Politics & Government

Energy, Healthcare, Transportation Top 4-County Joint 'To-Do' List

Boards of Supervisors of Marin, Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties hold first joint meeting in 10 years.

Leaders of four North Bay counties looked for common ground Tuesday on renewable energy, the upcoming launch of President Obama's new healthcare plan and transportation priorities in an historic joint meeting at the Napa River Inn.

"We're all in very close proximity in the sparsest population part of the Bay Area" said Napa County Supervisor Chairman Brad Wagenknecht, who organized Tuesday's conclave as well as the last one a decade ago. "We have to try to speak with one voice as much as possible."

He said he expected to stay in touch with the chairperson from each board in the near future to see about possibilities for moving forward on joint projects.

About 125 people attended the two-hour afternoon event, the first joint meeting of boards of supervisors from Marin, Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties in recent  memory. The last similar North Bay gathering was in 2003 and did not include Marin.

"We work well together and we're small," said Daryl Halls, executive director of the Solano Transportation Authority. "If we don't band together, we'll get rolled by the big counties."

Some of that North Bay banding together is already happening, speakers said Tuesday.

For example, Sonoma County is getting ready to imitate Marin's successful community energy program, Marin Clean Energy, where residents and businesses may choose to have their electric power come from renewable sources, such as solar.

"Thank you to the Marin Supervisors for being, in your words, the guinea pig," said Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who said Sonoma has already taken the first step in the process with the approval of a JPA, or joint powers authority. 

In healthcare, the four counties will be operating in similar fashion. Partnership HealthPlan of California, a nonprofit agency, has acquired the state contract to manage the North Bay's MediCal patients who enroll in the new Affordable Care Act program. Enrollment for the new plan begins Oct. 1 and the program is effective Jan. 1.

Jack Horn, CEO of Partnership HealthPlan, told the four boards of supervisors that the main issue now was getting the word out.

"A survey has found that two-thirds of the people who would be eligible don't know they're eligible," Horn said. 

Solano County Supervisor Chairwoman Linda Seifert said her county has already begun an extensive education effort among all the local providers and agencies.

In Marin and Sonoma counties, a major PR effort is about to kick off. The two counties have joined forces to do outreach, education and marketing on the healthcare plan, said Larry Meredith, director of Marin County's Department of Health and Human Services. 

In addition to Marin, Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties, Horn's PHP will handle MediCal patients under the Affordable Care Act for eight other rural Northern California counties. He said he expects to add more than 200,000 new patient members.

Those North Bay residents who are not MediCal eligible but who want to participate in the Affordable Care Act program will be able to select their health insurance services from an "Exchange" made up of six local insurance carriers. 

In transportation, members of all four boards agreed that Highway 37 should be the next priority. Current major North Bay road priorities -- Highway 101 corridor widening and improvements, Highway 12/Jameson Canyon Road expansion and Route 80/680 improvements -- are already in progress and due for completion, Halls said. 

"I get asked about Highway 37 a lot," said Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan.

Other issues touched on for collaboration include food production and agriculture -- and efforts to battle invasive species such as the Quagga Mussel.

Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd said he believes in the power of joint effort.
"Together we can work wonders," Dodd said. "Separately, there's not much there for us."


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