Sonoma County General Services Director Caroline Judy to retire

About a year after Caroline Judy became Sonoma County’s director of general services, making her its chief real estate official, the 2017 Tubbs fire devastated Sonoma County taking 22 lives and destroying 4,650 homes, Judy’s included.

Long hours spent addressing more wildfires, floods, COVID-19 and high profile capital projects consumed the tumultuous years that have followed.

“It’s an intense job, it’s a lot of responsibilities,” Judy said citing the wake up calls and long hours that dominate work life in the director’s seat.

Judy will retire Feb. 8. 2022 , ending her 24-year career in local government service in California and trading in daily meetings, emergency response efforts and the county’s own albatross — offloading the Chanate Road campus — for keeping chickens and bees.

“I’m definitely one of those people that loves to work,” Judy said. “But at some point you have to take time out and focus on other aspects of your life.”

Judy is the latest high profile county official to leave or signal their departure.

In the past two years, the county has had to fill top spots at the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, County Counsel’s Office and Department of Health Services.

The departures have been fueled, in part by “disaster fatigue,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins.

“We have seen a lot of turnover of critical leaders in the county, in county government,” Hopkins said. “We have been through a lot in the last four and a half years.”

District Attorney Jill Ravitch and Sheriff Mark Essick also have announced they will not seek reelection next year.

Judy’s decision to retire was not surprising to Hopkins given the recent trend.

Hopkins praised Judy’s involvement in the county’s emergency response planning, including getting generators installed at government buildings and her work on other efforts including the creation of Los Guilicos Village, the cluster of tiny homes on the county campus at the corner of Pythian Road and Highway 12 in east Santa Rosa.

“She was a key player in creating an entire new community really in a parking lot,” Hopkins said. “It was just absolutely amazing to watch that come together.”

Judy came to Sonoma County in 2016 from Alameda County where her roles included a year as interim general services director, succeeding former General Services Director Tawny Tesconi.

The role saddled Judy with the daunting task of unloading the county’s 72-acre property on Chanate Road, which has been mainly vacant since 2015. After failed sale attempts and a lawsuit, the county is now pinning its hopes on Ten-X, a real estate auction platform, where the property is listed for sale. Bidding will close on Nov. 9.

The struggle to sell the property has compounded Judy’s list of capital projects.

“There’s a lot and the pace, it doesn’t slow,“ she said.

Supervisor David Rabbitt said he has always appreciated Judy’s responsiveness and thoroughness in her work. Those are qualities that her successor will need to have as they will be inheriting the county’s high profile relocation to downtown Santa Rosa.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Caroline and wish her well moving forward,” Rabbitt said. “Finding the right person to take over is going to be a priority.”

The search process will start almost immediately, but it will take time Hopkins said.

It is hard to step away from an exciting project like the new county government complex, but “there’s always things that you wish you had more time to work on,” Judy said.

Plus, she added, she is confident in the general services team to carry the work forward.

“I know that there‘s a really good team in place that’s working on that,” Judy said.

Judy has called many places home including Toronto, Canada, Kansas, Arizona and Oregon before moving to the Bay Area, but Sonoma County, she said, is special, it is why she decided to stay and rebuild after her home burned down in 2017.

“People just pull together here,” Judy said. “It’s different than other places that I’ve lived and I love that about Sonoma County.”

With retirement now in sight, Judy is looking forward to expanding her beekeeping, a hobby she picked up recently after she and her husband began keeping chickens.

“A friend of mine said chickens are the gateway drug to bees,” she said with a laugh. That was definitely the case for us.“

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.