Inyo County California

WELCOME TO THE TEAM

The Board of Supervisors was introduced to the following new employees at its July 22 meeting:

• District Attorney - Senior Deputy District Attorney Brad Braaten

• Public Works - Building and Maintenance Worker Michael DeHaven 

• Sheriff's Office - Cook Rebecca Avila and Correctional Officer Julio Gonzalez

• Administrator – Emergency Services Manager Lisa Cox

At its prior meeting, the Board happily congratulated the following employees on reaching service milestones during the second quarter of 2025:

• Probation – Penni Brown, 15 years; Alejandro Quezada, 10 years 

• Sheriff’s Office – Jill Patton, 15 years; Shayla Brown, 15 years; Ryan Reuther, 10 years; and Robin Henry, 5 years

• Health and Human Services – Skye Milos, 15 years; and Colleen Wilson, 5 years.

• Information Services – Denver Billing, 5 years

THE FUTURE OF HOUSING

Deputy County Administrator Meaghan McCamman urged residents on Tuesday to participate in a housing survey sponsored by the Collective Housing Committee, comprised of Inyo and Mono counties, the City of Bishop, Town of Mammoth Lakes, and Eastern Sierra Council of Governments.

The purpose of the survey is to gather insight from residents, workers, and employers on regional housing needs and challenges, which will help guide future investments. A community workshop for Inyo County will be held on Thursday, July 31 from 5-6 p.m. at the Clint G. Quilter Consolidated Office Building, 1360 N. Main St., Bishop. There will be a separate workshop scheduled in Mono County. Consultants from BAE Urban Economics will be present to share initial findings and gather additional feedback.

The resident and workforce survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z63K2PF. The employers survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CZGFCQ2. Both surveys are available in Spanish as well: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P2ZKWB2 and https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PCKPZ6J.

For more information, visit https://escog.ca.gov/housing-needs. 

COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday appointed and/or reappointed several individuals to critical advisory groups.

Michael Metcalf and Rob Deforrest were both appointed to the Emergency Medical Care Committee (EMCC), to represent the Olancha-Cartago Fire Department and Southern Inyo Hospital, respectively. Both terms expire December 31, 2026. The EMCC is charged with reviewing and reporting to the Inyo County Board of Supervisors and Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency on ambulance service operations, the emergency medical care offered and first aid practices in the county.

The EMCC includes 13 members – 10 designated by member agencies and three at-large positions.

Scott McKenzie and David Tanksley were reappointed to the County Service Area (CSA) No. 2 Advisory Committee, to four-year terms ending July 22, 2029. The three-member CSA 2 committee is comprised of property owners in the Aspendell area on the Middle Fork of Bishop Creek.

The Board also appointed former supervisor Matt Kingsley to fill a vacancy on the Inyo County Water Commission created by the resignation of Dan Berry. Kingsley will be serving the remainder of a term set to expire December 31, 2027. He joins four other residents from throughout the county charged with assisting in the implementation of the Long-Term Water Agreement, among other mandates, to protect the County’s environment, citizens, and economy from adverse effects caused by activities relating to the extraction and use of water resources and to seek mitigation of any existing or future adverse effects resulting from such activities.

FIRE HAZARD ZONES

The Board waived further reading of an ordinance designating fire hazard severity zones (FHSV) in Inyo County, and scheduled approval for August 5.

The County is required by California law to approve FHSV maps that were updated by the California State Fire Marshal to classify areas in Local Responsibility Areas – which include unincorporated areas of Inyo – as having a Moderate, High, or Very High wildfire risk. According to Inyo County/Eastern Sierra Council of Governments Wildfire Prevention Coordinator Kristen Pfeiler, the updates were made using advanced modeling based on fire history, vegetation, terrain, flame length, ember exposure, proximity to wildland areas, and fire weather conditions.

She said, importantly, fire hazard zone designations do not directly affect a homeowner’s insurance eligibility or rates. For residents, these maps primarily inform defensible space responsibilities and future development requirements. For the County, they serve as a critical tool for land use decisions, grant funding strategies, and the prioritization of wildfire mitigation work.

Visit https://ready.inyocounty.us/pages/wildfire for more details. 

BUDGET WORK 

Work continues to develop and present for approval a Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget. CAO Nate Greenberg reported that staff plans to release the Recommended Budget in late August and is in the process of finalizing the implementation of a new online budgeting system that facilitates the creation of the budget book. The latter task builds on last year’s effort to greatly increase transparency around the budget process for the public.

A special meeting will be held Wednesday, August 6 to accommodate a budget workshop with the Board and department heads. Budget hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, with approval of a final budget slated for September 23.

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