Bill Postmus had his San Bernardino County taxpayer-funded car only 10 days before he wrecked it.

Looking back on his first year as the county's newest supervisor, Postmus, 30, recalled the accident as his worst moment.

"Why? Why, in a county car, 10 days (in office), did that have to happen?" Postmus said. "I felt terrible. It was 10 days after I got elected. I felt bad that I hit this lady."

Postmus, driving his county-issued sedan, took his eyes off the road to look at a police officer at a traffic stop and rear-ended a van, slightly injuring the driver, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department report said.

Since then, Postmus' bumps have been of his own choosing while pursuing his self-described conservative political values.

He fought, unsuccessfully, to deny minors' access to emergency morning-after contraception pills at county clinics, and he strongly defended ranchers who opposed new federal grazing limits on public lands.

He persuaded the Board of Supervisors to lower the fees that developers pay when filing subdivision plans, to reduce fees for home-based business licenses and to limit all-night rave parties.

He also has managed to make allies of the campaign opponents who once called him "Billy" to mock his youth.

One year into his maiden term, Postmus said he plans to stay put and to run for re-election, rather than to jump into an Assembly race.

"I would like to run for re-election," Postmus said. "Everybody just assumes that I'll run for Assembly."

`Fickle First'

His mammoth 1st District includes Wrightwood and the county's High Desert territory, extending to the state boundary. The district is sometimes called the "Fickle First" by county politicians because its voters have a habit of ousting incumbents.

"I want to show that you can get re-elected to a second term in this district," Postmus said.

Since 1982, when voters recalled Supervisor Robert Older, three supervisors -- John Joyner, Marsha Turoci and Kathy Davis -- have been elected only to be unseated later by a challenger. Only Turoci served two full terms.

Victorville Councilman Bob Hunter called the Davis-Postmus campaign "dirty on both sides." In the closing days, Hunter branded Postmus a puppet of Supervisor Dennis Hansberger, who had loaned Postmus $15,000.

Hunter now backs Postmus.

"I didn't call him `Billy' Postmus," Hunter said of the nickname. "Yes, he's young, but you know what? We need younger people in office."

At age 29, Postmus was the youngest supervisor elected since the 1800s, his official biography says, but he's not new to politics. He worked five years for Assemblyman Keith Olberg and two years for then-Assembly Republican Leader Jim Brulte. Postmus also had been a Victorville city planning commissioner.

In 1995, he ran the winning campaign that put his father, William K. Postmus, on the Snowline Joint Unified School District's board of trustees.

Winning over Victorville

As the younger Postmus went into the supervisorial race in 1999, Victorville, his hometown, was in the Davis camp. She also had the support of the Apple Valley's City Council. Hesperia backed Postmus.

After he won, Postmus stripped $100,000 in county funds that Davis had earmarked for a marketing program for Victorville's city-run Southern California Logistics Airport -- formerly George Air Force Base.

He honored a campaign promise and shifted the money to the multiple-city High Desert Regional Economic Development Authority, a move that some Victorville politicians interpreted as a slap at their city.

"We ended up on the losing side of that," Bob Hunter said of his city and the airport. "I think it was a wrong move."

But Hunter said Postmus has supported the city's efforts to get millions of dollars of federal money for the city's "Riverwalk" project and to get state money to ease the gridlock north of Bear Valley Road on Interstate 15.

"What's led me to change my mind is Bill has taken the time to actually put aside the differences, not just with me but with everyone else," said Hunter, a Republican.

Apple Valley Councilman Mark Shoup, a Democrat, preferred Davis because of his council's good relationship with her.

"I was a little skeptical that Bill Postmus would be able to establish that same relationship with us," Shoup said. At Postmus' first meeting with city officials, "the initial political differences that we had were immediately put aside."

Postmus supported building a $2.27 million county library in Apple Valley and getting a $19.3 million grant for a new juvenile hall on Dale Evans Parkway.

Board critics

Postmus said he can't think of a second-worst moment of his time as a county supervisor, but he groped for words to describe his frustration at listening in silence each Tuesday to strident critics who attend Board of Supervisors meetings.

"I don't want to attack regular citizens who come to the board meetings, but individuals who attend the board meetings every week, who don't have any specific issue to actually talk about, take up hours of the public time," Postmus said.

"It is very frustrating how far out of control this has become in our county," he said.

Supervisors have had several county residents forcibly removed after they refused to adhere to board-imposed time limits on speaking or did not stick to agenda topics.

When the critics have publicly focused on Postmus, he has generally remained silent, quietly rocking in his chair.

"That typifies Bill," said Jack Hamilton, executive pastor at High Desert Church in Victorville, where Sunday services attract 5,000 people, including Postmus. "He's a very calm man, he's a thinker."

Despite Postmus' new status, he maintains a low profile at the church, where many members don't know who he is, Hamilton said.

"He sits in the balcony, up in the left corner on the left side," Hamilton said, laughing at Postmus' consistency.

"Bill is still Bill. He's just busier."

Postmus said he keeps county colleagues and managers at arm's length to avoid personal conflicts, and he advises his staff to follow suit. He's had lunch with fellow supervisors only a few times, he said.

Postmus' top staffers are mostly transplants from the 2000 roster of the High Desert Young Republicans, and one is a former mayor of Barstow. Postmus said he wants employees who not only can analyze a problem factually but also understand its political dimensions.

He said his High Desert constituents want to hear him advocate conservative values.

"It starts people talking," Postmus said. "I wish I would have been able to continue the waiver request (to ban the contraceptive pill), but I was also pleased that we created debate along that line.

"When I was in Washington, D.C., they had heard about this issue," he said.

Reach Sharon McNary at (909) 890-4453 or smcnary@pe.com