AnonymousBy the County of Santa Barbara
County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato announced [Monday] that she has appointed Wade Horton as an Assistant County Executive Officer starting on May 15, 2023. His duties will include overseeing departments that provide key community services and leading priority initiatives requiring interdepartmental collaboration.
This is a restructured role in the County Executive Office that will guide and provide strategic direction to major departments providing municipal services, such as Planning and Development; Community Services; Public Works; General Services; and Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures.
Horton has been the County Administrative Officer for the County of San Luis Obispo since 2017, prior to that he was the County of San Luis Obispo’s Public Works Director. Before his public service career, he worked in the private sector as an engineer with several of those years spent in Santa Barbara County.
As the County Administrative Officer for the County of San Luis Obispo, he led a 3,000-member County team across 22 departments, was responsible for budget development and served as the Emergency Services Director. He also had the unique opportunity of collaborating with Santa Barbara County on numerous Central Coast regional issues, including COVID response and economic development.
“I am thrilled to be adding Mr. Horton to my executive team. He is a proven leader, collaborator and community builder, with a heart and passion for public service. He has the depth of experience, skill and courage we need to improve and transform county government in a post-pandemic world. He will continue the important work directed by the Board of Supervisors and already in progress by our departments,” said County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato.
“During the pandemic and even prior to that, I saw first-hand Mr. Horton’s leadership, proactive approach and focus on results. His experience in addressing homelessness, emergency response and resiliency, regional housing efforts and close collaboration with cities will all be an asset to our county,” said Miyasato.
“Having previously worked in the Santa Barbara County private sector, I am both humbled and honored for the opportunity to join CEO Miyasato’s team. The County of Santa Barbara is an exemplary organization and I’m excited to get to work serving this community,” said incoming Assistant County Executive Officer Wade Horton.
Horton, who was selected after a nationwide search, will assume duties currently performed by Assistant County Executive Officer Jeff Frapwell, who will transition to part-time this summer and focus on key projects. Horton is a registered Civil Engineer with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Unsustainable pension debt…
Nice to see a local professional chosen. He’ll hit the ground running, and will be a strong asset with his engineering and admin chops. Congratulations!
Bloated public administration needed to attend to public bloat. Next we will need a 25 person department to facilitate and manage administrative expansion along with a Assistant CAO to manage them
I am cursed to be old enough to remember when “collaborator” was an insult to describe the leaders of governments that sold out to the Nazis. Of course language usage changes regularly in an attempt to be “new” and to be perceived as innovative. There is a lot of such word dressing in the press release. Not sure what it says other than they hired another outsider to fill a local job.