Earlier this week there was a dispute as to who should fill the vacant LAFCO seat now that Frank Sieferman who had occupied the second Yolo County Supervisor seat lost reelection to Matt Rexroad. Mr. Rexroad argued it should be him since Woodland needed representation on LAFCO. Chair Mariko Yamada had planned to appoint herself to LAFCO arguing that she had greater experience with county issues and that as County Supervisor one does not represent one particular locality.
In the end, Ms. Yamada was overruled by her colleagues on the board by a 4-1 vote. However, we sympathize with both the position of Mr. Rexroad and the position of Ms. Yamada.
LAFCO is the Local Agency Formation Commission and contains members of the public, from cities, and from the county. There is one seat given to a member from the public, two seats from cities, and two from the County Board of Supervisors.
There are also two County Supervisors on LAFCO. Helen Thomson who represents part of Davis holds one seat and Frank Sieferman had served prior to his defeat in November by Matt Rexroad.
Woodland Daily Democrat Jim Smith argued that Mr. Rexroad should be appointed due to the lack of representation for Woodland:
In the end, Ms. Yamada was overruled by her colleagues on the board by a 4-1 vote. However, we sympathize with both the position of Mr. Rexroad and the position of Ms. Yamada.
LAFCO is the Local Agency Formation Commission and contains members of the public, from cities, and from the county. There is one seat given to a member from the public, two seats from cities, and two from the County Board of Supervisors.
LAFCOs are responsible for coordinating logical and timely changes in local governmental boundaries, conducting special studies that review ways to reorganize, simplify and streamline governmental structure and preparing a Sphere of Influence for each city and special district within each county. The Commission's efforts are directed to seeing that services are provided efficiently and economically while agricultural and open-space lands are protected.The regular city members are William Kristoff from the West Sacramento City Council and Tom McMasters-Stone from the Winters City Council. The alternate is Davis City Councilmember Stephen Souza. There are two city representatives and those representatives rotate.
There are also two County Supervisors on LAFCO. Helen Thomson who represents part of Davis holds one seat and Frank Sieferman had served prior to his defeat in November by Matt Rexroad.
Woodland Daily Democrat Jim Smith argued that Mr. Rexroad should be appointed due to the lack of representation for Woodland:
In this case, however, if Yamada does get herself appointed to LAFCO, it will mean minimal representation for Woodland.
This will be important because Woodland has number of annexation issues coming up in the future following last June’s expansion of the city’s urban limit line.
Former 3rd District Supervisor Frank Sieferman Jr. sat on LAFCO before he became chairman of the Board of Supervisors. However, if Yamada gets on the board then Davis could have an unfair advantage, since Supervisor Helen Thomson already is serving on the commission.
While we sympathize with the position that Woodland needs representation, we wonder if that representation issue should be solved through a seat that is supposed to represent the County's Interests (the entire county) on LAFCO rather than a seat designated to represent city interests. The problem it seems to us is that only two municipalities have representation at a time. Now in terms of mathematics it makes sense since there are five seats on LAFCO, two from cities and two from counties.
However, the seats on LAFCO from the county supervisors are supposed to represent county interests. If Mr. Rexroad who is now appointed is merely representing the interests of Woodland, then he is not serving the county well. In the end, this dispute may be better solved through structural changes to at least allow each municipality to have their interests heard--through the designated city representatives rather than creating a surrogate advocate at the county level. Mr. Rexroad is no longer on the Woodland City Council, he now represents the County of Yolo on such bodies as LAFCO even as he represents his constituents on the Board of Supervisors.
It seems to us improper to use one of the designated County seats as a substitute for the lack of a seat at the city level--that would seem to put county-wide interests at a disadvantage. If the concern by Mr. Smith and Mr. Rexroad truly is the lack of representation that Woodland had, perhaps the entire composition should be examined. If Mr. Rexroad approaches his position as representing Woodland interests, county residents as a whole may be short-changed.
However, the seats on LAFCO from the county supervisors are supposed to represent county interests. If Mr. Rexroad who is now appointed is merely representing the interests of Woodland, then he is not serving the county well. In the end, this dispute may be better solved through structural changes to at least allow each municipality to have their interests heard--through the designated city representatives rather than creating a surrogate advocate at the county level. Mr. Rexroad is no longer on the Woodland City Council, he now represents the County of Yolo on such bodies as LAFCO even as he represents his constituents on the Board of Supervisors.
It seems to us improper to use one of the designated County seats as a substitute for the lack of a seat at the city level--that would seem to put county-wide interests at a disadvantage. If the concern by Mr. Smith and Mr. Rexroad truly is the lack of representation that Woodland had, perhaps the entire composition should be examined. If Mr. Rexroad approaches his position as representing Woodland interests, county residents as a whole may be short-changed.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
