As a continuation of an ongoing partnership between CSAC and the
League of California Cities aimed at best positioning local
leaders in their response to homelessness, Monday, November 4,
marked a jointly hosted Homelessness Policy Workshop in
Sacramento. T
he event included over 350 attendees, including county
supervisors, county executive staff, city mayors, city council
members, city managers, department leaders, community
organizations, and staff from the Legislature and state
Administration.
Local collaboration and partnerships was the theme of the event,
which included presentations on a previous joint
homelessness task force; state funding administered through the
Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council; county, city, and
nonprofit collaboration in Santa Clara County and San Bernardino
County; and Governor Newsom’s Council of Regional Homeless
Advisors.
Wildfire season has arrived in California in full force. Spanning
multiple counties and policy areas, CSAC is actively engaged on
wildfire issues on a daily basis. Specifically, CSAC has
been advocating for funding to help counties with PSPS for
several months including during this year’s budget
negotiations.
Most recently, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
announced $26 million in available funding for
California’s counties for advanced planning, training,
coordination, and updating emergency plans, combined with
infrastructure preparedness to help ease the burden of being
without power for extended periods of time. This $26 million for
counties came as part of this year’s budget allocation of $75
million to both the state and local governments to help prepare
for PSPS events.
The Employee Relations policy area falls under the jurisdiction
of the Government Finance and Operations (GFO) Policy Committee
and is responsible for all issues related to public employment
and retirement. Specific issues areas are pension benefits and
pension system administration; labor relations; issues regarding
county negotiations with employees; workers’ compensation; and
other risk management issues facing public employers.
When people ask me about my job, I know that the standard answer
of “Communications Manager” doesn’t really mean a lot to most
people. The field of communications is so broad that a single
title can apply to someone with great meeting planning and
product marketing experience, social media expertise, digital
production, public affairs, media relations, promotions,
philanthropy and more.
However, I think “storyteller” is a much better way to describe
what I do for California’s counties. I have the incredible honor
of collecting information about all the great, hard work going on
around the state and sharing that with various audiences.
Sometimes I’m telling stories for the Legislature, sometimes it’s
for our own members, and other times it’s for the public. But all
the time, I carry with me the importance and gravity of the hard
work that goes on in our 58 counties to provide essential state
and municipal services for our neighbors and community members.
Next week, I celebrate my first full year of serving California’s
Counties. In that time, I’ve had the chance to visit 17 counties
and tell your stories of innovation, resilience, collaboration
and more. I just wrapped up a coastal trip, visiting my fellow
storytellers and public information officers (PIOs) in San Luis
Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Orange Counties.
