2016 State of the County Address

2016 State of the County Address

Good morning everyone and thank you for being in attendance at today’s meeting.  It is an honor to be here once again as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.  There have been many changes since the last time I held this position, and today I would like to share with you not only our triumphs of the last year, but also our goals for 2016. 

Before I continue, I want to thank our past Chairman, Steve Worthley, as well as my fellow Board members, our CAO and his staff, other elected officials, County of Tulare Department Heads, and employees for their collective efforts, contributions, and innovative ideas during 2015.  Without the collaboration and dedication of these individuals, we would not be able to keep this county as fiscally sound as it has been, and we will work toward maintaining solvency in future years.

2015 held many challenges for California counties and we were no exception.  As many of you are aware, we have gone through a difficult time trying to confront all the issues that have affected our communities as a result of the drought in California, and specifically in Tulare County.  Some communities were affected more than others, but all of our districts and neighboring counties felt the pain and impacts of the drought.

Tulare County has already taken steps to address these impacts of the drought in both the short and long terms.  The construction of a grant funded well in Porterville was recently completed in hopes of connecting as many homes as possible to water in the Doyle Colony area.  

I want to thank Andrew Lockman and Sabrina Bustamante of the County Office of Emergency Services for working hard to establish the Household Bottled Water Program which has approved deliveries to 1,551 households to date, and the Water Tank Program that provides tanks to help alleviate some of the immediate needs of residents whose wells have gone dry.  Thank you to the City of Porterville for helping the County procure the water to fill the tanks, and to organizations such as United Way, CSET, and Self-Help Enterprises that have committed the resources necessary to install the tanks, enabling the County to fully fund the household tank program. 

Even though the drought was one of the biggest stories of 2015, there were many County accomplishments that need to be recognized.

A few highlights include: 

  • The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department added egg production to the beef and pork program to cut the overall costs to feed our prisoners.  They also introduced us to their new mascot, Deputy Buzz Bee, who will assist the Department in strengthening their relations with the youth of Tulare County.  The Sheriff also continued funding for Community Based Officers which are a big asset to our rural communities. 
  • Thank you to our retiring Fire Chief Joe Garcia for his hard work over the past five years.  He added many new engines and fire patrol vehicles and continued to improve our outlying fire stations in the unincorporated communities.  We welcome our new Fire Chief Charlie Norman and look forward to working with him and seeing our Fire Department continue to improve.
  • With the help of Measure R, State, and Federal funding, TCAG was able to begin construction on major road projects that included improvements to our major highways such as the 99, 190, 198 and Highway 65. They are expected to exceed $1 billion dollar mark for road projects in Tulare County. 
  • With a complete remodel of their facilities and their new debit/credit card system at the surplus store, the Purchasing Department has increased sales by nearly $20,000 in 10 months.
  • New franchise and waste disposal agreements have helped to increase the volume in our landfills and improved our bottom line.
  • Our Assessor, Public Defender, and Tax Collector all made significant advances in data conversion projects and went paperless in many of their processes. This frees up a lot of space and time, making information retrieval more efficient.   
  • Our UC Cooperative Extension Program and our AG Commissioner's Office continue to work with the farmers in their efforts to keep Tulare County as the number one agricultural county in the Nation.
  • Roger Dixon came on board to take over the Department of Child Support Services.  With his leadership and direction, we have not only made operations more cost effective, but have improved the working conditions for our employees.  Thank you Roger.
  • The County established the Parks Advisory Committee in order to receive input from citizens of the County to assist in the improvement of our parks. 
  • The Tulare County Film and Tourism Commission permitted a total of $2.8 million in overall film production projects last fiscal year.  They are on track for a very promising year.
  • Step Up continues to thrive and respond to Tulare County communities who are looking to empower their youth.  Last year was successful for the program, as the Summer Night Lights Program was expanded to include more communities, the start of the Drug Store Project pilot program in Lindsay, the LOOP Bus ridership continues to grow, and we continue to hold community summits in both the incorporated cities and the unincorporated areas of the County. 

Now that I have shared with your some of the accomplishments of this past year.  I would like to draw attention to some of the upcoming goals various County departments, beginning with the Sheriff.  

Public safety truly is the number one priority of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.  The purchase of body cameras for all patrol officers will continue to take this County to the next level of state of the art law enforcement technology. Adding a second, light, sports aircraft will help us provide better aerial coverage to support our deputies on the ground.  

Staff continues to work diligently on construction of the South County Detention facility, which will hopefully break ground in February of this year.  Once this facility is operational, it will help cut the costs of transporting prisoners from Bob Wiley and the Main Jail to the new justice center.  

Other noteworthy goals include:

  • The Tulare County Library will continue to increase access to literacy services, resources, and programs for adults.  
  • The Clerk of the Board will introduce the new eDisclosure system that will facilitate the process for filing the Form 700, a requirement for all persons who serve on our various Boards and Commissions, saving staff a lot of time and money.  
  • TCAG will implement a transit discount program for both active and retired military personnel in March of 2016.  They will also begin construction on three major projects:
    1. SR-65 four lane widening from SR-190 to Teapot Dome
    2. SR-99/Betty Drive interchange improvements
    3. Avenue 416 widening from Fresno County line to City of Dinuba (Ave 56)
  • Our Resource Management Agency intends to complete $2.5 million in community based road improvements, in addition to the following major projects:

1.Avenue 146 Road Widening

2.Avenue 280 Road Widening

3.The design of a new facility to house the Tulare County Area Transit System’s bus fleet

4.The completion of the Road 224 Deer Creek Bridge Project in the Terra Bella area

