they say that about you now. So on behalf
of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Valley Business Committee
that's involved with the Leon S. Peters Award we congratulate you for a lifetime of
achievement, and clearly you personify all that is right about the Leon S. Peters
Award. Congratulations.
>>William Lyles: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: For the record, name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>William Lyles: My name is Bill Lyles. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November
27, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Bill, when did you come to Fresno?
>>William Lyles: We came to Fresno because actually I grew up in Avenal. And my dad
went down there because Standard Oil was getting ready to ship its engineers to
Saudi Arabia in the late '30s and my dad didn't want to go alone and he didn't want
to take his family over there. So he changed careers, went to work for a
construction company in Kettleman Hills. So we moved there in 1940. And I lived
there as a base until after I was out of college.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Where did you go to college?
>>William Lyles: I went to Purdue University and had a degree in civil engineering
tailored to construction management, because I knew from the time I was 13 year old
in the ditches when the company was started in 1945 that -- what I was going to do.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A boilermaker, then?
>>William Lyles: Yup. And I remember -- I remember a football game over here in San
Joaquin Memorial in 1950 which looking out the north goal post there was not one
thing out north of McKinley Avenue visible except open fields.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to Fresno, and when did you actively get
involved with the Chamber of Commerce and various other -- which we'll talk about
later on -- institutions in Fresno. When did you [inaudible] ->>William Lyles: We had made a decision in the early to mid '60s after Vandenberg,
I lived in Santa Maria and Vandenberg during that catching up with the Russians in
space, we made the decision that Fresno would ultimately be our headquarters of our
company. It wasn't suitable as it grew to get accountants and lawyers all over
Avenal. And it was speeded up after my dad's death in 1965. I had actually come
over here and was working here in '64 and moved here in early '65. So I've been
here longer than anyplace else in my life.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When people talk about Bill Lyles, the names that generally
come up is the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Channel 18, and many of us remember your
active involvement in really initiating with Russ Sloan along with the Measure C,
which as we see the freeways today, we wouldn't have those freeways if it was not
for Measure C, and of course ->>William Lyles: And of course the reason that we got started is Joe Levy was up in
the state level, department -- chairman of the highway operation. And told us if we
didn't do it, it wasn't going to get done.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well let's -- let's talk about the arts to zoo, let's talk
with Measure C and about your commitment and involvement with the Metropolitan
Museum. And -- and the -- the prominent role that you and your family have played
on the Chamber of Commerce here in our area. So why don't we start off -- what
motivated you to get involved in community service.
>>William Lyles: Well my – actually I had an example in my parents. And then as I
went along, both Lee Peters and Lew Eaton encouraged me. And I followed Lew in a
number of things that he got me in his position, like the regional foundation.
Which -- but I started out mostly doing things -- my parents -- my mother was the
first woman on the chamber board, people may not remember that. And she was on the
Coalinga Junior College board for many, many years. So my mother and father both
were active. So we had an example set in our family. And then as I looked at what
things were happening in the community I began to feel that yes, in a balanced life
one has to have a duty to three or four different masters, not one. Master to your
family, and master to your community, service to your business, and taking care of
yourself. And it's finding balance. So my earliest years were because of my kids
growing up in the school system when they were looking at desegregation and
districting, when Jerry Rosander was here, there was a lot of committees then as a
volunteer. And it was only -- I was president of my chamber when we started Camp
Royal in '68-‘69. And it wasn't until a number of years later that I got involved
with the chambers, probably -- I had been on other boards like the symphony board
and others at different times. And I don't know, I just felt that I wanted to be
involved in it, but I also felt that it was an outreach where I could work with
people. And running and building businesses like I had been doing can be a very
lonely, isolated situation. So I feel I gained a lot as well as being able to put
something into it. And I feel to this day, I’ve been asked to be on a few outside
boards of corporations now. And I love it. It gets the adrenaline going again
without tearing the stomach up quite so much.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, you knew Lee Peters well, and probably one of the most
prestigious awards that is given in central California is the Lee Peters award. And
you had a part in that award, but what did it mean to Bill Lyles. Knowing Lee
Peters and it stands for not only excellence in business, but more importantly
philanthropy, and caring and giving -- not just checks -- to our community,
community service. What did it mean to you to be the recipient of that award?
