Amador County – Assemblywoman Alyson Huber received a “Legislator of the Year” award from the California Regional Council of Rural Counties for her work in the state Legislature last year in support of the state’s rural counties, and issues that affect them.
Huber, an El Dorado Hills Democrat who represents Amador County in Assembly District 10, was honored as one of two recipients for the annual Patti Mattingly Award for 2010. Assemblywoman Connie Conway, a Tulare Republican, was also selected to receive the 2010 Mattingly Award.
Huber assistant Jennifer Wonnacott announced receipt of the award in a e-mail last week, saying that the award is “given to a policymaker that that has demonstrated leadership on rural issues and an understanding of the unique challenges that rural communities face.”
Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon, first vice chair of the executive committee of the Regional Council of Rural Counties, said “RCRC appreciates the important work” Huber has done “on behalf of her rural constituents.” Dillon said “residents of Amador County and the other rural portions of (Huber’s) district, should know that she served them well in a very difficult 2010 legislative session.”
The award was established in the memory of former Siskiyou County Supervisor Patti Mattingly, “for her tremendous courage, commitment, and ability to promote constructive solutions surrounding rural issues.” Recipients are selected by the RCRC Board of Directors.
Amador County District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster, a member of the RCRC executive committee, said RCRC applauds “Huber’s efforts this past year,” saying “she was instrumental in working with a number of other rural legislators to secure the passage, of an exemption for counties under 50,000 in population from experiencing deferrals in state payments to counties.” Forster said that had the exemption “not happened, small counties like Amador would have faced a severe financial crisis.”
Wonnacott said Huber’s other important actions in the 2010 California Legisature included “securing vital law enforcement money for several years for rural counties” and writing “Assembly Bill 580, which addressed septic tanks regulations being issued by the State Water Resources Control Board.”
RCRC is an association of 31 rural counties that advocates before the Legislature, Congress and state and federal government agencies on behalf of rural issues. The Council has its headquarters in Sacramento, and county supervisors make up its governing board, with a supervisor from each county serving on the RCRC board of directors.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
