Pot regulation, affordable housing at top of 2015 agenda for Sonoma County

Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday staked out an ambitious list of policy goals for the year, headlined by efforts to boost supply of affordable housing, tighten regulations on medical marijuana cultivation and improve access to health care for low-income county residents.

The list - which constitutes the county’s local legislative blueprint and lobbying platform at the state and federal level - also includes additional measures to rein in employee pension costs, support for a statewide tax on soda to fund childhood nutrition and education programs, and a push for more state money to fund road repairs and increase homeless assistance programs.

The Board of Supervisors endorsed the framework for 2015 in its second meeting of the year. The annual discussion helps the county coordinate with other government officials, including state and federal representatives, and the lobbying firms that work on the county’s behalf in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

More than a third of the county’s $1.46 billion budget is composed of state and federal money.

Board Chairwoman Susan Gorin called the county’s legislative priority list comprehensive, pointing out high-profile issues in her district, including retention of federal funding to keep the Sonoma Developmental Center running.

Gorin also noted the county’s attempt to transition most voters to mail-in ballots.

Supervisors each year carry over unfinished business from the previous year on their legislative agenda and adopt new goals. This year, new programs include aggressive advocacy for state affordable housing funds, a push to increase the state minimum wage, and help enrolling low-income county residents in substance abuse treatment covered by Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid.

County assistance centers have been overwhelmed with people seeking to sign up for the state low-income health program, creating a backlog in enrollment, officials said Tuesday.

“There’s been a tidal wave,” said Paul Yoder, a Sacramento lobbyist for the county. “And counties are significantly impacted by this - the state is realizing that.”

Yoder said Sonoma County is eligible for a small percentage of $150 million made available in the new state budget to solve its Medi-Cal backlog.

Nearly 13,000 county residents were waiting for Medi-Cal benefits in August. The county has since cut the waiting list in half, and additional funding could help eliminate the backlog, officials said.

The county also is eligible for affordable housing dollars from the state’s cap and trade program. Yoder said $500 million is available statewide this year.

“This board has made housing affordability one of its main tenets moving forward,” Supervisor Efren Carrillo said. “The challenge for us, being a rural and suburban type of county, is going to be competing with some of the more metropolitan counties for those dollars.”

Supervisors have highlighted the county’s housing woes, with a 1.5 percent rental vacancy rate and housing costs skyrocketing. In 2013, it took three full-time workers to afford the rent for an average apartment, according to county officials. The market continues to tighten today, officials said.

The average apartment rent rose to $1,521 in 2014, a jump of 13.3 percent from the prior year, according to county figures.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane said building affordable housing is her top priority this year.

Supervisors also have staked out new ground for medical marijuana regulation, which could include new restrictions on cultivation and possession. The board sought direction Tuesday from lobbying firms in light of a statewide measure expected in the next two years that could legalize recreational pot.

“Everyone can expect this to be an issue in the state, and in the race for the seat vacated by Sen. (Barbara) Boxer,” said Karen Lange, a Sacramento-?based lobbyist.

Supervisors carried over their endorsement of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages from last year, noting that 8 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 11 in Sonoma County are overweight or obese. A state tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would generate more than $17 million for the county.

Other programs endorsed by supervisors included earthquake retrofits for unreinforced masonry buildings, broader development of fast, reliable Internet for rural parts of the county, and increased funding for mental health services.

“We are in a mental health crisis right now, and if we don’t treat people, they will end up in our jails,” Zane said.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.