>>William Lyles: Well, it meant everything because -- I just can't imagine anything
that I would have felt prouder in getting. Actually, I was on the executive
committee when Sheldon Lewis was president of the chamber, and when we learned of
Leon's illness we were all very distressed. And you know, he wasn't taking
visitors. We sent some messages through, and I know Alice told me he appreciated
them. But we thought of trying to do something to honor him with a -- this is not
really the best way to do it, creating an award which he is the example is -- and
others will be honored by exemplifying his deeds and actions would be the highest
esteem that we could place upon him. And my two mentors in the early -- like so
many of the rest of the people in this town, were Leon and Lew. And both of them,
unfortunately -- Lew got the first award, as was proper, and I don't know, I just - to me, that is what it's all about, if you're going to be here on this earth
there's got to be more than just making money. There's got to be more than just
doing this. And if we enjoy the liberty and the freedom that we have and the
opportunity that we have in this country, which people do not have all over the
earth, it's just terrifying to see what's happening all around the earth today,
man's inhumanity to man. So if you have had the opportunity that we have had since
World War II, which -- the period where I've grown up, I think if we don't do
something to give that opportunity to our children then something's wrong with us.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: As I look at the Leon Peters recipients through the years, of
course with Lew Eaton, of course with Dick Johanson and Earl Smittcamp and Helen
Smades, these are all people in our community that the arts museum, the
Metropolitan Museum, the Philharmonic, all these things wouldn't happen without the
leadership and the sacrifice and most of you don't want headlines. In fact, you shy
away from the headlines. Where did you get this culture, this sense of community,
to make these things happen.
>>William Lyles: I think some of that is born in aptitudes and interests. I saw
Werner Lyman [Lywen] yesterday, and I hadn't seen him in the bank for many years.
And I remember when we were on a search committee at the symphony we got talking,
and realized that I -- well, I was a junior officer in the Navy back in the mid
'50s in Washington, D.C., or near there. I used to attend the symphony concerts
with season tickets at Constitution Hall. And it turned out that Werner was the
concert master, the National Symphony Orchestra in those years. So we had fun
talking about it. I don't know, people -- I mean, not many people that are
engineers in business and have as little aptitude in art or music have as much love
for those kinds of things. But I think -- I don't know where you get it. Some
people have it in families where the rest of them don't. And then you have children
that don't have an ear for music and don't -- I think some of that is born. Some of
it can be learned, if it's the proper thing to do. And I think that so far as
museums, things like that, that's a matter of trying to provide an education, an
opportunity for middle class and lower -- you know, poorer families that -- the
wealthy people can take their kids to New York or Paris or London or San Francisco.
It really is a thing that would help enhance the quality of life. Let them learn
and have a better appreciation of what it's all about and what the opportunities
are.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You mentioned Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The last
time I was there I was listening to the Beach Boys, with the George Bush boys
sitting next there at Ronald Reagan's inauguration. So what a far cry from the
symphony at the Constitution Hall, listening to the Beach Boys.
>>William Lyles: Now they've all gone over to Kennedy Center, which was on the
banks of Watergate years ago.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You've seen a lot of Fresno politics since you've been here.
You've seen a lot of different leadership styles. A lot of different mayors. Where
do you think the leadership of Fresno is going now, and from your vantage point if
you had a crystal ball, where do you see the direction that Fresno's going and is
there any little red signs you would warn us about for future generations as we
look at the development of Fresno. I know that's a mouthful, but ->>William Lyles: No, I -- I believe, and I'm not going to get into names at this
time, but I hope there's a man going to run for mayor that has the ability to
verbalize, and that's what we need. Somebody that can verbalize the fact that we've
got to think regionally. The things that are being done, everybody running for
mayor, everybody going into politics, the county fighting the city and Clovis. In
this kind of an atmosphere we're not going to stop leapfrog growth. That's not the
kind of thing that will do it. Somebody has to verbalize the importance of maybe
taxing ourselves some more like we did on Measure C. If it's worth saving downtown
we have to follow and do a little bit of what San Jose did. We're involved a lot.