5.Continue to work on flood control projects throughout the County and find ways to incorporate groundwater recharge into them

6.Continue to work with schools in the County to pursue Safe Routes to School Grants

  • One of the biggest projects for the Film and Tourism Commission this year has been a Virtual Reality series filmed for Samsung to promote their new Android phone and Virtual Reality gear.  The Commission is also getting ready to market Tulare County filming opportunities at the upcoming Oscars. 
  • County Counsel will continue working with our Department Heads and employees to continue implementing workplace violence training in the form of worksite drills in order to provide a safe environment for all County employees.  
  • Our Health and Human Services Agency is working to bring a new Mental Health Facility to Porterville, with plans to have it operational in 2016.
  • Our County Information and Communications Technology Department will be partnering with our Auditor/Tax Collector to plan and implement the Aumentum system as a replacement for the existing County tax system, PIMS.  This is a six year project with the first year including data mapping and conversion of existing files.
  • The Board is working to finalize the purchase of the Tulare/Acres Professional Center in hopes of renovating vacant areas of the building. Our goal is to relocate identified County departments to increase organizational efficiencies and service delivery to the public by occupying this and the two County owned buildings recently vacated by the Office of Education. 

In addition to the Departmental goals, there are other countywide goals and projects I would like to mention. 

Our Water Resources Program Manager, Denise England, will continue to work with our local water agencies to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act by forming Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and begin formulating Groundwater Sustainability Plans for each of Tulare County's three critically over drafted sub-basins.

We have worked diligently with our local water agencies to move the Lake Success Enlargement Project forward.  This is an important project for local water supply reliability, flexibility, and flood protection for our communities.  After several years of storage restrictions and delays while our Federal partners completed studies, we now can use the lake at full capacity once again.  In order to increase the pool and, local storage potential, our final obstacle is addressing possible overtopping risk by potentially widening the spillway.  The partnering agencies will be working to continue the momentum. I would like to thank the City of Porterville for re-joining the joint powers agreement to continue to fight for the completion of this important regional water project.

During my last term as Chairman we established the Speakers Bureau Program.  Its main focus is to educate the residents of Tulare County on the day to day operations of our departments and employees. The Speakers Bureau is a program that improves the County’s image and the image of all our departments through a diverse group of local government experts who are prepared to speak on a wide range of topics related to governmental issues. It really does a great job of showcasing our county employees’ expertise and I hope that more of our residents take advantage of this free service, especially schools and service clubs throughout the County.

Community outreach and communication are a vital part of being a County Supervisor and I encourage all of our Supervisors to continue to have town hall meetings in their districts whenever possible.  This year, I will do my best to set up a town hall meeting not only in the Upper Tule and Camp Nelson areas, but in the California Hot Springs area, as well.   

The Board of Supervisors will continue to meet with the Tule River Tribal Council on an annual basis, strengthening our communication and collaboration on the needs of both the County and the Reservation. 

In 2006, the Board of Supervisors adopted a Strategic Business Plan to help guide how the County conducts its business proactively. The key goals of this Business Plan are to promote Public Safety and Security, Economic Well-Being, Quality of Life, and Organizational Performance. In other words, the plan was intended to help produce real public service results for our residents and businesses. 

Now that almost 10 years have passed since the adoption of this Business Plan, it is time to direct our County Administrative Officer to bring forward an update to Tulare County's Strategic Business Plan. Through this update, it is intended that the plan will demonstrate to the public how we are "Open for Business" and how our departments will align their goals and budgets to improve public service."

With the help of the Economic Development Branch, our CAO will continue to administer a strong economic development and target marketing program for Tulare County.  We have already began 2016 with various projects throughout the county including:

  • Crystal Golden, a Ultra-High Temperature milk export company in Tipton
  • McDonald’s restaurant in Earlimart
  • Foster Farms operations in Traver are being expanded to include an organic feed mill
  • ConEdison Development projects in Ducor
  • Tulare Solar Center and more

In 2006, I focused my attention on collaborating with the Forest Service and residents in the foothills and mountain areas to encourage wise forest management.  That has not changed. Due to lack of significant progress and pressure from environmental groups, we were unable to complete the tree thinning necessary to reduce the risk of losing trees in our forests as seen with the rough fire.  Having too many trees per acre combined with the lack of water due to the drought has severely affected the health of the trees, leaving us with 29 million dead trees statewide. 

This County was one of the first in the California to draw attention to this issue at the State and Federal levels.  One of the main reasons we are concerned is that over half of our County is Federal land.  The last fire season had significant implications, and future fires due to large amount of dead trees could easily endanger our Giant Sequoia groves. 

In 2015, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law three bills (Assembly Bills 243 and 266, and Senate Bill 643) that create a licensing and regulatory framework for medical marijuana.  Today, it continues to be a public safety issue throughout Tulare County.  In collaboration with our Sheriff and the Resource Management Agency’s Code Enforcement Division, we will continue in our efforts to control the illegal growth of marijuana in our county and on our Federal lands.  Our priority is still to promote public safety in all of our communities.

In closing,

There's no doubt there will be challenges in 2016. We will continue to watch for changes from the State and how they will handle medical marijuana enforcement. 

We will continue to monitor the drought and work with our communities to help ensure that the future water needs of our residents are met.   

As a Board, we will continue to do whatever it takes to keep this county fiscally sound.

Again, I would like to thank my fellow Board members, our CAO and his staff, other elected officials, County of Tulare Department Heads and employees. I look forward to working with everyone and the Board as your chair in 2016.  

Thank you to all in attendance today and may God bless you all.