Q&A: Yolo County Supervisor Oscar Villegas on 2024 priorities
Supervisor Oscar Villegas recently wrapped up his year as the 2023 chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors.
Villegas represents District 1, which encompasses the majority of West Sacramento and the community of Clarksburg. With a fresh year ahead of him, the Daily Democrat asked Villegas what he was most proud of from 2023 and what he would focus on throughout 2024. Below are the responses from him and his staff:
When you look back on 2023, what accomplishments are you most proud of?
with the opportunity to assemble care packages for distribution to local nonprofits during the holiday season. Each year, Kids Give Back collects donations of personal care items, which are organized for children in the West Sacramento community to create care packages for those in need. This wonderful event created a sense of responsibility of care among children in the West Sacramento community.
In July 2023 the District 1 office sponsored the Bat Walk in partnership with the Yolo Basin Foundation. Participants enjoyed a presentation about the importance of bats to the ecosystem and witnessed a spectacular sight when thousands of bats took off at dusk for a night of foraging. In September 2024 we will again be sponsoring the Bat Walk and look forward to more participants as the event grows.
Also pertaining to our ecosystem and waterways, in September 2023, the District 1 office held its annual Coastal Cleanup
Day. This year partnering volunteers cleaned up the Sacramento River area around the River Walk in West Sacramento. The dedication of our volunteers made the event a success as they showed dedication to investing in our regional landscape.
In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom visited the Bryte Career and College Training Campus for an education event focused on career pathways. The Bryte Career and College training campus in partnership with the Washington Unified School District educates students by emphasizing farm-to-fork practices and provides them with marketable culinary skills.
What are the top priority areas you will be tackling in 2024?
As we look forward to 2024, District 1 Supervisor Villegas is excited about new opportunities for community engagement. There have been both challenges and opportunities within the past few years and Supervisor Villegas looks forward to events and initiatives that are on the horizon. Our work as always is shaped by the Yolo County Strategic Plan, which we will be revised in the coming year.
The top priority areas for District 1 in 2024 are increasing accessibility and delivery to mental health services, sustainability, supporting the active aging population and delivering countywide services to West Sacramento and Clarksburg residents.
Homelessness continues to be a pressing issue in West Sacramento. What are some of your strategies for addressing that issue this year?
As we look to 2024, we will continue to work with our local nonprofits and governmental partners to assist unhoused individuals. Creating housing options and assistance programs along with access to health and mental health services continues to be the goal. We look to increase the capacity of community projects such as Project Roomkey, the Recovery Café, the Downtown Streets initiatives dependent on grant funding and allocations for sustaining and expanding homeless services.
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