I'm talking about business side, I normally don't. But we're involved in a number
of projects for redevelopment of downtown San Jose. We aren't even thinking on the
scale that it takes to really get the job done here. In addition, I would hope that
the next leader of our city and other leaders will realize that there's more to
making a better community than just hiring policemen and building jails. We need to
I'm thinking regionally. We need to replace the A to Z that we lost. Any -- the
idea for that A to Z originally came when I was on the symphony board with Gus
Bonner. And I started looking and finding that whether it was a Bronx Zoo or a
Metropolitan Museum in New York which is owned by the city, or facilities we own
here that are all private. The things around the country all had a pattern of about
a third of the money to operate them being from the public sector, a third being
from major donations, and a third being from sale of tickets or profit-making
ventures or income-producing ventures. And so that's what measures F -- or A to Z,
that's -- Dan asked me when he took over, Dan Whitehurst, to chair that committee,
and that's what I was trying to steer it, to finding a balance in there. And I hope
that someday the tendency of everybody to have -- want a bigger share, realizing
that, you know, if they don't get all they want still there's more money pouring
into the community to do these things. And I guess my saddest moment was when A to
Z was shot down. And because I really felt it was important. And there are
politicians, many of them, in the community that feel that's none of their business
to be involved in that. And I think it's just as important for the -- they didn't
help us with the Measure C, and they don't really want to help -- they didn't help
us with the A to Z really either. We did it in spite of lack of -- but to get 2/3
vote, if that's the way it goes someday, and I truly hope it will. That is the last
big thing that I'd probably try to get involved in. Well, not in this life but
maybe. I just believe this community has to have some broader support. Trying to do
it all with private donations I just think is too much. And that gets into a little
bit of the symphony today. It's just -- symphony has gotten its house in order,
finally, and it's going along. The divisiveness, it happened in opera, it's
happened in ballet, I can go back through the '60s and '70s and point out all the
times -- and we all lose when we get into these kind of disputes. And it's done by
well-meaning people, sometimes. But the end result is still the same when they get
in there and think they know more than -- want to -- than somebody else.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sounds to me like -- when you were talking about someone in
leadership who is thinking regionally, clearly sounds to me like you're talking
about Dan Whitehurst, but we won't get into that at this -- at this point.
>>William Lyles: No, I know -- you and I know that he's going to run. He's moved,
and I've been with him a couple of times. And I know that he's got my backing.
There's nobody else that has the ability to do what we -- God, we're in sad shape
today. You want to cut the camera a second?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Go ahead. That's all right. Fire away.
>>William Lyles: I told him this yesterday. I tell him this story about when he was
still mayor. And I was so upset about the bickering between county, city, and when
that happens the people play one off against the other. And it's the worst
situation, when they're not thinking regionally. And this constant bickering. So I
was -- about the time he came from that trip to Japan, if you remember. And I said
Dan, why in the heck does -- do we have to constantly fight. It's not productive.
It isn’t doing the right -- he says well, I agree with you. Then he smiled in his
funny way and he said but you know, thus as it's always been, and thus it will
always be.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's political wisdom.
>>William Lyles: Yeah. And I told Dan that, we were sitting next to each other
yesterday noon, and he laughed. But he -- no, I'm hoping that we can get -- because
we can't do it all. This community is getting too big with too many things to be
done. And there are so many little splinter groups out in different directions, and
they're all worthy, they're all trying to do something positive. But you can't
support them all. And they can't even all be that productive. A lot of them ->>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Always go to the same -- excuse me -- we always go back to
the same usually suspects, and you're absolutely correct. Let me ask you this,
there are a lot of young people today that want immediate gratification, instant
success. A lot of you who are the Leon Peters recipients labored long and hard in
the fields. It didn't come -- didn't come easy. What advice would you give to our
young people today who aspire to be successful business people or who aspire
someday to be a Leon S. Peters recipient.
