Sonoma County supervisors set to discuss, prioritize PG&E settlement funds

Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday will grapple for the first time with how they’ll use $149.3 million in PG&E settlement money tied to the deadly 2017 wildfires, setting the stage for a public reckoning over promises to fire survivors and a yawning budget deficit that could result in cuts to key programs and dozens of layoffs.

The discussion, set for 2 p.m. Tuesday, promises to lock an embattled Board of Supervisors into a struggle over rival priorities created by the two biggest crises ever faced by the board.

Should it spend the PG&E money on the continuing recovery from the 2017 wildfires, which killed 24 people in Sonoma County and destroyed more than 5,300 homes? Or should the money be used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is responsible for 47 deaths to date and has put 30,000 county residents out of work while decimating the county’s budget?

But the idea that county leaders might draw upon PG&E settlement funds tied to the 2017 disaster to plug holes created by the 2020 disaster has irked some fire survivors.

“We want to make sure that the money is spent directly helping the fire-affected communities, and not go into the general fund for pet projects,” said Gade Miller, a block captain in Larkfield Estates who just moved home with his family to their rebuilt house at the end of July. “I feel that there still is a lot of work to be done in the neighborhoods and that is where the money needs to go.”

In the wake of the 2017 fires, PG&E filed bankruptcy amid a flurry of lawsuits from fire survivors and government entities eager to recoup lost tax revenues, drops in tourism and impacts to public infrastructure.

Santa Rosa and Sonoma County received a combined $240 million from PG&E in mid-July, the result of a $1 billion deal the utility giant struck last year with Northern California government entities to settle claims tied to wildfires sparked by its equipment in 2017 and 2018.

During their first public discussion of how to spend its $149.3 million share of the settlement, county supervisors will grapple with competing interests, and they don’t expect it to be easy — or quick.

County officials estimate the county suffered $111.5 million in road damage, lost $86 million in staff time and uncollected tax revenue, and spent $26.8 million on the response out of pocket.

“What you’ll hear is that the supervisors from the districts that were hit hard is more of a focus on (investing) back into the districts,” said Supervisor James Gore, whose north county district was impacted in 2017 and again by the 2019 Kincade fire last October and November.

Supervisor Susan Gorin, who lost a home in the 2017 Nuns fire and represents a district that was also devastated by fire, previewed the grief and advocacy she expects board members to hear from survivors Tuesday.

“The trauma we experienced during these fires is very, very raw,” Gorin said. “They want to see an investment in restoration, preparation and building for the future.”

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose west county district has twice been victimized by floods, said she hopes for consensus amid a big-picture conversation about the county’s budget needs.

Hopkins said she expects to use at least $26 million to backfill the county’s budget hole, a number that’s tied to county revenue losses due to the fires.

“We need to pay ourselves back,” she said. “That needs to be taken off the top.”

She expressed interest, too, in broaching the subject of a paid sick leave fund for employees or employers to help ease the burden of the county’s new ordinance that requires at least 80 hours of paid sick leave for employees sick with COVID-19 or caring for a loved with sick with the disease.

Hopkins said that would fall in line with the Sonoma County Recovery and Resiliency Framework, a 158-page report created in the wake of the 2017 wildfires that seeks to guide the county’s path out of the fires and into a safer future. The framework, shaped with the input from hundreds of fire survivors, calls out social equity as a core principle, Hopkins noted, potentially opening the door for investments related to a pandemic that has had inequitable health and financial impacts.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who represents the central county, including central Santa Rosa and most of Rohnert Park, also expressed interest in setting portions of the settlement to plug at least part of the county’s $45.7 million budget deficit, the county’s largest since the Great Recession.

Zane tied the move to county employees who might otherwise suffer pay cuts or be laid off, employees she said were instrumental in getting the county through the 2017 wildfires.

“We’re expecting so much from these county employees who have done so much during these disasters. We can’t abandon them,” Zane said.

But Zane also recognized the importance of fire survivors’ voices.

“The fire survivors are very rightly going to show up and advocate for that,” Zane said. “And they should. They absolutely should. First and foremost, we owe it to residents to make this place safe.”

Gore and Gorin, who represent the areas scarred by the Pocket fire, the Tubbs fire and the Nuns fire, said they expect fire survivors to make their voices heard, and they each said those survivors deserve a seat at the table.

“They were front and center on the development of the resiliency plan,” Gore said. “We have to honor that.”

In a recent social media post directed to his fellow block captains — neighborhood leaders in the wake of the 2017 wildfires — Brad Sherwood urged them to make their voices heard at Tuesday’s board meeting.

“The $149 million PG&E settlement funds give the board an opportunity for bold leadership,” Sherwood said. “Although there may be a temptation to use this money for budget shortfalls in the challenging environment of COVID-19, I urge the board to only use these funds for more long-term investments in making our county more fire safe.”

You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @tylersilvy