LAKE COUNTY >> District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown was appointed chair of the Board of Supervisors at its first regular meeting of the year.
Previous chair Anthony Farrington nominated Brown and offered a few parting words, mostly thanking the board and Lake County staff for its response to the historic summer fires.
“I’ve seen nothing but stellar performance,” Farrington said. “Supervisor Brown demonstrated going up and beyond the call of duty, quite often beyond what it means to be an elected official.”
Throughout the response and recovery process, the new chair has developed a reputation for his hard work and commitment to the community beyond his district. At meetings with fire evacuees in the days following the Valley Fire’s start, Brown provided his cell phone number to all and urged them to call. From September to early November, he claimed to have put nearly 10,000 miles on his car.
Brown had not intended to run for another term on the board, instead supporting the campaign of Beau Moore. When Moore lost his home to the Valley Fire, however, he backed out of contention and backed another run by the incumbent. The devastation caused by the fire and anticipation of a long recovery convinced Brown to run again for the November election.
Given the seat rotation, it was Brown’s turn to take the helm. But his nomination wasn’t contested. Immediately after the anonymous vote, which also approved District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith as Vice Chair, Farrington handed him the gavel and the BOS returned to business with a new person at the helm.
His board’s first order of business involved more appointments this time for Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Equalization and for Lake County In-Home Supportive Services.
District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock was appointed chair of the BOE with District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele as his vice chair. Brown and Smith were also elected to the role of chair and vice chair for the IHSS, respectively.
Other appointments were approved for some committees: Ronald Nagy, Lake County Audit Committee and Vector Control District Board of Trustees; Harry Deffenbaugh, Rob Bostock and Frank Dehaven, Glenbrook Cemetery Board of Trustees; Cheryl Crabbick, Lower Lake Cemetery Board of Trustees; Roland Ledoux Jr. and Ellen Pearson, Lower Lake Water Works; Chuck Leonard, Vector Control District Board of Trustees.
