I was born in 1956 in Upland, California, to Robert Alan Alstot and Teresa Loretta Campos. We lived in Ontario, California, until I was seven, when I attended St. George's Catholic School. My family then moved to the Central Valley, where I attended St. Anne's Catholic School for a year before transitioning to public school when we settled in Terra Bella, California, and started an orange ranch, planting the trees ourselves. My father worked for Southern California Edison in Porterville while my mother was a homemaker. I graduated from Porterville High School in 1974. I met and married Denette Kellner in 1978 and converted to become a protestant Christian in 1978.

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I sought a career that offered variety and outdoor work and became a police officer. I served in that role for six years, three of them with my canine partner, Sonny, who was killed in the line of duty in 1983. I then joined the City of Ventura Fire Department, where I spent 27 years as a firefighter, promoting through the ranks, and retired as a battalion chief. Afterward, I started two companies: one supplying over-the-counter medical supplies for Cal Fire, and another, at the request of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, building mobile shower and laundry trailers for the unhoused. In 2015, I was recruited by Santa Paula Fire as assistant fire chief, serving two years until the department transitioned to the Ventura County Fire Protection District. I also served on the executive board of the Harvard Homeless Shelter until this year. Helping the unhoused restart is a passion.

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My wife Denette and I have been married for 48 years. We have two children: Megan, 44, who holds a doctorate and teaches at Baylor University in Texas, and Michael, 33, a manager at Irvine Company in Irvine, California. I plan to remain in this city, which I love and have invested in, for the rest of my life.