Supervisor District 5 - Jaron Brandon

Contact:

2 S. Green Street

Sonora, CA 95370 

Email: JBrandon@co.tuolumne.ca.us

Phone: (209) 533-5527 

Fax:     (209) 533-6549

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/togetherwithJaron

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaronbrandon 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supervisorjaron 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaronbrandon 

Where is District 5?

District 5 covers the portions of the county to the West of the city limits of Sonora and southern portions of the county. This includes Jamestown, Columbia, Stent, Tuttletown, Rawhide, Black Jack Bluffs, Jackass Hills featuring areas such as Railtown State Park, Columbia Historic State Park, Columbia Airport, Lake Tulloch, New Melones Reservoir and much of Columbia College.

[Click for GIS Map Link]

What is a Supervisor?

Each California County is governed by a board of five (5) elected officials called County Supervisors each representing 1/5th of the population in a specific area. Together, they serve as the executive (budget, staff), legislative (ordinance, policy, resolutions), and quasi-judicial (land use disputes, zoning changes, compliance) governing authority for Tuolumne County. While individual Supervisors do not have much authority, as a body of at least 3 (sometimes 4) they are very influential. All decisions are made as a group and priorities are set each annually as direction to staff.

The Board of Supervisors is able to speak for the county, authorize budgets for most local government services, set law in the form of ordinance, add or eliminate positions in departments, make appointments to bodies like the Planning Commission, engage in collective bargaining with unions, place measures on the ballot, authorize applying for and accepting grants, enter in agreements for the county, enforce state and federal laws, and much more. However, it is bound to follow state and federal laws. 

Supervisors are a full-time position and paid $52,000 per year. They are supported by the over 680 employees of Tuolumne County, and especially so by the Administration Office and Legal Counsel.

What is the County government?

The County of Tuolumne is a local government for our county area consisting of about 680 staff serving every role from road maintenance to purchasing specialists to law enforcement to human resources to public health. Counties have to follow the mandates and policies of the State and Federal governments, and elected officials are sworn public servants. Most government functions locally are through or in collaboration with the County. There are a few other government entities to be aware of: The City of Sonora is governed independently as it is our only incorporated city, TUD is the water/sewer infrastructure agency, the Superintendent of Schools oversees local education, and a few others..

• History of the creation of California counties
• How counties are generally organized
• Guide to the “Brown Act”
• Guide to Rosenberg’s Rules of Order

What are the Board priorities for 2021?

These are our priorities paraphrased for shortness. Here is the full version.

1. Preventing Catastrophic Fire

1. Fuels management on public and private lands
2. Sustainable fire service funding
3. Community participation in prevention and education
   

2. Community and Family Health

1. Reduce COVID-19 negative impacts
2. Addressing homelessness

3. Economic Planning and Development

1. Broadband internet
2. Align zoning with General Plan
3. Explore creative land use and zoning options

4. Modernizing Government and Increasing Efficiency

1. Maximize utilization of OpenGov
2. Improve website
3. Encourage employee professional growth
4. Consistency in internal policies
5. Develop staff recruitment and retention strategy

5. Roads and Infrastructure

1. Secure roads funding
2. Repairs, especially ditching, brushing, and hot patches
3. Implement a new Road Repair and Construction strategy
4. Update Capital Improvement Plan

Most Useful Resources:

2021 Pavement Condition Index Report

2021-2025 County Strategic Fire Plan

2020-2021 Adopted County Budget (soon to be updated)

Supervisorial Districts Map and address lookup

GIS Parcel Map Viewer for looking up zoning, parcel size, etc

Agenda Center for all of our Boards, Committees, and Commissions

Notification Center for email or text updates about Boards, Committees, and Commissions

Agenda Center for the Board of Supervisors

Committees:

Each Supervisor is assigned a number of committees each year to work on issues. Here are the current committees that I serve on. Most meet monthly or quarterly:

• Behavioral Health Advisory Board
• Homeless Advisory Committee
• Local Agency Formation Commission
• Housing Policy Review Committee
• Planning Committee
• Tuolumne County Museum
• Airport Advisory Committee
• Water Policy Committee
• Airport Advisory Committee
• Integrated Regional Water Management Group
• Central Sierra Child Support Agency
• CSAC Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee
• CSAC Housing, Land Use & Transportation Policy Committee
• Mountain Counties Water Resource Agency (MCWRA)
• UC Cooperative Central Sierra Advisory Council

Additional groups you can frequently find me at:

• Tuolumne County Mining District
• Columbia Chamber of Commerce
• Jamestown Promotion Club
• Columbia Area Advisory Committee
• The “TuCo Stronger Together” Facebook group

Recent accomplishments:

• Passing the 2021-2022 Recommended Budget with investments in Community Development and public-facing staff in several departments.
• Taking on homelessness with the establishment of a permanent citizen-led committee
• Establishment of a County intern program through the Kenneth L. Maddy Institute
• “No Parking” zone in the Shell Road area of Rawhide
• Assistance in promotion and establishment of #1PileAtATime cleanup efforts
• Regular updates, policy discussions, and town halls on Facebook

Current Projects:

• Reforming our Wireless Tower Ordinance in order to promote for broadband internet access
• Reforming and restructuring the Housing Policy Review Committee to be a pro-active space for housing policy development
• Revising the Behavioral Health Advisory Board bylaws and overseeing an innovation grant related to services in schools
• Enacting a noise control ordinance for extreme and persistent violators
• Determining a priority plan for the $5.2 million in American Recovery Plan funds

Meet Jaron

Where did you grow up?

For much of my childhood, I lived in the District 5 area, from a fifth wheel in Marble Quarry RV park outside Columbia to Willow Street in Jamestown. I’m a born and raised local, and the son of two loving parents. One a professional musician and entertainer and the other a local small businessman for nearly three decades.

What’s your background?

After Sonora Union High School, I attended and graduated from the University of California, Merced, with a B.A. degree in Government and Political Science. During this time I served in a number of roles including as President of our Associated Students running a $1.3 million budget, substantial volunteer work in non-partisan voter registration, a county transportation committee through MCAG, multiple campus committees, and several internships for the State Assembly, State Senate, and Congress including in Sacramento. I then worked for a tech startup in the Bay Area for two years as a content manager/editor for a news aggregation service. But, it couldn’t replace my home and so I returned and took over as the floor manager in our family business before deciding to run for office. 

Why did you run?

I ran to shake things up because I refuse to stand idly with the problems we face. First hand, I’ve experienced the challenges of finding a room to rent, seeing most of those I went to school with leave for better paying areas, and feeling out of touch with local leadership. I ran to put existential issues on the agenda, fight for working people, bring in new ideas and perspectives, and be the most transparent, communicative elected official we’ve ever had. My pledge to you is that every day, that is what I will continue to strive for, and I’m honored by the support and faith placed in this office to serve you.

What issues are most important to you?

Simply put, housing, jobs, and government transparency. 

It’s not to say these are our only major challenges (fire, water, safety, homelessness to name a few), but from thousands of conversations, these are the root issues I’ve identified that hold us back from addressing the others. If we cannot live free, prosperous, housed, informed, and happy, then this becomes a place we cannot live.  

We must make the decisions that provide the opportunity to create a life here, raise a family, have a good paying job, and a government that cares to keep us informed and engaged -- making the decisions today that prevent us being the continued victims of circumstance tomorrow. To instead see our young people stay, restoring our community identities, and solving problems we’ve grappled with for generations.