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Kern County honors Planning and Natural Resources director Lorelei Oviatt at retirement resolution
Summary
The Kern County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution honoring Lorelei Oviatt, director of Planning and Natural Resources, for 30 years of service and credited her leadership on energy permitting, environmental review and large-scale land-use projects.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors on a unanimous vote adopted a resolution honoring Lorelei Oviatt, director of the Planning and Natural Resources Department, upon her retirement after 30 years of county service.
County leaders and staff said Oviatt’s career included major permitting and environmental-review work for large energy and land‑use projects that officials said helped reshape Kern County’s economic profile.
Oviatt, who addressed the board at the meeting, listed family and colleagues in thanking residents and staff and said she plans to remain active: “I will still be working for Kern County, and I will still be working for our oil industry and our ag industry inside this complicated world of California,” she said.
Board members highlighted specifics of Oviatt’s record in remarks at the dais. The board’s resolution and speakers noted that under Oviatt’s leadership the department processed environmental reviews and permits for thousands of megawatts of wind and solar projects and battery storage. The materials presented at the meeting described more than 22,000 megawatts of wind and solar and more than 15,000 megawatts of battery storage permitted during her tenure and cited an estimated $82,000,000,000 in investment associated with projects the department facilitated.
Speakers also credited Oviatt with work on carbon capture and sequestration projects, oil‑and‑gas ordinance development and large Tejon Ranch land‑use applications the board said involved millions of square feet of industrial and commercial development and plans for tens of thousands of housing units.
A board member who opened the commemorations framed Oviatt’s career with a Jefferson quotation and said her tenure combined “virtue and ability.” Several supervisors praised her management style, technical knowledge and long service, and colleagues presented a formal resolution recognizing her record.
The board voted to adopt the resolution by voice vote; the clerk recorded the action as approved unanimously. The board took a photo with Oviatt and then continued with the meeting.
Oviatt’s formal title as stated at the meeting is director, Planning and Natural Resources Department, Kern County. The resolution, as read at the meeting, lists her education, career milestones and the major project categories she led during her county tenure.