>>William Lyles: Now, you know a person came to be about 15 or 20 years ago who has
since been a very successful young man, not so young any more, but a lot younger
than I am. And I -- I send people to him now. Doug Davidian. And he came to me
right out of college and I've had some others do that too. I think people that are
happy like Lee and Lew were happy to encourage people, in fact went out of their
way to encourage them. Because how do you get it? You just got to get involved. And
I see people getting that. This Leadership Fresno program that we installed when I
was on the -- in the chamber a number of years back has been -- I think a very
successful program, fulfilling what we intended it to do. And I think it's putting
a lot of people out there. I don't think it's for lack of people interested in
doing things. I think it -- people are -- I think a lot of things are getting stuck
on the fact that the size and the scope of what it takes to do it is getting big.
Schools, university -- Fresno State, so many organizations with professional
staffs, medicals, hospitals, and it is tough making anything happen anymore. It's a
long, hard road. And that's the reason why the A to Z again is so -- and whether
it's that or some other tool to help support these things, the quality of life,
parks, recreation, all the things that we've been talking about I think -- the only
time I ever disagreed with Lew Eaton on anything was when I was placed in charge of
figuring out where we went and how we built the museum up so it truly could carry
its costs. He had been -- and he thought that I just needed to get the -- the money
bag, so to speak, the people that were able financially to support it on the board
and then do it. I said Lew, I respectfully disagree. We've got to broaden the base.
It just can't be done, and that was clear back quite a few years ago. And I think
that that's still true. There are so many organizations, there really are a
tremendous number of people on different boards. I -- trying to make things worthy
works, Boys and Girls Club, I've never been involved before, but I have gone on
there, and it's awfully fine organization for what it does. But I -- I think we've
got to basically find a way of not putting the support for the arts as a community
at the end of a budget if there's any money left, in competing with social
services. That's a lose-lose all the way. It has to be an investment in our
community that's built in upstream. And then it's got a chance. Along with all the
other things that need to be done, that we've got the potential, we're going to
have growth in this community whether we like it or not. And it's a wonderful place
to live, it can stay a wonderful place to live. But when we have as many people out
of work, you don't have that many people out of work -- one of the things you can
do make -- creating jobs with education, the rest, is creating a climate where the
jobs are there. We spend $80 million a year on job training to upgrade skills and
yet we really don't have enough jobs to put people to work. And that's a thing
we're going to have to work on and fit in, not as the single purpose, but with
everything. So all of these things go to make a qualify of life, the cultural
things, the economic opportunity, education, schools, parks, you know, just no one
thing.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Knute Rockne, the famous Notre Dame football coach, once
said, “when the great scorekeeper records the final game it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played.” You have obviously -- a young man and many,
many more years to work in our community. But when they record the final score of
Bill Lyles, what do you want people to say about you.
>>William Lyles: I guess the most important to me is honor and character. That he
was successful, that he would never have bent the rules to get there. Life's too
short to -- for that to happen, and I have seen too much of that happening in our
community in recent years and it's sad. I hope we can get that out of our system. I
bend over backwards sometimes too much, by staying back when there's, like, a
Roeding Park or a subdivision or something, because it's just alien in my nature to
have any -- even sign that I might be trying to influence. But to me anybody that's
in a position where they're visible or a means of leadership has to be supercareful. You have to realize that you're visible. And if you're -- what more can I
say. I guess that's it, he tried, he cared, and he wanted things to be better.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well Bill, I think they say that about you now. So on behalf
of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Valley Business Committee
that's involved with the Leon S. Peters Award we congratulate you for a lifetime of
achievement, and clearly you personify all that is right about the Leon S. Peters
Award. Congratulations.
