Planning a wedding is stressful — planning a wedding if you live out of town can be even more so.

When you think about it, county government agencies collect and retain a staggering amount of personal information. From voter registration and marriage licenses, to property tax information, your county knows almost as much about you as the IRS.

About 15 years ago, while working for the Western Plant Health Association, I testified in support of a project at the Port of San Diego alongside representatives from the Audubon Society, the Teamsters Union and more. It struck me as funny that civil engineering could bring together such diverse groups, and that’s exactly the case in Riverside County’s Southeast Drainage Channel Improvement Project.

“Community Safety, Partners in Service” is the motto of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, and this fall I was able to witness first-hand how a small group of deputies lives this motto and mission every day.

In 1895, representatives from 14 different California counties gathered in San Francisco to celebrate a brand new organization.

In media coverage of that first meeting, the Sacramento Union Democrat reported that the California Supervisors Association “will become actually a more important body than the Legislature. It will do more for the State than the Legislature can, for it will not make laws, of which there are too many now, but it will study how to make the State and its communities better, stronger, more economic and prosperous, and all the people more happy.”

Budget shortfalls and structural deficits are never good news for counties. And when a steep drop in oil and gas property tax revenues left Kern County $44 million in the red, they turned lemons into lemonade with LaunchKern, a business transformation initiative based on the principles of Lean Six Sigma.

Many hands make light work, as the adage goes. In Madera County, a decision to create a Public Information Team from current staff rather than hire a single public information officer has led to better customer service and storytelling in this rural, Central Valley County.

Prior to joining CSAC last fall, I spent over a decade working for a nutrition education organization where I witnessed the heralded birth of our own workplace wellness program. When an organization employing a dozen registered dietitians and health advocates struggled to keep its employees engaged in wellness, I realized I was about to witness something great when I started learning more about Mendocino County’s Working on Wellness Program.

After a career of helping others address substance use issues with alternative and holistic therapies, Tony Landrum found himself living with brain cancer and in need of some care himself.

“Alameda County Care Partners, especially Miss Wanda, came out to visit me and learn about my needs,” said Landrum. “Miss Wanda not only listened to me, but she really heard me.”