Jason Ledbetter, Director of General Services
Siskiyou County
November 30, 2020
What motivated you to enter public service?
As the Director of General Services I oversee the following departments; Solid Waste, Siskiyou Power Authority, Flood Control, Airports, Transportation/Bus service, Facilities, and Communications.
I am relatively new to public service, having about three years under my belt, with the last nine months being in my current position. But, it is fascinating to see the inner workings of local governments and how larger State and Federal decisions influence us here in Siskiyou County.
One example is how during the COVID pandemic, CARES Act funding helped us make all bus service free to community members. Now that I am within the public sector my motivation is to utilize the system to go after grant opportunities that will better our community, and I believe General Services has many future opportunities to make large and incremental changes within Federal and State grant structure.
What are you currently reading?
County policies and State and Federal Grant policies, ha ha ha! I oscillate between reading fantasy and noir, my favorite books would be The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, and anything in the Noir genre by James Ellroy. Most of my free time now consists of teaching my son who is in first grade or enjoying time with him doing things a 6 year-old likes doing.
What makes your county special?
The people for sure. The diverse terrain of woods, mountains, rivers, high desert, Siskiyou County has it all being the fifth largest county by acreage and one of the smallest populations of roughly 44,000.
There is something very special here, and I have been able to enjoy many aspects of this County, whether it be the incredible farms and views from Tulelake, Macdoel and Dorris, the logger homes of Tennant, passing over Forest Mountain into Scott Valley as the sun sets to the West, the historic downtown of Dunsmuir, watching the sky behind Mount Shasta turn pink from the dock at Lake Siskiyou during the evening, or the hidden and tranquil communities down river.
There is a real preservation to history here in Siskiyou County and it is a fascinating time to see people take that history and make something new out of it, like the restaurants in Scott Valley and Dunsmuir housed in historic buildings, the Callahan Emporium and the music scene in what was once the destination for loggers equipment and clothing.
Who is your hero?
Anybody who is currently making it happen under the most difficult circumstances. It is easy to lose sight of all the people we see every day who are taking the kids to school, heading to work, paying the bills, doing all the daily things that need to get done, and doing so with a positive attitude. My heroes are the people that are making things better for their neighbors, families and communities.