Blogs

By: @Chris Norden

Recently, CSDA was proud to partner with the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) and the Association of California Healthcare Districts (ACHD) to host fourteen State Legislative staffers on a two-day tour of special districts in Northern California. According to survey results, staff knowledge and understanding of special districts grew considerably through the experience.

The goal of the tour, which was titled “Essential Services and Infrastructure Tour of California Special Districts”, was to bridge local service specialist with state policymakers in areas where special districts are leading the way in addressing statewide challenges at the local level.

Before the tour commenced, legislative staff attendees were asked, “On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate your knowledge of special districts at this point in time.” The average rating was 4.30. Attendees were asked the same question at the end of the tour, resulting in an average rating of 7.93, or a more than 50 percent growth in knowledge.

One attendee commented on their survey, “It was a lot of fun. Very educational. I really enjoyed learning all the different special districts, from water, environmental, health and vector control.”

The four local agencies highlighted on the special districts tour were:

• Sites Project Authority
• Tehama County Resource Conservation District
• Mayers Memorial Healthcare District
• Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District 

After a brief introduction and overview of special districts at CSDA’s Sacramento office, the attendees hopped on a bus and rode to the first stop, the Sites Project Authority in Maxwell.  The group was introduced to Kevin Spesert, who is the External Affairs Manager for the project.  Kevin delivered a comprehensive presentation about the history of Sites, the timeline of the project, and how it will benefit the entire state. The water storage project is a perfect example of interagency collaboration between state and local agencies together with the local region. Once completed, the Sites Reservoir will not only provide additional off-stream water storage with direct benefit to the Delta ecosystem, but also provide much needed flood control to the region.

The second stop on the tour was the town of Mineral, located in Northeast Tehama County. In this small, rural community that was recently threatened by the Park Fire, the Tehama County RCD showcased their ‘TinderSmart Tehama’ project. District General Manager Jon Barrett and Project Manager Brin Greer led the group through two of their active wildfire mitigation projects. Attendees were able to see firsthand how the district works with local landowners to provide wildfire defensible space, roadside shaded fuel breaks, and large hazard tree removal. The district also provides technical water quality, quantity, and soil health assistance to the agricultural community as well as wildlife restoration, irrigation conservation, and carbon farm plans. With a budget the relies almost completely on grants and donations, the Tehama County RCD works tirelessly to protect rural communities such as Mineral and priceless natural resources essential to our state and nation.

After an overnight stay in Redding, attendees met with Mayers Memorial Healthcare District.  Located in northeastern Shasta County, the rural healthcare district provides critical care to the surrounding communities, 75 miles away from the nearest city. To further emphasize this point, District Chief Public Relations Officer Valerie Lakey and her team created an exercise for the attendees, which pointed out the many challenges one faces in order to receive timely care (limited cell services, hazardous road conditions, extreme weather, etc.). Staff from the district also invited the tour group to participate in a hands-on CPR demonstration. Residents in rural northeastern Shasta County are taught CPR and other first-aid skills by the district.  

Finally, the tour visited the Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District, located in Anderson.  The district, led by General Manager Darcy Buckalew, works to reduce mosquito populations to reduce the spread of dangerous diseases. The district monitors mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease risk using mosquito fish, trapping, mosquito sampling, dead bird reports, and sentinel chicken flocks. Additionally, the district surveys tick and rodent borne diseases and provides education through public outreach. The tour group was able to view the district’s state of the art lab and see first-hand the equipment the district uses to fight vector-borne diseases.

CSDA is grateful to showcase the wonderful work that special districts perform for millions of Californians every day and encourages all special districts to host facility tours for your state and federal legislative delegation. Thank you to our tour partners and district hosts!