Napa County supervisor candidates discuss Le Colline

02.07.24

Two American Canyon residents are again seeking the 5th district Napa County Board of Supervisors seat — incumbent Supervisor Belia Ramos and American Canyon City Councilmember Mariam Aboudamous.

Both are attorneys. Ramos grew up in St. Helena in a farming family. Aboudamous grew up in American Canyon and is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants from Jerusalem.

It’s no mystery how Ramos would have voted on the controversial, proposed Le Colline vineyard. She in fact did cast a Board of Supervisors vote last year to overturn staff approval of the project’s erosion control plan.

Agriculture is central to the county’s rural character and economic vitality, Ramos said. But she also mentioned the county’s conservation regulations.

“Napa County’s conservation regulations require the board to take into account important and sensitive resources, such as our waterways, municipal reservoirs and watersheds,” she said. “Our decision in Le Colline applied and honored our conservation regulations.”

And what about the claims by the Napa Valley Farm Bureau and Winegrowers of Napa County that emotion is trumping science in these type of decisions, to the detriment of agriculture?

Ramos said she understands the concerns voiced by the organizations. But it’s important to understand that Le Colline was an appeal of an erosion control permit, which is discretionary. Only two erosion control permits have been appealed in a decade.

“As a supervisor, we must find a balance between economic needs, scientific data, adopted conservation regulations and our community values,” Ramos said.

Aboudamous said she believes the Board of Supervisors made the Le Colline decision it thought was right. But, she said, regulations and development standards exist for a reason.

If an applicant spends years and much money to present a fully compliant project to the board and the board rejects it, that’s a red flag to the board to revise the general plan, she said.

“I do not believe it’s fair for the county to hide the ball from its business owners — especially its agricultural business owners,” she said.

She understands why the Farm Bureau and Winegrowers expressed concerns. She's sure they see an attack against the agricultural sector of the community, Aboudamous said.

There's been a de facto understanding that an applicant meeting county requirements should likely obtain approval. Applying for wineries and vineyards is a major investment and applicants therefore must be especially certain their request will be approved, she said.

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Wildfires in 2017 and 2020 destroyed more than 1,000 structures in Napa County. The county and fire prevention groups are using grants to create a system of fuel breaks. But fire officials said grants don’t typically pay to maintain fuel breaks that within a few years once again can become overgrown.

Aboudamous noted that the county and its cities in 1998 passed a half-cent sales tax for flood control. Realistically, ongoing dollars for fuel break maintenance can only come from some sort of tax, she said.

“Maintenance of fuel break benefits everyone,” Aboudamous said.

She pointed to the 2017 Tubbs Fire that started near Calistoga and burned parts of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. Calistoga evacuated because of fire in 2017 and 2020 and parts of St. Helena in 2020.

“Our cities and town are not immune to danger from fire in the hills,” Aboudamous said.

The gross value of county agricultural production dropped 50.7% the year after the 2020 Glass Fire. Fires cause health concerns for everyone and economic concerns. The countywide cost of routine fire prevention is minimal compared to the alternative, Aboudamous said.

Napa County in recent years has spent $6 million and more annually on fuel breaks and vegetation management. But Ramos said the county general fund can't be the permanent solution, given the other things it must support.

She proposed creating a fire district that excludes city of Napa and American Canyon Fire Protection District.

"The county’s current level of fire funding can be written in as a maintenance of effort. To create further revenue, county fire would be able to do medical transport that would allow us to charge back the Medicare ambulance rate available through the Social Security Act," she said.

"This is money that is not being tapped into. This additional revenue could be used to fund the rising costs of fire suppression and fire mitigation."

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Health and Human Services represents $167 million of the county's $680 million budget. The candidates talked about what needs they'd like to see filled in this area.

"Mental health access and substance abuse treatment remain critical needs," Ramos said. "(Last) year, Napa County expanded our mobile health crisis response team — meeting the needs of our residents out in the community."

She will continue advocating for expanding mental health services, building affordable housing with support services and supporting programs that address behavioral health, food insecurity and homelessness, Ramos said.

Aboudamous said a third of the county's budget goes to health and social services and much of this is mandated by the state.

"The county has a strong, longstanding practice of not backfilling when the state eliminates a mandate — unless it's demonstrated that the program is of particular need in Napa County," she said.

Her health and social service priorities are seniors, children, those suffering from mental health issues and appropriate housing for all of those groups, Aboudamous said.

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Ramos in about 2000 was a district representative for Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena. She was elected to the American Canyon City Council in 2010 and the Board of Supervisors in 2016.

Napa County during her board tenure has responded to wildfires and the pandemic. She was recently named president of the Association of Bay Area Governments.

She clashed with former County Executive Officer Minh Tran. One factor was how Tran handled fallout from a 2021 COVID-19 shot Ramos received before her age group was eligible. Ramos said it was an end-of-the-day shot that otherwise would have been wasted.

Aboudamous was elected to the American Canyon City Council in 2016. During Aboudamous’ tenure, the City Council approved Watson Ranch, one of the largest new Napa County communities in decades. It approved a development plan for the city's Highway 29 stretch.

Ramos and Aboudamous faced each other in the 5th District supervisors race in 2020. Ramos won, 53% to 47%. The March election is the rematch.

The 5th District includes American Canyon, the Coombsville area and a slice of southeast city of Napa.

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