Though California’s election results aren’t certified yet, Del Norte’s representative in the State Assembly urged supervisors to build a relationship with his successor as early as possible.
During what was likely his final presentation to the Board of Supervisors before a new assemblyman is sworn in on Dec. 2, Jim Wood urged supervisors to make a list of priorities, work with similar counties to build a coalition and reach out “sooner rather than later.”
“I’m not sure if my Assembly seat’s been called, but the numbers favor Mr. Rogers — not the guy in the sweater, but a different Mr. Rogers,” said Wood, who represents California’s 2nd Assembly District and was Speaker pro tempore during the 2023-24 year. “It’s important that a relationship begin as early as possible. I hope he meets with all of you. If he [doesn’t] I’m going to find out and make sure he does.”
“Mr. Rogers” is Democrat Chris Rogers, a Santa Rosa City Councilman who as of Tuesday won 65.8 percent of the vote over Republican, and Del Norte County Unified School District trustee, Michael Greer, according to unofficial election results from the California Secretary of State.
Del Norte County supervisors took Wood’s advice Tuesday, directing staff to begin working on the county’s 2025 legislative platform. County staff have tried to present a proposed list of legislative priorities to the Board early in the cycle over the last several years, Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper said. In the past, by the time supervisors adopted a platform, it was often too late to effect real change, he said.
“What I’ve heard repeatedly in conversation with staff members of our legislative representatives is that having the Board’s position specifically articulated and defined in a way that makes it clear that these are concerning local matters is the single most effective vehicle we can use,” Hooper said. “The Board [will be] adopting a platform in January, which can be effectively shared with our elected representative to convey the Board’s highest priorities.”
Hooper used State Senate Bill 1383 as an example. The Organic Waste Reductions Act was signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016 and aimed to reduce food and other organic waste in an effort to lower methane emissions.
Wood worked with Rural Representatives of California during the 2023-24 legislative year to introduce and pass Assembly Bill 2902, which gave rural communities an additional 10 years to start collecting organic waste. That bill may not have passed had the Board’s concerns about the law not been in Del Norte County’s legislative platform, Hooper said.
District 4 Supervisor Joey Borges was absent.
During his presentation, Wood updated supervisors on his last year in the Assembly. This included authoring a bill that gives small hospitals up to five years to meet California’s seismic safety standards — though this doesn’t apply to Sutter Coast Hospital because of its affiliation with the Sutter Health Network, he said.
Wood spoke about authoring legislation that renewed and expanded exemptions for timber harvest plans as well as restoring sites that took environmental damage from illicit cannabis grows.
Wood also successfully spearheaded a campaign to make the Dungeness crab California’s state crustacean. The legislature wanted to highlight the importance of the crab fishing industry and its role to the North Coast’s economy.
“Our district is one of the largest in the state and diverse by many standards,” he said. “It’s really in many ways a microcosm of the state and it’s been a pleasure to represent you in Sacramento.”
Looking forward, Wood urged supervisors to focus on non-budgetary items when letting his successor know what Del Norte County’s needs are. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, state lawmakers had no money to use for projects in their districts, and that will likely be the case this year, he said.
In addition to providing real-life examples, building a coalition with other counties and bringing the media along, Wood said local elected officials should rely on legislators to work with state departments.
“We get pretty frustrated with them too sometimes, but we often have the ability to reach out and [get] around the firewalls that you all face to get to the right person and hopefully resolve a problem,” he said.
For District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, putting pressure on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to resume collecting data on the groundfish fishery was imperative. The CDFW closed the nearshore groundfish fishery in August 2023 to protect the quillback rockfish — a move the Pacific Fishery Management Council sanctioned a month later.
In February, the PFMC, which establishes federal regulations for fisheries on the West Coast, restored a limited groundfish fishery after impassioned testimony from elected officials with the city, county and Harbor District as well as the local fishing community.
Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting, Howard said federal waters between 20 and 50 fathoms continue to be closed to groundfish fishing. Members of the fishing community were waiting on data from state and NOAA scientists and have learned that those surveys won’t be conducted, Howard said during his Board report.
Howard praised Wood’s advocacy for Del Norte County, but reminded him that he’s not out of office yet. He asked the assemblyman for help obtaining the data that’s contributing to the continued closure of the groundfish fishery between 20 and 50 fathoms.
“It was frustrating to learn that potentially the budget deficit could create another data gap that we critically need to reopen the fishery here,” Howard said. “My hope is before Dec. 2, you could help open some doors with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife so that we may advocate for the collection of that data … my hope is they step up to collect the data so we can reopen our fishery because anecdotally, for some reason, it’s not cutting the mustard.”
Wood told Howard to get him specifics on the groundfish fishery closure, saying he has the CDFW director’s cell phone number.
“I’m more than happy to call him,” Wood said.
Later in the meeting, Howard told Hooper that there is a California State Association of Counties meeting next week and that several issues they’re advocating for also concern Del Norte County. He said that Del Norte will be able to provide more specific detail about those issues in its legislative platform.
Some of the concerns Howard said CSAC will address are barriers to homeownership due to an increase in insurance premiums and some policies being canceled — a conversation the supervisor said is occurring at the national level.
