Sonoma County issues first in series of annual reports highlighting accomplishments under Strategic Plan

Sonoma County today published its first annual report highlighting key accomplishments in the past year under the county’s five-year Strategic Plan, which outlines the Board of Supervisors’ top priorities through 2026.

In addition to reviewing the report today, the Board of Supervisors also approved the allocation of $5 million for 20 projects designed to support Strategic Plan objectives in fiscal 2022-23.

The six-page Strategic Plan report, available in English and Spanish, can be viewed at socostrategicplan.org. An online dashboard allows the public to view the status of the county’s work on nearly two-dozen goals and 76 objectives set by the Board of Supervisors.

“The Strategic Plan informs everything we do in our efforts to make Sonoma County a safe and healthy place for all our residents to live, work and thrive,” said Supervisor Chris Coursey, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Today’s report provides citizens with important information about what their government is doing and ensures we are held accountable as we work to reach the high goals we have set.”

The Board of Supervisors adopted the Strategic Plan in March 2021 to align policies, programs and budget decisions with an overarching vision for the future of Sonoma County. It serves as a roadmap to enhance the quality of life in the county, identifying specific goals and objectives in five key pillars, or areas of focus. The pillars include:

• Climate Action and Resiliency: Make Sonoma County carbon neutral by 2030.
• Organizational Excellence: Be an innovative, effective, engaged, and transparent organization focused on quality programs and services.
• Racial Equity and Social Justice: Achieve racial equity in the provision of county services and ensure a workforce reflective of the community we serve.
• Healthy and Safe Communities: Provide quality and equitable housing, health and human services for all.
• Resilient Infrastructure: Enhance services to the community by investing in county facilities and infrastructure, including roads, buildings, communications and flood protection.

Today’s report distills highlights of the county’s work during Year 1 of the Strategic Plan. They include:

• The county staged more than 30 events to educate the public on how to mitigate fire risk and provided $8.3 million in vegetation management grants to reduce fire danger.
• The county secured $28.7 million in grant funding for strategic priorities, including $10 million for carbon farming support to farms and ranches in Sonoma and Marin counties.
• The county has engaged consultants to develop language access and community engagement plans, steps designed to open county government to members of all communities.
• The county authorized $2.47 million in grant funding to fund behavioral health mobile crisis teams in the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Cotati.
• The county completed repairs on 48.2 miles of roads damaged by debris-hauling during recovery from the 2017 wildfires.

In February 2022, the Board of Supervisors allocated $5 million to implement Year 1 of the Strategic Plan, funding 21 projects that advanced the plan’s goals and objectives. Last June, the Board set aside an additional $5 million for Year 2 implementation and directed staff to return in early 2023 with a list of recommended projects to fund in fiscal 2022-23. Today, the Board approved the 20 recommended funding requests. They include:

• Nearly $1.4 million to help plug a funding gap for roads, utilities and other infrastructure needed to advance the Tierra de Rosas mixed-use project in the Roseland area of Santa Rosa.
• $300,000 to implement the county’s upcoming language access plan, which is intended to make county information more accessible to all residents
• $500,000 to create a data center outside the Bay Area, ensuring the continuity of IT operations in the event of a regional disaster.
• $150,000 to install 20 new electric vehicle charging stations, enabling the county to leverage funding through a state clean vehicle rebate program.
• Nearly $248,000 to obtain and manage climate-related grants.

A downloadable PDF document listing all of the Year 2 projects approved by the Board of Supervisors today, along with staff presentations and a downloadable PDF with the Year 1 projects, is attached to the agenda item for today’s Board meeting.

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Media Contact:
Ted Appel, Communications Specialist 
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org
(707) 565-3040
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403