By @Kristin Withrow, CSDA Communications Specialist
Much like special districts were created to provide essential services in their communities, the vast State of California has a regional government structure developed to help tackle broad challenges that impact multiple jurisdictions. One segment of regional government is the Council of Governments (COG) which is often comprised of city and county representatives. The Orange County Council of Governments (OCCOG) has expanded their representation to include special districts.
Marnie Primmer, Executive Director of the Orange County Council of Governments, gave her perspective on the relevance of special districts’ inclusion at OCCOG.
CSDA: How could a special district leader get involved in the COG process enough to ensure the people on the COG know what their agency’s needs, limitations, and resources are?
Executive Director Primmer: In the case of Orange County, we're unique in that we have the Independent Special Districts of Orange County (ISDOC – which is a CSDA-affiliated chapter) as a voting member of the Orange County Council of Governments (OCCOG) Board of Directors. We see the value in having everyone have a seat at the table, including our special districts.
There are three takeaways from my perspective:
- Independent special districts have voting representation on our board.
- To act as a conduit both for us to understand what is important to our special districts, but also for them to report back to the special district membership of ISDOC and let them know what our COG is handling, and decide if it would be a good time to speak up on behalf of their district.
- We host an annual conference where we invite our stakeholders, including elected officials as well as staff at our member agencies (and we think of our special districts as member agencies, just as we think of our cities and the county as members), and we invite them together. We have panel discussions and keynote speakers that we hope are providing actionable, relevant information to our member agencies. And then in turn, we're always seeking input from them on what should be the topics covered at that annual conference. So, it's really sort of an ecosystem of how government agencies and the private sector can work together to promote housing development in our sphere of influence.
CSDA: What would it be like to make the recommendations you make and not have districts at the table? What would you miss?
Executive Director Primmer: It’s better when we're all growing in the same direction. Orange County is often a little bit of an outlier in Southern California in terms of our policy perspectives. Being a bit beholden to the larger Los Angeles metropolitan area, it behooves Orange County to have all our key players on the same page about things. That's really the benefit that I see to having our special districts at the table, particularly on regional topics and policy issues that have implications beyond Orange County's borders. If we have our policy makers working together, our voice is amplified, and we are stronger together. From the standpoint of leverage, or unity, we're able to take a larger role in regional leadership opportunities when our policy makers are confident that their colleagues have their back and they're able to speak for our region. It’s more compelling when we’re able to articulate our policy positions in a way that can exert influence, maybe beyond our little corner of heaven over here in Orange County.
CSDA: If you were to give advice to your COG counterparts who don't currently include special districts in their operations, what would you tell them?
Executive Director Primmer: I would tell them they're missing out. Special districts have a unique perspective that brings a holistic approach to regional policy making. Having them have a seat at the table helps inform your policymaking in a way that is better for the region as a whole.