>>William Lyles: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>>William Lyles: My name is Bill Lyles. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November
27, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Bill, when did you come to Fresno?
>>William Lyles: We came to Fresno because actually I grew up in Avenal. And my dad
went down there because Standard Oil was getting ready to ship its engineers to
Saudi Arabia in the late '30s and my dad didn't want to go alone and he didn't want
to take his family over there. So he changed careers, went to work for a
construction company in Kettleman Hills. So we moved there in 1940. And I lived
there as a base until after I was out of college.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Where did you go to college?
>>William Lyles: I went to Purdue University and had a degree in civil engineering
tailored to construction management, because I knew from the time I was 13 year old
in the ditches when the company was started in 1945 that -- what I was going to do.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A boilermaker, then?
>>William Lyles: Yup. And I remember -- I remember a football game over here in San
Joaquin Memorial in 1950 which looking out the north goal post there was not one
thing out north of McKinley Avenue visible except open fields.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to Fresno, and when did you actively get
involved with the Chamber of Commerce and various other -- which we'll talk about
later on -- institutions in Fresno. When did you [inaudible] ->>William Lyles: We had made a decision in the early to mid '60s after Vandenberg,
I lived in Santa Maria and Vandenberg during that catching up with the Russians in
space, we made the decision that Fresno would ultimately be our headquarters of our
company. It wasn't suitable as it grew to get accountants and lawyers all over
Avenal. And it was speeded up after my dad's death in 1965. I had actually come
over here and was working here in '64 and moved here in early '65. So I've been
here longer than anyplace else in my life.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When people talk about Bill Lyles, the names that generally
come up is the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Channel 18, and many of us remember your
active involvement in really initiating with Russ Sloan along with the Measure C,
which as we see the freeways today, we wouldn't have those freeways if it was not
for Measure C, and of course ->>William Lyles: And of course the reason that we got started is Joe Levy was up in
the state level, department -- chairman of the highway operation. And told us if we
didn't do it, it wasn't going to get done.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well let's -- let's talk about the arts to zoo, let's talk
with Measure C and about your commitment and involvement with the Metropolitan
Museum. And -- and the -- the prominent role that you and your family have played
on the Chamber of Commerce here in our area. So why don't we start off -- what
motivated you to get involved in community service.
>>William Lyles: Well my – actually I had an example in my parents. And then as I
went along, both Lee Peters and Lew Eaton encouraged me. And I followed Lew in a
number of things that he got me in his position, like the regional foundation.
Which -- but I started out mostly doing things -- my parents -- my mother was the
first woman on the chamber board, people may not remember that. And she was on the
Coalinga Junior College board for many, many years. So my mother and father both
were active. So we had an example set in our family. And then as I looked at what
things were happening in the community I began to feel that yes, in a balanced life
one has to have a duty to three or four different masters, not one. Master to your
family, and master to your community, service to your business, and taking care of
yourself. And it's finding balance. So my earliest years were because of my kids
growing up in the school system when they were looking at desegregation and
districting, when Jerry Rosander was here, there was a lot of committees then as a
volunteer. And it was only -- I was president of my chamber when we started Camp
Royal in '68-‘69. And it wasn't until a number of years later that I got involved
with the chambers, probably -- I had been on other boards like the symphony board
and others at different times. And I don't know, I just felt that I wanted to be
involved in it, but I also felt that it was an outreach where I could work with
people. And running and building businesses like I had been doing can be a very
lonely, isolated situation. So I feel I gained a lot as well as being able to put
something into it. And I feel to this day, I’ve been asked to be on a few outside
boards of corporations now. And I love it. It gets the adrenaline going again
without tearing the stomach up quite so much.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, you knew Lee Peters well, and probably one of the most
prestigious awards that is given in central California is the Lee Peters award. And
you had a part in that award, but what did it mean to Bill Lyles. Knowing Lee
Peters and it stands for not only excellence in business, but more importantly
philanthropy, and caring and giving -- not just checks -- to our community,
community service. What did it mean to you to be the recipient of that award?
