SUPERVISOR BROWN WILL CONTINUE VOLUNTEERING
Just six months after taking her seat on the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors in January of 2009—and every year thereafter — Supervisor Carre Brown was appointed by her colleagues to sit on the 58-member Board of Directors of CSAC, the California State Association of Counties — the voice of California’s 58 counties at the state and federal level—whose primary purpose is to represent county government before the California legislature and administrative agencies and the federal government.
This year, in late November, Supervisor Brown was honored by the statewide organization with a CSAC Circle of Service Award—a way for CSAC to recognize county officials, staff and other association-affiliated members whose service to the Association and membership has been substantially above and beyond the norm.
Specifically acknowledged for her straightforward nature, providing a dose of reality to the legislative experience, and her willingness to continue to travel to Sacramento to testify on behalf of the Mendocino County community, the recognition honors the many ways in which her service has benefitted the lives of both her community members as well as residents across this state.
“It came as a very pleasant surprise,” says Brown. “I was one of three county supervisors statewide to receive the recognition this year. I was very honored.”
County participation in CSAC is important to the county and to its constituents, allowing contact with top state officials and those that hold office in state departments, key to getting business done, from development of legislation to advocating for funding mandates.
“It’s a safety net for local government,” she says. “When you represent the county on a state board of directors, you participate on that board in guiding the organization in determining its policies and agenda for the year.”
With the needs of urban, suburban and rural counties being represented on the board, she says it is vital that they all come from the same direction to develop positions on a wide array of issues.
They meet every other month as a board and its members engage in educational forums throughout the year, enhancing their performance as elected officials; participate on policy committees; and, in general, keep a broad eye on state and federal action.
“I never took a leadership position as an officer or a chair of a policy committee because I felt I had too much to do at home. I’ve always supported our leadership and made that trek to Sacramento once or twice a month to testify or be part of a group that was meeting, sometimes with the governor, sometimes with his staff and sometimes with state department officials where they needed individuals like myself in the room—from road funding to broadband to realignment for mental health and wildfire assistance.”
With the Ukiah Valley as a medium priority basin and no staff for the county’s water agency, she credits CSAC for the role it took in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and in educating her and preparing her for the role she took in organizing other elected officials and districts to move forward with a plan.
“If we hadn’t formed our own sustainable groundwater agency, the state would have come in and done it for us.”
Participating in other educational forums provided by CSAC has prepared her to testify in
front of legislative committees in the State Assembly and Senate, presenting her opinions on regulations and other aspects of pending legislation moving through the Capitol, Senate and Assembly.
“You want to make sure local government is not impacted negatively by any of the changes that come down from Sacramento.”
With three terms served on the board and feeling that she has the responsibility and energy, her plans for the future include doing what she has always done for most of her adult life—participating in volunteer services.
“Where our community needs help, it takes volunteers.”
She will be helping the Mendocino Historical Society, looking to get the museum up and running after the pandemic ends and will be part of a committee working to build a new senior center facility, something she considers very important.
After two terms on the Potter Valley School District, 22 years as executive director of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau and her children grown, she decided to run for the County Board of Supervisors in 2008.
In her 12 years on the County Board, she says there has only been about a year and a half when the county was not facing a crisis.
“It’s been very demanding on the people you serve and all the elected officials and staff.”
In 2009, with the country in recession, county contingency funds were drained with no reserves and drastic measures had to be taken to level things out.
In 2010 during the drought , she worked closely with the Redwood Valley County Water District.
“That was only practice for the historic and very frightening drought of ‘13‘14 and all the measures we had to take for that.”
She chaired the countywide drought task force, working with all the water managers throughout the county.
Then came the pension crisis and the devastating and ongoing seasonal wildfires that began in 2017.
“That fire started behind our property in Potter Valley, across the canal, before raging into Redwood Valley. We’re all still trying to recover from it.”
As a supervisor she has felt it has been her job to be strong and stand by her constituents, help in any way when there is suffering—a philosophy that has rewarded in her many ways.
Seeing strife on the board prior to taking her seat, she made a pledge to herself about the importance of finding common ground and bringing all five board members together in order to move forward.
“That is of utmost importance to the county staff in giving them direction and to the constituents we represent.”
She educates herself on the issues before coming into a meeting and although she has developed a position, she realizes the importance of listening carefully to public comment and comments from her colleagues before committing to her vote.
Her love for the county and the people who live here, and her skills honed over the years as someone who considers compromise and mutual understanding as essential to moving forward, has allowed her to serve on the county board as well as the CSAC board.
“I have been honored to serve the people of this county locally and at the state level; I consider it a responsibility and a duty.”