Lake County supervisors refine 2025 state and federal priorities; add public safety, flood resiliency and call out roads

Lake County supervisors on Jan. 15 heard state and federal advocacy briefings and asked staff and the county’s contract lobbyists to revise the county’s draft 2025 legislative priorities to include public safety and flood resiliency as distinct priorities and to explicitly call out roads under infrastructure.

The board opened the agenda item with a presentation from Matthew Rothstein, Chief Deputy County Administrative Officer, who summarized the county’s draft priorities and introduced the contract advocates. Jeff Neal of Nielsen Merksimer reviewed the state landscape and urged the board to adopt a short, flexible set of priorities that lets county advocates respond quickly to introduced bills. Joe Cron of Paragon Government Relations and members of his team reviewed federal issues and warned the board that a recent Office of Management and Budget memorandum could create short-term uncertainty for some federal funding streams.

The presentations framed an extended discussion among supervisors about priorities the county should emphasize in Sacramento and Washington. Multiple supervisors argued that wildfire resilience and defensible-space programs remain crucial and should stay on the list. Supervisor Owen and others emphasized roads as a pressing local need and asked that “roads” be…