>>William Lyles: Well, it meant everything because -- I just can't imagine anything
that I would have felt prouder in getting. Actually, I was on the executive
committee when Sheldon Lewis was president of the chamber, and when we learned of
Leon's illness we were all very distressed. And you know, he wasn't taking
visitors. We sent some messages through, and I know Alice told me he appreciated
them. But we thought of trying to do something to honor him with a -- this is not
really the best way to do it, creating an award which he is the example is -- and
others will be honored by exemplifying his deeds and actions would be the highest
esteem that we could place upon him. And my two mentors in the early -- like so
many of the rest of the people in this town, were Leon and Lew. And both of them,
unfortunately -- Lew got the first award, as was proper, and I don't know, I just - to me, that is what it's all about, if you're going to be here on this earth
there's got to be more than just making money. There's got to be more than just
doing this. And if we enjoy the liberty and the freedom that we have and the
opportunity that we have in this country, which people do not have all over the
earth, it's just terrifying to see what's happening all around the earth today,
man's inhumanity to man. So if you have had the opportunity that we have had since
World War II, which -- the period where I've grown up, I think if we don't do
something to give that opportunity to our children then something's wrong with us.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: As I look at the Leon Peters recipients through the years, of
course with Lew Eaton, of course with Dick Johanson and Earl Smittcamp and Helen
Smades, these are all people in our community that the arts museum, the
Metropolitan Museum, the Philharmonic, all these things wouldn't happen without the
leadership and the sacrifice and most of you don't want headlines. In fact, you shy
away from the headlines. Where did you get this culture, this sense of community,
to make these things happen.
>>William Lyles: I think some of that is born in aptitudes and interests. I saw
Werner Lyman [Lywen] yesterday, and I hadn't seen him in the bank for many years.
And I remember when we were on a search committee at the symphony we got talking,
and realized that I -- well, I was a junior officer in the Navy back in the mid
'50s in Washington, D.C., or near there. I used to attend the symphony concerts
with season tickets at Constitution Hall. And it turned out that Werner was the
concert master, the National Symphony Orchestra in those years. So we had fun
talking about it. I don't know, people -- I mean, not many people that are
engineers in business and have as little aptitude in art or music have as much love
for those kinds of things. But I think -- I don't know where you get it. Some
people have it in families where the rest of them don't. And then you have children
that don't have an ear for music and don't -- I think some of that is born. Some of
it can be learned, if it's the proper thing to do. And I think that so far as
museums, things like that, that's a matter of trying to provide an education, an
opportunity for middle class and lower -- you know, poorer families that -- the
wealthy people can take their kids to New York or Paris or London or San Francisco.
It really is a thing that would help enhance the quality of life. Let them learn
and have a better appreciation of what it's all about and what the opportunities
are.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You mentioned Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The last
time I was there I was listening to the Beach Boys, with the George Bush boys
sitting next there at Ronald Reagan's inauguration. So what a far cry from the
symphony at the Constitution Hall, listening to the Beach Boys.
>>William Lyles: Now they've all gone over to Kennedy Center, which was on the
banks of Watergate years ago.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You've seen a lot of Fresno politics since you've been here.
You've seen a lot of different leadership styles. A lot of different mayors. Where
do you think the leadership of Fresno is going now, and from your vantage point if
you had a crystal ball, where do you see the direction that Fresno's going and is
there any little red signs you would warn us about for future generations as we
look at the development of Fresno. I know that's a mouthful, but ->>William Lyles: No, I -- I believe, and I'm not going to get into names at this
time, but I hope there's a man going to run for mayor that has the ability to
verbalize, and that's what we need. Somebody that can verbalize the fact that we've
got to think regionally. The things that are being done, everybody running for
mayor, everybody going into politics, the county fighting the city and Clovis. In
this kind of an atmosphere we're not going to stop leapfrog growth. That's not the
kind of thing that will do it. Somebody has to verbalize the importance of maybe
taxing ourselves some more like we did on Measure C. If it's worth saving downtown
we have to follow and do a little bit of what San Jose did. We're involved a lot.
