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The Counties of Sacramento, Santa Barbara and San Diego each carried home three Beacon Spotlight Awards after being recognized by the Institute for Local Government at the CSAC Innovation Summit for their measureable achievements in reducing energy, natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions.

A few years ago, I became involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  My little sister was a young Russian girl named Darla (not her real name).  Her grandmother rescued Darla and her sister from horrendous conditions in a Russian orphanage where their parents placed them after her father was sentenced to prison and their mother could not control her addictive behavior.

The theme of the 120th Annual CSAC Meeting is “Celebrating Innovation.” At the annual CSAC conference, you need only look beyond the CSAC Registration booth to witness 25 years of innovation – as 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Clerks’ Quiz. The Clerks’ Quiz — a Quiz about California and its counties — is presented each year by the California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Association (CCBSA).  

My mother survived extreme poverty. Her coal miner father died when she was 2 years old and her mother passed away from cancer a couple of years later. She was one of eight children, so the oldest tried to take care of the younger children. But the war came, and the oldest boys were drafted. Her oldest sister took the three youngest and moved to California because they heard it was a place of opportunity. But things weren’t easy, and my mother spent most of her childhood ill due to a lack of food and proper nutrition.

The Leadership California Institute recently released its inaugural report, “Women 2014: An Examination of the Status of Women in California State and Local Government.”  What they found is that women are still largely underrepresented in city, county and state government. 

With wildfires burning across California, and people in several counties either sifting through the ashes, or waiting and praying in an evacuation center, the recent Napa Valley Earthquake has faded from nightly newscasts. But the people in Napa and Solano County are still dealing with the aftermath, and will be for some time. In their experience, there are lessons to be learned.

The envelope please….

Okay, no envelopes were used, but a lot of thought and discussion went into deciding the recipients of the 2014 CSAC Challenge Awards. On Wednesday, our judging panel came together in Sacramento to decide on the most innovative, cost-effective programs developed by California counties.