It Has Been an Honor Serving You

It Has Been an Honor Serving You

I appreciate the voters of District One allowing me to serve twelve years on the Board of Supervisors. This has been the most rewarding and gratifying job that I have ever had. I have met and become friends with so many people both within and outside of county government.

The most gratifying part of my twelve years is seeing the change in the culture of county employees. We have seen a shift from the culture of no and why make change, to the attitude of how can we best help the people of Tulare County. This is especially true in the Resource Management Agency (RMA).

I and my fellow Supervisors believe that we have the finest employees in county government. The reason for this belief is mainly based on the sharp decrease in constituent complaint calls that we receive and the positive attitude we receive during our interaction with county personnel.

Supervisor Cox and I were sworn into office with many common goals for the county. A few of our goals were based on a lack of knowledge and were discarded after a short period of time, but most of our goals were valid. The rewarding part of my tenure has been accomplishing many of our goals with the entire Board of Supervisors.

For example, the raising of compensation for our lowest paid employees who were receiving food stamps and better overall compensation of all of our employees to be competitive with our surrounding government agencies to reduce employee turnover.

The Board has improved the working conditions of our employees by remodeling over 500,000 sq. feet of office space, in addition the several hundred feet of remodel that is set to take place in 2017.

Many of you may remember the plastic sheeting and the waste paper basket in HHSA at Government Plaza to catch water from a leaking roof. There are those of you who remember the four story annex building in downtown Visalia. Not ideal working conditions and I’m proud we set out and changed that.

Other proud accomplishments include the establishment of the Tulare County Fire Dept.; Tulare County Information and Communications Dept.; reopening Pre-trial; Tulare County Water Commission; passing Measure R; the Step-Up program; our 85% funded pension fund; purchase of the CIGNA Building; South County Jail; and Zero long term debt. There are too many more accomplishments to list.

All the rewards and gratification that I feel would not have been possible without the leadership of the Board of Supervisors and all of you, our county employees, who made it happen.

It has been an honor and privilege to have served as a Tulare County Supervisor. Thank you!