After 30 years in elected office, Dave Potter is reflective and appreciative, but just as stubborn as ever.

Looking back not just at three decades in politics but a career in construction and his very existence, Dave Potter repeats a refrain: “My life is one big accident.”

Not that it’s a bad accident. Speaking on a sunny day in Carmel, he agrees with a recent assessment of the state of things: “I have a friend who told me the other day, if I died and went to heaven it would be a lateral move.”

That rosy outlook comes after serving for three terms as Carmel mayor, five terms as county supervisor, and a term on Monterey City Council before that. (He was also a member of the California Coastal Commission for 13 years, in addition to serving on various regional boards.)

The bigger “accident” of his life is that Potter was adopted as a baby. After his mother died, he began to research his origins. He learned that he had a given name before his parents named him, John Michael Hicks, and that a story he’d heard but never believed growing up – “my mother had a real loose association with the truth” – was true. His biological mother was the secretary to a Massachusetts state politician, Joseph McEvoy, “a wicked conservative.” Through 23andMe, he found a half-sister, who shared the same mom. Then he found three more half-siblings who shared a dad.

Now 75, Potter still owns two businesses, Potter Construction and Potter Consulting.

Weekly: You lost a mayoral reelection campaign, and in 2016 you lost for county supervisor. Does it sting to lose?

Potter: It’s fine with me. Everything’s finite – you can’t stay on top forever.

You got into politics because you were frustrated by the process of getting approvals for building your house in Monterey.

My now-ex-wife showed me a notice of vacancy on the Architectural Review Committee. I said, “Those people are jerks, why would I want to hang out with them?” She said, “Well then you can’t complain.”

I served four years there, then two on the Monterey Planning Commission, then I got asked to run for council, then county supervisor. I didn’t know how complicated it was going to be.

You’ve served on a lot of agencies. Do you have a favorite?

The Transportation Agency for Monterey County. You make a difference, do some good projects. We did the climbing lane on Carmel Hill, instead of the Hatton Canyon freeway.

I am also proud of saving Rippling River in Carmel Valley, turning Natividad hospital around – it was in the red, now it’s in the black.

The Coastal Commission has a reputation for being tough on projects.

It is becoming more the norm than the exception, I’d say. It’s easy to just say no to things.

Is there anything you would vote on differently if you could?

Let me think. [Pause.] One thing [former Monterey mayor] Dan Albert told me when I first got elected was, “You will make thousands of decisions every year, don’t ever be afraid to make a mistake.”

You talk about your life as a series of accidents. Tell me about how you arrived in Carmel.

I was raised in the Boston area, then went to college in Pennsylvania. Then I was a ski bum in Vail. I came to California for the summer, and then I ran out of gas on Carmel Hill in 1971 and coasted into town. I got a job washing dishes and carving roast beef. Then I fell into construction.

What about the bigger “accident,” that you are adopted. Did you always want to know your origin story?

No, it’s weird, all of a sudden I just got this urge. The people who raised me are my parents, and they were really good to me. It’s strange for me to all of a sudden be one of five, having been one all my life, after my sister Sally died at 5 [when I was 7].

What are you proudest of in politics?

People who used to be my enemy are now friends.

How do you do that?

I guess I’m just not bitter. I’m really good at getting people of opposite opinions together.

Is that less common today in politics?

It’s sad. Too many people run for the wrong reasons. Ego is the worst thing.

What are the right reasons?

Make sure everyone’s heard, understand people’s point of view, don’t get upset. “Keep your powder dry.” That’s one of my favorite expressions.