Tuesday, July 2, 2013 • Serving as a county supervisor

Publisher’s note: This County Footnotes column, written by Lassen County Supervisor Jim Chapman, originally appeared in the Tuesday, July 2, 2013 edition of the Lassen County Times.

As a county supervisor for more than 30 years, I have had the opportunity to observe the ebb and flow of public debate and interest on the widest array of issues and problems. Like the tides of the seas, nothing remains static and, in time, the various issues and debates come full circle and tend to repeat themselves.

We have been in the throws of turbulent times before and the angst some people feel about their lives and futures spill into the debates before the board. These debates can be consequential to many or trivial to some. At times I am amazed about the perception some have that the county or, more specifically, the board of supervisors possesses all-knowing powers to make things happen or take something away. Some people believe there exists a vast conspiracy to corrupt the common good by the board.

To me it seems some people look at county government and the board of supervisors as a chapter in Jonathan Swift’s classic Gulliver’s Travels. In their perception of the political world, a county supervisor is like the giant that lands shipwrecked on a deserted island of Lilliputians and must be tied down because Gulliver’s existence is a threat to those on the island. They see the county as though it is the giant, Gulliver, whose powers are vast and omnipotent.

The board’s function is to serve as the primary policy making body for county government.  There are more than 30 departments and more than 400 employees within county government. It is less a monolithic body and more a consortium of interests under the umbrella known as Lassen County.

Despite the belief of some, board members do not micromanage individual departments or employees in the performance of their duties. As the overall policy-making body, the board focuses on the broad policies that govern the departments and their employees; determine the allocation of funds available and appropriate them for the use of these departments; settle disputes between the departments, including disputes with the general public; and, more importantly, the board members serve as ombudsmen for the general public, assisting them in negotiating the various bureaucracies to resolve issues of a personal nature.

The job of a county supervisor requires the ability to look at the big picture and not the minute details. Unlike a county employee who may be an expert on a specific task, a supervisor has to have a broad knowledge of how government processes work for the common good. Like Gulliver, tied down by the Lilliputians, a county supervisor is often tied down by the narrow focus of political parties or the bureaucracies; by special interests; by state or federal regulations designed to constrain action that may benefit the public interest. For more than 30 years it has been a challenge to break those restraints to achieve success in serving the common good and why I have enjoyed the challenge of serving as one of your representatives on the county board of supervisors.