I'm talking about business side, I normally don't. But we're involved in a number
of projects for redevelopment of downtown San Jose. We aren't even thinking on the
scale that it takes to really get the job done here. In addition, I would hope that
the next leader of our city and other leaders will realize that there's more to
making a better community than just hiring policemen and building jails. We need to
I'm thinking regionally. We need to replace the A to Z that we lost. Any -- the
idea for that A to Z originally came when I was on the symphony board with Gus
Bonner. And I started looking and finding that whether it was a Bronx Zoo or a
Metropolitan Museum in New York which is owned by the city, or facilities we own
here that are all private. The things around the country all had a pattern of about
a third of the money to operate them being from the public sector, a third being
from major donations, and a third being from sale of tickets or profit-making
ventures or income-producing ventures. And so that's what measures F -- or A to Z,
that's -- Dan asked me when he took over, Dan Whitehurst, to chair that committee,
and that's what I was trying to steer it, to finding a balance in there. And I hope
that someday the tendency of everybody to have -- want a bigger share, realizing
that, you know, if they don't get all they want still there's more money pouring
into the community to do these things. And I guess my saddest moment was when A to
Z was shot down. And because I really felt it was important. And there are
politicians, many of them, in the community that feel that's none of their business
to be involved in that. And I think it's just as important for the -- they didn't
help us with the Measure C, and they don't really want to help -- they didn't help
us with the A to Z really either. We did it in spite of lack of -- but to get 2/3
vote, if that's the way it goes someday, and I truly hope it will. That is the last
big thing that I'd probably try to get involved in. Well, not in this life but
maybe. I just believe this community has to have some broader support. Trying to do
it all with private donations I just think is too much. And that gets into a little
bit of the symphony today. It's just -- symphony has gotten its house in order,
finally, and it's going along. The divisiveness, it happened in opera, it's
happened in ballet, I can go back through the '60s and '70s and point out all the
times -- and we all lose when we get into these kind of disputes. And it's done by
well-meaning people, sometimes. But the end result is still the same when they get
in there and think they know more than -- want to -- than somebody else.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Sounds to me like -- when you were talking about someone in
leadership who is thinking regionally, clearly sounds to me like you're talking
about Dan Whitehurst, but we won't get into that at this -- at this point.
>>William Lyles: No, I know -- you and I know that he's going to run. He's moved,
and I've been with him a couple of times. And I know that he's got my backing.
There's nobody else that has the ability to do what we -- God, we're in sad shape
today. You want to cut the camera a second?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Go ahead. That's all right. Fire away.
>>William Lyles: I told him this yesterday. I tell him this story about when he was
still mayor. And I was so upset about the bickering between county, city, and when
that happens the people play one off against the other. And it's the worst
situation, when they're not thinking regionally. And this constant bickering. So I
was -- about the time he came from that trip to Japan, if you remember. And I said
Dan, why in the heck does -- do we have to constantly fight. It's not productive.
It isn’t doing the right -- he says well, I agree with you. Then he smiled in his
funny way and he said but you know, thus as it's always been, and thus it will
always be.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: That's political wisdom.
>>William Lyles: Yeah. And I told Dan that, we were sitting next to each other
yesterday noon, and he laughed. But he -- no, I'm hoping that we can get -- because
we can't do it all. This community is getting too big with too many things to be
done. And there are so many little splinter groups out in different directions, and
they're all worthy, they're all trying to do something positive. But you can't
support them all. And they can't even all be that productive. A lot of them ->>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Always go to the same -- excuse me -- we always go back to
the same usually suspects, and you're absolutely correct. Let me ask you this,
there are a lot of young people today that want immediate gratification, instant
success. A lot of you who are the Leon Peters recipients labored long and hard in
the fields. It didn't come -- didn't come easy. What advice would you give to our
young people today who aspire to be successful business people or who aspire
someday to be a Leon S. Peters recipient.
