Changing of the guard in county

The Colusa County supervisors met for the first time in the new year Tuesday with a changing of the guard.

The five-member panel unanimously selected Kim Dolbow Vann to serve as chairwoman.

Dolbow Vann, who was elected to serve District 1 in the Arbuckle area in 2006, served as the board's vice chairman last year.

The board selected District 3 Supervisor Mark Marshall to serve as vice chairman for the coming year.

Marshall, who is serving his third year on the Board of Supervisors, was chairman in 2007.

Outgoing Chairman Gary Evans called 2009 an "interesting" year for the county.

The year was marked by massive state budget cuts to mandated programs like health and human services, forcing layoffs early in the year, and other departments were forced to operate on reduced budgets.

"I have to thank the department heads," Evans said Tuesday. "Everyone came in with extremely reasonable requests that certainly made our decisions easier."

Evans added that he was confident Dolbow Vann would do an exemplary job in the coming year.

"I couldn't have had any better person to work under or work with," Vann said about Evans, after taking the helm.

The two worked closely together the past two years to finalize the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power plant near Maxwell.

The $700 million power plant broke ground in November 2008, and is expected to be online in 2010.

Evans and Dolbow Vann also worked together in 2009 on the Local Transit Agency and Transportation Commission, the Policy Committee and the Fouts Spring Youth Facility.

Vann and Marshall worked together on the California State Association of Counties, National Association of Counties, the Community Action Partnership and the Regional Council of Rural Counties.

The Board of Supervisors will finalize its 2010 appointments to committees and boards at its next meeting on Jan. 26.

The board has scheduled a special workshop with various employees and department heads for 9 a.m. on Jan. 19 in the Colusa Industrial Properties conference room.

The agenda will include discussion of personnel issues and policies, the results of a 20-page employee survey completed last year and "small talk" related to county issues.

Contact Susan Meeker at 458-2121 or smeeker@tcnpress.com.