A new year brings new leadership

"It's the reality of pretty much every level of government right now," said Rabbitt, 50, the new south county supervisor. Hopefully, he said, the board will be "coming together" to "make decisions that put this county on good financial footing for years to come."

Almost no one among the new and current leaders, however, sees a halt to the county job and service cuts or a rebound in government revenues within the next year.

"It's going to be rough for at least the next two years," said Supervisor Valerie Brown, 65, the new board's lone two-term veteran and a former state assemblywoman. She said the county will be going into "full-bore defense mode" to fend off any revenue takeaways from the state or additional transfer of state services to the county.

"I don't think there's going to be much to hang our hats on, except for keeping people safe and off the streets," she said.

To avoid more year-over-year cuts, county officials have been looking at consolidating departments and narrowing the government's focus to core public safety, infrastructure and social service programs.

Partnerships with cities, nonprofit groups and the private sector are also now seen by most county leaders as a vital way to stretch public dollars.

Under fire from labor groups, supervisors have resorted increasingly to those outside contracts, especially for health services such as drug- and alcohol-abuse counseling.

But such moves may be preferable to maintaining county-only programs with bare-bones budgets, officials said.

"I hate to cut, cut, cut and think that we're providing something that we're really not," said Rabbitt, likely the most conservative voice on the new board of supervisors.

A majority of that new board, including Rabbitt, Carrillo and Zane, also have been vocal about the need to rein in the cost of employee retirement benefits.

Taxpayer contributions to the county's pension system, nearly $50 million now, are set to rise by millions over the next six years to replace large stock market losses in 2008 and cover past salary and pension increases along with other benefit changes.

Taxpayer advocates have cheered administration plans to tackle the pension issue, though some experts have said a proposal to reduce benefits for new workers would not go far enough to solve the county's problems.

"This has been kicked down the road" by previous boards of supervisors, said Jack Atkin, president of the Sonoma County Taxpayers Association. "If (the new board) did nothing this year but work on and solve this problem, it would be a successful year."

Labor representatives have acknowledged some need for pension reform. But they remain critical of past decisions on employee compensation, including a rollback in medical coverage and salary increases for managers. They hope the new board will be more open to that input.

"If we seriously looked at the overall picture, there are some very expensive strategies the county chose to use that need to be adjusted," said Bill Robotka of the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20 IFPTE, which represents about 200 county workers.

Also at the top of the county agenda will be the hiring of permanent managers for the county water agency and departments overseeing personnel and information technology. Those decisions could come at the end of this month.

Several land use issues also are looming. A draft environmental review of plans to expand the runway at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is due out this spring. Later this year, the county Planning Commission is expected to take up Preservation Ranch, the proposed 1,800-acre forest-to-vineyard conversion project with 60 potential home sites on nearly 20,000 acres outside of Annapolis.

That proposal and other land-use matters are likely to refuel the county's perennial battle between environmental and business interests.

Depending on the issue, a majority of supervisors could vote in favor of development or environmental protection, board watchers said. McGuire and Brown represent the likeliest swing votes.

Still, building industry leaders like their chances. The recent approvals of the Dutra asphalt plant and Roblar Road rock quarry, and election day wins for business-backed candidates including McGuire and Rabbitt, should set the stage for a more streamlined and straightforward development-review process, industry leaders said.

"We'd like that in a good economy. We demand it in a bad one," said Keith Woods, chief executive of the North Coast Builders Exchange in Santa Rosa.

But environmental leaders, some of whom have promised court challenges of the asphalt plant and rock quarry, said they remain hopeful the new county leadership will uphold green ideals, including city-centered growth, sustainable transportation and open space protection.

Any step away from those goals will only be temporary, they said.

"This (leadership change) is nothing new," said John Crevelli, 79, a retired Santa Rosa Junior College history professor and leading figure in the decades-long fight to protect the county's coast.

"The pendulum swings back and forth. Today, given the economy, it's time for it to swing (toward business interests.) But it will only be a matter time until it swings back. It might be sooner than some people think."