>>William Lyles: Now, you know a person came to be about 15 or 20 years ago who has
since been a very successful young man, not so young any more, but a lot younger
than I am. And I -- I send people to him now. Doug Davidian. And he came to me
right out of college and I've had some others do that too. I think people that are
happy like Lee and Lew were happy to encourage people, in fact went out of their
way to encourage them. Because how do you get it? You just got to get involved. And
I see people getting that. This Leadership Fresno program that we installed when I
was on the -- in the chamber a number of years back has been -- I think a very
successful program, fulfilling what we intended it to do. And I think it's putting
a lot of people out there. I don't think it's for lack of people interested in
doing things. I think it -- people are -- I think a lot of things are getting stuck
on the fact that the size and the scope of what it takes to do it is getting big.
Schools, university -- Fresno State, so many organizations with professional
staffs, medicals, hospitals, and it is tough making anything happen anymore. It's a
long, hard road. And that's the reason why the A to Z again is so -- and whether
it's that or some other tool to help support these things, the quality of life,
parks, recreation, all the things that we've been talking about I think -- the only
time I ever disagreed with Lew Eaton on anything was when I was placed in charge of
figuring out where we went and how we built the museum up so it truly could carry
its costs. He had been -- and he thought that I just needed to get the -- the money
bag, so to speak, the people that were able financially to support it on the board
and then do it. I said Lew, I respectfully disagree. We've got to broaden the base.
It just can't be done, and that was clear back quite a few years ago. And I think
that that's still true. There are so many organizations, there really are a
tremendous number of people on different boards. I -- trying to make things worthy
works, Boys and Girls Club, I've never been involved before, but I have gone on
there, and it's awfully fine organization for what it does. But I -- I think we've
got to basically find a way of not putting the support for the arts as a community
at the end of a budget if there's any money left, in competing with social
services. That's a lose-lose all the way. It has to be an investment in our
community that's built in upstream. And then it's got a chance. Along with all the
other things that need to be done, that we've got the potential, we're going to
have growth in this community whether we like it or not. And it's a wonderful place
to live, it can stay a wonderful place to live. But when we have as many people out
of work, you don't have that many people out of work -- one of the things you can
do make -- creating jobs with education, the rest, is creating a climate where the
jobs are there. We spend $80 million a year on job training to upgrade skills and
yet we really don't have enough jobs to put people to work. And that's a thing
we're going to have to work on and fit in, not as the single purpose, but with
everything. So all of these things go to make a qualify of life, the cultural
things, the economic opportunity, education, schools, parks, you know, just no one
thing.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Knute Rockne, the famous Notre Dame football coach, once
said, “when the great scorekeeper records the final game it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played.” You have obviously -- a young man and many,
many more years to work in our community. But when they record the final score of
Bill Lyles, what do you want people to say about you.
>>William Lyles: I guess the most important to me is honor and character. That he
was successful, that he would never have bent the rules to get there. Life's too
short to -- for that to happen, and I have seen too much of that happening in our
community in recent years and it's sad. I hope we can get that out of our system. I
bend over backwards sometimes too much, by staying back when there's, like, a
Roeding Park or a subdivision or something, because it's just alien in my nature to
have any -- even sign that I might be trying to influence. But to me anybody that's
in a position where they're visible or a means of leadership has to be supercareful. You have to realize that you're visible. And if you're -- what more can I
say. I guess that's it, he tried, he cared, and he wanted things to be better.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well Bill, I think they say that about you now. So on behalf
of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Valley Business Committee
that's involved with the Leon S. Peters Award we congratulate you for a lifetime of
achievement, and clearly you personify all that is right about the Leon S. Peters
Award. Congratulations.
>>William Lyles: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====